Blake, Bulldogs Cruise To Record 13th Straight Victory
May 25, 2016 | Softball
* Official Statistics (PDF)
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State plated nine runs on seven hits behind Ragan Blake's first career no-hitter and the Bulldogs cruised to their school-record 13th-straight victory with a 9-0 mercy rule win over Alcorn State Sunday afternoon in the Bulldog Round-Robin finale.
Sophomore Nakita Boyce drove in a pair of runs and scored twice on a perfect 3-for-3 night at the plate for Mississippi State (13-0) who shattered a 20-year-old school record for consecutive wins in the triumph. Blake helped her own cause by plating two runs and scoring once on a 1-for-2 showing with a walk, while Katie Cooley added a pair of RBI on a 1-for-3 outing. Krista Mueller was the only batter to reach base for Alcorn State (1-12).
Blake (7-0) needed just 61 pitches to turn in Mississippi State's ninth no-hitter all time, striking out six and walking one in tallying her seventh complete game and fifth shutout of the season. Yolanda Ellis (0-1) surrendered seven hits and nine runs in taking the loss for the Braves in just her second start of the season.
State's school record 13th consecutive victory bested the previous program-best winning skein established from March 28 to April 10, 1986. In winning its third tournament title of the season, the Bulldogs sent five players to the all-tournament team, including tourney MVP Courtney Bures. Blake and fellow righthander Stephanie Comeaux joined Boyce, Guess and Bures on the list of standout players.
I was disappointed with the way we swung the bats today in both games, said Mississippi State head coach Jay Miller. We had some pitiful at-bats some of the time and I didn't think we came out ready to play. We were fortunate to win two games with the way we competed. Defensively, I thought we played well today but, again, I don't think we were focused like we needed to be.
After leaving the bases juiced in the first, the Bulldogs went to work in the second, utilizing three hits, a trio of walks and a costly Alcorn throwing error to plate five runs and take a sizeable lead into the third. State padded its lead with two more runs in the fourth on a RBI triple from Bures and a wild pitch by Ellis and completed the mercy rule win on Blake's RBI double with one out in the bottom of the fifth.
Blake sat down the first 12 Alcorn State batters in order before surrendering a five-pitch walk to lead off the fourth. She finished her outing by striking out Cami Banks with a runner in scoring position in the top of the fifth.
Mississippi State will close out a 10-game homestand on Wednesday afternoon when the Bulldogs suit up to host Samford (5-10) in a doubleheader at the MSU Softball Field. First pitch of the twinbill has been set for 4 p.m. and admission to all 2006 MSU Softball home games is free.
