'Dogs Put Together Big Inning In 9-1 Rout Of Samford
May 25, 2016 | Softball
* Official Statistics
* Official Statistics (PDF)
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State sent nine batters to the plate in a five-run fifth inning to fend off a pesky Samford squad and help the Maroon and White cruise to its 14th-straight victory with an abbreviated 9-1 rout Wednesday afternoon at the MSU Softball Field.
Sophomore all-American Courtney Bures homered for the second time this season and tallied four RBI to highlight a 2-for-4 hitting line, while classmate Hayle Guess crossed the plate three times on a perfect 2-for-2 offensive day to key MState (14-0). Junior Katie Cooley walked twice on a 1-for-1 plate tally, while Michelle Kinney drove in a pair of runs on a 1-for-3 showing. Shelley Stanley singled twice in three trips to the plate to lead Samford (5-11).
MSU starter Stephanie Comeaux (7-0) scattered five hits and struck out a pair over five innings of work to pick up the win for the Bulldogs, with reliever Sara Hickerson working a hitless sixth. Emilee Lewis (3-4) saddled the loss for Samford, allowing seven runs on five hits and three walks in the setback.
"I thought it took us a little bit to get our bats going, but Samford came in and played well," said Mississippi State head coach Jay Miller. "They did a good job of keeping us off balance and they moved the ball around and we had a hard time adjusting to that so you have to give them credit. Stephanie pitched a great game and we finally put some runs on the board with big hits."
State used its patience and speed on its way to scoring a run in the top of the first despite not recording a hit. Guess reached base via a leadoff walk in the bottom of the frame, stole a pair of bases, then crossed the plate on an illegal pitch by Lewis for the 1-0 lead. The Bulldogs used a fielder's choice RBI from Nakita Boyce to stretch their lead out to 2-0 in the third, but Samford answered in its half of the fourth, utilizing a one-out double from Liz Pearse, as well as a costly throwing error by Comeaux, to cut its deficit in half, 2-1.
It would be all Mississippi State from that point, however. The Maroon and White got a leadoff double by Cooley in the fourth and pushed its lead back to a pair on a RBI groundout by Katie Johnson. A two-run single by Kinney, as well as a three-run shot by Bures, in the fifth would cushion the advantage out to 8-1, before Bures finished the damage and invoked the mercy rule on a RBI double with one out in the sixth to bring Guess racing home from second.
