State Falls To #13 Washington In Rematch, 8-1
May 25, 2016 | Softball
* Official Statistics (PDF)
WACO, Texas - Thirteenth-ranked Washington plated two runs in four different innings behind a sufficient outing from staff ace Danielle Lawrie and the Huskies evened up their weekend series with flu-bitten Mississippi State on an 8-1 victory over the Bulldogs Saturday afternoon in Waco, Texas.
Sophomore Hayle Guess tripled and drove in a run on a 2-for-3 hitting line, while rookie Sammie Jo Bailey singled on a 1-for-3 day for the Bulldogs (17-2) who surrendered their most runs in a game since allowing a dozen in a 12-4 loss to Florida on April 23 of last season. Ashley Charters plated three RBI and scored twice on a 3-for-4 outing for the Huskies (14-4).
MSU starter Sara Hickerson (0-1) allowed eight runs on 10 Washington hits in picking up the loss in her first start of the season. Lawrie (9-1) nabbed the decision for the Huskies after striking out six and surrendering just a trio of hits.
We battled really well, said Mississippi State head coach Jay Miller. We hit some great shots, but they were right at people. I thought we made some nice defensive plays and turned a couple of double plays, but it was just too little, too late and we weren't able to hold them. Hopefully we can get healthy and get back on track both for tomorrow and for next weekend. We have to keep battling. That's the nature of the beast.
Washington needed just two at-bats to take a first inning lead, utilizing a leadoff triple from Dominique Lastrapes and a run-scoring triple from Ashley Charters to forge a 1-0 advantage. UW would take a 2-0 lead into the second after taking advantage of a clutch fielding error by MSU third baseman Michelle Kinney and finishing the damage on an RBI groundout by Ashley Watson.
After a quiet second inning of play for both teams, the Huskies padded their lead in the third on a two-run home run by Dena Tyson, but State answered in their half of the frame on a two-out walk delivered to Kinney and an ensuing triple by Guess.
Washington added two more runs on a Hickerson wild pitch and a RBI single from Charters in the fourth, then added two more insurance runs on run-scoring knocks from Lastrapes and Charters in the sixth.
Mississippi State will close out its portion of tournament play in the Compass Bank Invitational on Sunday, first taking on Bowling Green (6-3) at 1 p.m. before remaining on site to battle tourney host and 18th-ranked Baylor immediately following. Baylor handed MSU its first loss of the season with a 1-0 triumph on Friday evening, while the Bulldogs defeated Bowling Green, 3-2 in extra innings, in the early game on Saturday.
