Southern Miss Shocks 24th-Ranked Bulldogs, 2-0
May 25, 2016 | Softball
* Official Statistics (PDF)
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Southern Miss plated two unearned runs on the shoulders of a crucial Mississippi State throwing error in the top of the fifth inning and then rode effective pitching to a 2-0 upset victory of the 24th-ranked Bulldogs Tuesday evening at the MSU Softball Field.
Katie Johnson turned in a 1-for-2 night at the plate, while Courtney Bures and Katie Cooley each tallied 1-for-3 hitting lines, to pace the cold-hitting Bulldogs (18-4) who had their school record 13-game home winning streak snapped with the setback. Six different players recorded base hits for Southern Miss (13-15) who recorded their first win in Starkville since the 2002 season.
MSU starter Ragan Blake (8-2) struck out eight and scattered six hits over six innings of work, but saddled the tough luck loss with the two unearned runs in the fifth. Stephanie Comeaux, who was named SEC Pitcher of the Week on Monday evening, hurled a hitless seventh but got the no decision.
USM used a pair of pitchers to limit MSU to one of its lowest hit totals of the season, with starter Krystal Crooks (1-1) picking up the victory after four innings of two-hit ball in her second start of the campaign. Samantha Davis nabbed her first save of the season by allowing just three hits over the last three innings of work.
I was pleased with the way our pitchers threw because they threw well enough to win the ball game, said Mississippi State head coach Jay Miller. We only got three hits and we looked like a bunch of fools at the plate. We weren't patient, we didn't adjust and we didn't do the things we needed to do to be successful. That concerns me more than anything. Hopefully we can make some changes there and get a little bit more consistent offensively.
This weekend is going to be a big tournament for us out West. Hopefully we can get back on track. We have a day of practice to give ourselves the opportunity and then see what we can do this weekend.
After leaving five runners aboard through the first four innings of play, USM used a gift triple, an ensuing infield single and a errant throw by third baseman Michelle Kinney to bring across the game's first run, then used a Blake wild pitch minutes later to plate Ashley Brenan who had managed to elude the view of the umpires moments earlier when she illegally stepped off first base before a time out had been called.
State got a pair of runners aboard with two outs in the third and had its best chance to score in the frame but Jessica Huerta's dazzling snag of a Callye Williams' grounder nixed the chance and kept the game scoreless. MSU got a leadoff single from Katie Johnson in its half of the fifth and used a sac bunt by Kinney to move Johnson into position, but Huerta snagged Williams liner in the next at-bat and quickly doubled off the runner at second to slam the door on the frame.
Mississippi State will return to action this weekend when the Bulldogs pack up their show for the second straight weekend to head to the West coast for the Long Beach State Invitation. State will open up its portion of tournament play on Friday at 11:15 a.m. PDT against Syracuse (5-9) before remaining on site to battle #4 UCLA (19-1) at 3:45 p.m.
