Selden, No. 4 UCLA Too Much For 23rd-ranked Bulldogs, 3-0 - Mississippi State

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Selden, No. 4 UCLA Too Much For 23rd-ranked Bulldogs, 3-0

May 25, 2016 | Softball

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LAKEWOOD, Calif. - Fourth-ranked UCLA struck early with a Caitlin Benyi solo home run in the first inning and then rode the shoulders of a one-hit shutout by all-American Anjelica Selden to a 3-0 victory over 23rd-ranked Mississippi State Sunday afternoon at the Long Beach Invitational in Lakewood, Calif.

Junior Katie Cooley walked, singled and reached on an error to lead the Bulldogs (21-6) at the plate, with Courtney Bures reaching on a bean ball in the fourth. Benyi drove in a pair of runs and scored once on a 3-for-3 tally to pace UCLA (24-1) who stretched its winning streak out to 19 games with the triumph.

MSU starter Ragan Blake (10-3) struck out five in six innings from the circle, but took the loss for the Bulldogs after allowing a pair of earned runs on seven Bruin hits. Selden (14-1) won for the 11th consecutive time after striking out 14 and allowing just one hit.

You have to take advantage of your opportunities against good teams like that, said Mississippi State head coach Jay Miller. We had a few opportunities with runners in scoring position and we didn't cash in and they got runners in scoring position and drove them in. That was the difference in the game. Against good teams, little things make the difference in whether you win or lose.

Hopefully, this is something we can learn from as we go into conference play next weekend. We had a good weekend overall. Hopefully we can build on this and we know now what we need to do to get better.

Despite getting Andrea Duran aboard via a Callye Williams error to begin the game, the Bruins had the basepaths cleared moments later when MSU catcher Blair Geddings easily nabbed Duran attempting to steal second base. After Krista Colburn grounded out to first to record the second out of the inning, however, Benyi crushed a 3-and-0 offering from Blake off the centerfield scoreboard to give UCLA the early 1-0 lead.

The Bruins went to work again in the second, getting a pair of runners aboard via a one-out single and a throwing error by Blake and then moved both into position with a sac bunt from Jaisa Creps. The Texan settled down however and, despite a lengthy battle from Tara Henry, exited the inning by virtue of a swinging strikeout.

The ?€˜Dogs used a leadoff walk and an ensuing stolen base to get Cooley into scoring position in their half of the second, but Selden would have nothing of it, striking out both Sammie Jo Bailey and Callye Williams, before inducing Gina McCloud into an inning-ending groundout.

The Bruins stretched their advantage out to a pair in the fourth, utilizing a four-pitch walk delivered to Jodie Legaspi to begin the inning, as well as a clutch MSU error on a stolen base attempt to plate the runner from third three batters later. State finally got something going in their half of the frame though, getting a pair aboard with a hit batsman and Cooley's single, but failed to capitalize after Selden retired the next two batters in order once again.

UCLA got consecutive two-out doubles in the fifth from Krista Colburn and Benyi to plate another insurance run and provide the final.

Mississippi State will be back in action on Thursday afternoon when the Bulldogs return home to host Middle Tennessee (7-17-1) in a rare midweek doubleheader. First pitch has been slated for 2 p.m. at the MSU Softball Field and admission is free.

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