Three-Run Fifth Helps Ole Miss Upset Bulldogs Again, 6-5
May 25, 2016 | Softball
* Official Statistics (PDF)
OXFORD, Miss. ?€" Ole Miss tallied three of its 11 hits in a decisive three-run fifth inning and then held off a late-inning charge by visiting and 25th-ranked Mississippi State to record its third-straight victory over the Bulldogs on a 6-5 triumph in a seesaw battle Tuesday evening at the Ole Miss Softball Complex.
Hayle Guess (3-for-4) and Katie Cooley (2-for-2) each hit solo home runs amidst multi-hit nights for each of the duo, while sophomore Nakita Boyce scored a pair of runs on a 2-for-4 hitting line to pace the Bulldogs (30-16, 4-10 SEC) who were sent reeling to their eighth consecutive loss with the result. Mary Jane Callahan helped her own cause at the plate by driving in a pair of runs and scoring twice for the Rebels (15-28, 3-14) who clinched the season series with their cross state rivals.
MSU starter Ragan Blake (16-8) was tagged for six earned runs on 11 hits in just five and one-thirds innings of work to take the loss for the Maroon and White. Callahan (7-14) picked up the win for Ole Miss despite allowing five earned runs on eight hits.
We just didn't get any pitching tonight, said Mississippi State head coach Jay Miller. The worst team in the league got 11 hits and six runs off us. I thought we did a good job fighting back. They got some runs and we came back every time. It was just too little, too late and not quite enough to overcome the mistakes.
We keep digging ourselves further and further in the hole. Pretty soon it will be too late to dig ourselves out. The question is now, where are we going to go from here?
Ole Miss put itself in business quickly, getting Kayle Mosley aboard on a leadoff single to begin the game and used an ensuing sacrifice bunt by Rebecca McIntire to move Mosley into position for Callahan's seeing-eye RBI single with the next at-bat. The Rebels loaded the bases with three of its next four at-bats, interrupted by Blake's 159th strikeout of the season, but State got out of the inning when Erin Faircloth flew out to centerfield.
After a very quiet second inning of play, the Bulldogs used three consecutive one-out singles to juice the bases, then got a fielder's choice RBI from Courtney Bures that plated pinchrunner Rachel Hurley from third. With the bases still juiced for the Maroon and White, Cooley smacked a fly ball to deep rightfield to score Boyce from 60 feet away and give the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead.
Callahan unleashed on a 2-and-2 offering from Blake with one out in the bottom of the frame to tie things back up at two apiece, but State answered back in the fifth, using a RBI single by Guess, as well as aggressive baserunning, to score Boyce from third with the temporary lead.
MState pulled to within a run on Cooley's blast to centerfield in the top of the sixth, but the Rebels answered, putting a pair of runners into position with its first three at-bats in the sixth to chase Blake from the circle, before scoring a run moments later on a wild pitch by MSU reliever Sara Hickerson. Guess' two-out solo job in the top of the seventh, again, pulled State to within one, but Callahan finished off her complete game outing by retiring Bures on a fly out to rightfield.
Missisippi State will return to action this weekend when it continues an 11-game stretch away from home by visiting Auburn, Ala., for an Easter weekend series against the 19th-ranked Auburn Tigers (26-12, 7-8) at Jane B. Moore Field. The squads will open up their three-game set with a 7 p.m. Friday evening tilt, before closing out the series with a 1 p.m. Saturday afternoon doubleheader.
All three games will be broadcast live from The Plains on WMSV 91.1 FM with Stephen Cole handling the play-by-play duties and Todd Anderson providing color commentary.
