Auburn Uses Costly Errors To Finish Off Series Sweep Of 'Dogs
May 25, 2016 | Softball
* Official Statistics
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AUBURN, Ala. - Auburn got a solo home run from Starr Dorsey to forge a second inning lead and then plated three unearned runs on a pair of Mississippi State errors in the fourth en route to a 5-3 victory over the visiting Bulldogs that finished off an Easter weekend sweep of the Maroon and White Saturday afternoon at Jane B. Moore Field.
Mississippi State (30-19, 4-13 SEC) got base hits from three different players, including run-scoring hits on 1-for-3 outings from both Courtney Bures and Blair Geddings, to provide all of their offense in the game. Dorsey's homer, as well as a sixth inning RBI double, keyed a 2-for-3 hitting line for the Auburn native that also paced the Tigers (29-12, 10-8) on the offensive side of the ball.
MSU starter Ragan Blake (16-11) scattered seven hits over her 20th complete game of the campaign, but was sent reeling to her fourth loss in six days despite striking out four and allowing just a pair of earned runs. Little-used Brittany Day (1-1) picked up her first win of the season after pitching hitless ball through five innings. Reliever Beth DiPietro, who picked up victories in games one and two of the weekend set, collected her first save of the season after striking out four and not allowing a hit in recording the game's final five outs.
"I thought we did a good job of coming back and putting some runs on the board in the sixth. We're just not getting the little things done to assure ourselves of a victory," said Mississippi State head coach Jay Miller. "We had a base running mistake in that sixth inning that could have given us at least another run and who knows what we would have gotten after that. Whether its defense, offense or pitching, we just can't seem to put it all together. That's what is hurting us right now."
Despite having its first two batters retired in the second, the Tigers lit up the scoreboard first in the second when Dorsey took a 2-and-2 offering from Blake over the 16-foot wall in rightfield. The Tigers got consecutive singles to lead off the fourth and then used a fielding error by MSU third baseman Michelle Kinney to stretch their lead out to a pair a short time later. Blake struck out Amy Shaw to record the second out of the inning, but Nakita Boyce misplayed a fly ball to leftfield with the ensuing at-bat, bringing two more runs across the plate and giving Auburn a commanding 4-0 lead heading into the fifth.
The Bulldogs got their leadoff batter aboard in the sixth courtesy of an Auburn error, then got consecutive singles, including Bures' RBI knock, to plate their first run of the game. The Maroon and White utilized Auburn's fourth error of the game with an ensuing bat by Katie Johnson to put another runner on the paths and then cut the deficit down to a more manageable run on a RBI single from Geddings that chased Day from the circle. A fielder's choice RBI by Katie Cooley moments later would cut the Tiger lead to one run.
In the midst of DiPietro retiring the final five MSU batters in the contest, Auburn would add an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth on a RBI double from Dorsey.
Mississippi State will resume an 11-game stretch away from Starkville with a rare midweek league series, packing up their show and heading to Baton Rouge, La., to take on the 11th-ranked LSU Tigers (41-7, 14-4) at Tiger Park. The squads will open up their set with a 5 p.m. Wednesday doubleheader before concluding the series with a 5 p.m. single game on Thursday.
