State Finishes Off Doubleheader Sweep Of Wildcats, Clinches Series
May 25, 2016 | Softball
* Official Statistics
* Official Statistics (PDF)
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Sammie Jo Bailey's solo home run with one out in the fourth inning gave the Mississippi State pitching staff all the offense it would need as the Bulldogs finished off a series-opening doubleheader of homestanding Kentucky with a 2-0 blanking of the Wildcats in the nightcap Saturday afternoon at the UK Softball Complex.
Bailey (1-for-3) led six Bulldogs with base hits in the series-clinching win, with Michelle Kinney providing the insurance score in the later innings after doubling to highlight a 1-for-3 plate tally. Brooke Marnitz singled and walked twice on a 1-for-1 hitting line to pace the Wildcats (21-35, 4-25).
MSU starter Stephanie Comeaux (15-10) frustrated the Kentucky offense for six innings, turning in her best outing since no-hitting Arkansas on March 18. The Pascagoula native scattered four hits over a near complete game, striking out a pair and walking two in snapping a personal seven-game losing streak. Junior Kelli Miller, who picked up the game one win against UK in relief, notched her first save of the season in game two after striking out one in a hitless seventh frame.
Amy Kendall (8-13), who took the loss in a relief stint in the earlier game on Saturday, allowed a pair of runs on six hits in a losing effort in the second game.
"Stephanie struggled a little bit early in the game, but she settled down and did a nice job of controlling their hitters from the third inning on," said Mississippi State head coach Jay Miller. "That's the kind of performance we need that we haven't been getting from the circle over this past month. It was nice to see her step up and do that. Obviously, we got a big hit from Sam and then got an insurance run later in the game. That was good to see. It was something that we needed because we put hitting, pitching and defense together."
Kentucky got a pair of runners into scoring position with its first three at-bats of the game, but Comeaux evaded any damage by getting Katie Campbell on a foul fly out and Ashley Fertic on a pop out to slam the door on the scoring threat. After stranding runners on the corners in the second, MSU finally scratched the scoreboard in the fourth when Bailey crushed Kendall's first offering over the fence in leftfield for the 1-0 lead.
MSU would add an insurance run in the sixth, using a two-out double from Kinney, as well as a costly throwing error by Kentucky with the ensuing at-bat, to seal the deal.
After a rough first inning, Comeaux sat down 15 of the next 19 Wildcats, before closing out her appearance when catcher Blair Geddings nabbed Marnitz attempting to steal second in the bottom of the sixth. Miller pitched a perfect seventh to close out the series win.
Mississippi State and Kentucky will close out regular season play on Sunday when the two lock arms against in the 1 p.m. EDT series finale in Lexington. The game will be broadcast live on WMSV 91.1 FM with Stephen Cole handling all the balls and strikes and Todd Anderson providing color commentary.
