Bulldogs Present Team Awards; Await NCAA Softball Selection Show
May 25, 2016 | Softball
STARKVILLE, Miss. - While patiently waiting to learn of its postseason fate, the Mississippi State softball team put the finishing touches on its 2006 regular season Thursday afternoon with the presentation of its annual team awards.
Junior catcher Blair Geddings collected team MVP laurels, as well as head coach Jay Miller's "MTXE Award" which is given annually to the athlete with impeccable work ethic and attitude as it pertains to both practice and game day situations. Geddings, a St. Matthews, S.C., native, hit .278 (27-for-97) with six extra-base hits and seven RBI, but was also in the starting battery for all four of State's no-hitters this season. She also turned in a school record .997 fielding percentage, committing just one error in 311 total chances behind the plate.
Sophomore all-American Courtney Bures, likewise, earned a pair of distinctions, picking up Top Hitter and Gold Glove honors for the Maroon and White. Bures led the team in nearly every offensive statistical category while hitting .346 (62-for-179) with 20 extra-base hits (5 HR), 37 RBI and 29 runs scored. She also drew 15 walks, was hit by pitch five times and was 15-for-20 on stolen base attempts. Bures' .976 fielding percentage (six errors, 246 total chances) is the highest defensive tally ever turned in by an MSU middle infielder.
Junior Stephanie Comeaux and sophomore Ragan Blake shared Top Pitcher honors for the Bulldogs after the duo turned in all but two of State's 33 overall victories. Comeaux posted a team-best 1.75 ERA, while Blake posted a team-leading 16 wins and 183 strikeouts from the circle for MState. Comeaux and Blake combined to hold opponents to a paltry .218 (280-for-1283) batting clip while posting a strikeout-to-walk ratio of nearly 4-to-1.
The team's Most Improved award, undoubtedly, went to sophomore leftfielder Nakita Boyce who improved her rookie batting average by nearly 140 points, while posting career highs across the board. Boyce, a Springfield, Mo., product, hit .302 (54-for-179) with six extra-base hits, 20 RBI and 33 runs scored, while also nabbing 18 stolen bases. She was one of just four players to start all 61 games for the Bulldogs, with every starting nod coming in leftfield.
Rookie of the Year accolades was handed to Sammie Jo Bailey who played in 57 games for Mississippi State as a freshman, while also starting in 54 of those contests. Bailey hit at a .234 (36-for-154) clip with a team-leading eight home runs, 28 RBI and 23 runs scored. She hit game-winning home runs in each of State's first two games at Kentucky, later earning SEC Freshman of the Week honors for her efforts in the Bulldogs' series sweep of the Wildcats.
Mississippi State, which is bidding to earn an unprecedented fifth-straight NCAA Regional berth, will learn of its postseason fate on Sunday afternoon when the NCAA Division I Softball Selection show is aired live on ESPNews at 2:30 p.m. CDT.
