Bulldogs Head To Knoxville To Take On No. 1 Tennessee
May 25, 2016 | Softball
Tennessee leads the all-time series with State, 19-10. The Lady Volshave won seven straight contests, dating back to a March 19, 2005doubleheader sweep in Knoxville. MSU's last win in the series came onMay 13, 2004 when the Bulldogs defeated UT 8-2 in the SE Tournament.MState hasn't won in Knoxville since defeating Tennessee, 11-7, March22, 2003.
Chelsea Bramlett looks to keep her strong start to her collegiatecareer going. The freshman leads MSU in hitting with a .436 battingaverage, placing her seventh in the conference. She also leads theconference in runs (31) and hits (44), and is second in stolen baseswith 26. Her 26 stolen bases currently put her third on MSU's all-timefreshman list.
Kelli Miller leads the Bulldogs from the mound with a 7-5 record and a1.38 ERA. In 61.0 innings of work, the senior has struck out 32 batters.Sara Hickerson is 2-2 with 33 strikeouts in 37 innings of work. She alsohas a conference-high five saves.
Tennessee will be MSU's fifth ranked opponent this season, and secondranked in the top ten. The Bulldogs beat then-10th ranked California,9-0 on February 16 at the UNLV Louisville Slugger Leadoff Classic. MSUthen fell to then-No 20 Florida State, 4-2, and No. 1 Nebraska, 7-6, atthe NFCA Leadoff Classic. MSU then opened the conference season bydropping three games to No. 3 Alabama. Mississippi State is 1-2all-time against the top-ranked team, having beaten No. 1 Arizona, 7-1,in 2001. State's last win over a ranked conference opponent was onApril 24, 2005, when they knocked off No. 16 Florida, 3-0.
Tennessee enters this weekend's series ranked No. 1 in both theESPN.com/USA Softball and USA Today/NFCA polls. The Lady Vols arecurrently 25-2 overall, 3-2 in the SEC. The Lady Vols opened conferenceplay by taking two of three from No. 19 Florida. UT then split amidweek doubleheader with Ole Miss. With two outs in the top of theseventh, Shannon Doepking roped a single down the right field line,driving in the game's only run and giving Tennessee the 1-0 victory. Inthe second game, Ole Miss took to the lead in the first when MonicaAbbot was called for back-to-back illegal pitches with runners on secondand third, handing the Rebels a 2-0 lead. UM jumped out to a 5-0 lead inthe sixth, off of homeruns by Lauren Grill and Alyssa McGovern. But theLady Vols responded in the seventh. With two outs and the bases loaded,Lindsay Schutzler blasted a triple into left center, closing the gap to5-3. Tiffany Huff then hit a single, scoring Schutzler and cutting thedeficit to one. But Tonya Callahan flied out to right to end the game.Tennessee holds a 19-10 record all-time over State, including victoriesin the last seven games.
Following this weekend's action, the Bulldogs will travel toBirmingham, Ala. for a midweek game on Tuesday starting at 6:00 p.m.
