Holly Ward, No. 25 Bulldogs Blank Sam Houston State for 5-0 Victory

Sunday, March 4

Starkville

2:00 PM

Mississippi State

16-3

Sam Houston State

6-12

Sam Houston State

Mississippi State

Holly Ward's third shutout of the season secured a 5-0 victory over Sam Houston State.

Photo by: Blake Williams/MSU Athletics

Holly Ward, No. 25 Bulldogs Blank Sam Houston State for 5-0 Victory

March 04, 2018 | Softball

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STARKVILLE, Miss. – Senior Holly Ward kept Sam Houston State (6-12) off-balanced to record her third shutout of the season as No. 25 Mississippi State capped an undefeated weekend over the Bulldog Slamboree with a 5-0 victory on Sunday at Nusz Park.

Ward (7-2) was aggressive in the circle, recording a strike on the first or second pitch on every single batter she faced. The right-hander racked up 10 strikeouts and did not allow a free pass in the game. Ward gave up two hits, but neither one left the infield.

"Holly (Ward) pitched lights out," head coach Vann Stuedeman said. "She did a Vann-tastic job. We used all of her pitches today. We tried some different pitches in some different situations to get ready for conference play. She's feeling pretty confident now. We just have to keep her there."

At the plate, MSU was led by junior Emily Heimberger, who went 3-for-3 with a double and three runs scored. Senior Calyn Adams did not record a hit, put plated two runs on two sacrifice flies in Sunday's finale.

After trading a scoreless first inning, Mississippi State got on the board in the bottom of the second. Heimberger led off the inning with an infield single knocked back to Sam Houston State's pitcher Lindsey McLeod. The Bulldogs would quickly load up the bases with no outs with back-to-back walks to seniors Carmen Carter and Morgan Bell.

Adams drove a long fly ball to right field for her first sacrifice fly of the game, plating Heimberger. A wild throw by SHSU trying to prevent Carter from advancing to third on the play landed in foul territory as Carter took advantage of the error to score and give MSU a 2-0 lead.

Heimberger sparked MSU's second two-run inning of the game after leading off the bottom of the fourth with a single up the middle. Carter followed with her second hit of the game with a single to second base before pinch-hitter sophomore Candace Denis singled up the middle to load the bases with no outs.

Adams fouled out to the catcher, but the tricky pop up allowed Heimberger to score and credit Adams with her second sacrifice fly and RBI of the game. Redshirt junior, Bevia Robinson followed with a sacrifice fly to right field to score Carter and push the lead to 4-0.

Heimberger plated the final run of the game in the bottom of the sixth. After leading off with a double to right center, the speedy junior stole third, but a poor throw on the play sent the ball into the outfield, allowing Heimberger to score on the error.

ON DECK
Mississippi State continues its nine-game homestand on Wednesday, March 7 with a midweek contest versus Boston College at 6 p.m. CT. The game will be the third "No One Fights Alone" contest of the season as MSU will sport teal uniforms to bring awareness to ovarian cancer.

2018 BULLDOG SLAMBOREE RESULTS
Friday, March 2
Game One – Sam Houston State def. Mercer, 1-0
Game Two – Mercer def. Lamar, 2-1
Game Three – Mississippi State def. Lamar, 6-3
Game Four – Sam Houston State def. Alcorn State, 5-3

Saturday, March 3
Game Five – Lamar def. Mercer, 2-1
Game Six – Mississippi State def. Mercer, 7-1
Game Seven – Mississippi State def. Sam Houston State, 9-0 (5)
Game Eight – Sam Houston State def. Alcorn State, 1-0
Game Nine – Lamar def. Alcorn State, 6-2

Sunday, March 4
Game Ten – Mercer def. Alcorn State, 9-1 (5)
Game Eleven – Lamar def. Alcorn State, 8-6
Game Twelve – Mississippi State def. Sam Houston State, 5-0

MY SACRIFICE
Calyn Adams tied a MSU single-game record with two sacrifice flies in Sunday's contest. She is the fourth Bulldog in program history to knock two sacrifice flies in the same game and is the first to do so since Nakita Boyce at Southern Miss on April 24, 2007. MSU's three sacrifice flies is tied for the second most in program history. The last time the Bulldogs knocked three sacrifice flies in a single was April 17, 2004 at Arkansas.

WARD UP
Holly Ward's impressive start to her senior season has moved her into the MSU career record book. Sunday was Ward's eighth shutout of her career, moving her in a tied for seventh all-time with Alison Owen (2013-14) and Kim Davis (1985-86). She closed the weekend with 263 career strikeouts after her fourth double-digit strikeout outing of her career. Ward now ranks ninth all-time in program history and is just seven strikeouts away from surpassing Stephanie Comeaux (2004-07) for eighth.

MISSISSIPPI QUEEN
In her seventh season at the helm of Mississippi State softball, Vann Stuedeman has now notched 219 victories and has tied Kathy Arendsen (1997-2002) for the second-most wins in program history. Jay Miller (2003-211) holds the program record at 295.

FOLLOW THE DAWGS
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