No. 22 Bulldogs Drop Extra-Inning Heartbreaker to No. 10 Aggies

Sunday, April 8

Starkville

2:00 P.M.

Mississippi State

29-11, 0

#10 Texas A&M

34-9, 0

Texas A&M

Mississippi State

Junior Taylor Kelly knocked a pinch-hit RBI single in the fourth inning that would send the series finale into extra innings.

No. 22 Bulldogs Drop Extra-Inning Heartbreaker to No. 10 Aggies

April 08, 2018 | Softball

Box Score Box Score Box Score (PDF) Photo Gallery

STARKVILLE, Miss. – With the game tied at 1-1 in the eighth inning, No. 10 Texas A&M (34-9, 7-5 SEC) plated three runs to edge out No. 22 Mississippi State (29-11, 4-8 SEC), 4-3, to earn the series victory Sunday afternoon at Nusz Park.

The Aggies and Bulldogs both knocked five hits each in the contest with all five State hits coming from five different batters. Junior Taylor Kelly led MSU at the plate as her pinch-hit single plated State's lone run.

Senior Holly Ward earned the start and pitched a total of three innings. The right-hander allowed just one unearned run off two hits and a walk and struck out four. Freshman Emily Williams tossed 3.1 innings of hitless relief. She allowed just two Aggies on base via walks and recorded one strikeout.

Making her third appearances of the series, senior Cassady Knudsen was tagged with the loss to fall to 11-5 on the season. Knudsen allowed the runs in the eighth inning, only two were earned. The right-hander gave up a total of three hits in her 1.2 innings of relief and struck out one.

Texas A&M took advantage of an MSU fielding error during the first at-bat of the game, plating the run on a Sarah Hudek double to left field. The Aggies would hold their 1-0 lead until the fourth inning. With two runners on base, Kelly step to a plate and knocked a pinch-hit single to right field, scoring junior Kat Moore, and locked the game at 1-1.

The game remained tie through regulation, sending the series to its second extra-inning game of the weekend. The Aggies led off the eighth with a single to shortstop and attempted to move the runner to second with a sacrifice bunt, but an overthrow at first base allowed the go-ahead run to score before Tori Vidales knocked a two-run home run to push the lead to 4-1.

The Bulldogs went down in order in the bottom of the eighth, dropping the series to the Aggies.

TEXAS A&M SERIES RESULTS
Saturday, April 7 – No. 10 Texas A&M def. No. 22 Mississippi State, 3-1
Saturday, April 7 – No. 22 Mississippi State def. No. 10 Texas A&M, 4-3 (10 inn.)
Sunday, April 8 – No. 10 Texas A&M def. Mississippi State, 4-1 (8 inn.)

ON DECK
Mississippi State returns to midweek action on Tuesday, April 10 as the Bulldogs host Alcorn State at Nusz Park. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. CT.

FOLLOW THE DAWGS
For more on Mississippi State softball, follow the Bulldogs on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching for "HailStateSB." You can also find all-access coverage of the program on SnapChat by searching for "HailStateSnap".