Sunday, April 7
Starkville
1:00 PM
Mississippi State
24-14, 0
3
vs
5
#7 LSU
33-8, 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
LSU
0
0
2
1
0
0
2
5
9
1
Mississippi State
0
2
0
0
1
0
0
3
6
0
Fa Leilua tied Mississippi State's junior home run record on Sunday with her 18th homer of the season.
Bulldogs Falter Against No. 7/5 LSU in Series Finale
April 07, 2019 | Softball
by Taylor Shirey, Assistant Director/Communications
STARKVILLE – Junior Fa Leilua sparked Mississippi State softball's (24-14, 3-9 SEC) offense after a lengthy rain delay with a game-tying home run, but No. 7/5 LSU (33-8, 11-4 SEC) knocked a two-run home run in the top of the seventh to claim the series win at Nusz Park on Sunday.
Sophomore Carter Spexarth turned in the lone multi-hit performance for the Bulldogs as she went 2-for-3 at the plate. Leilua's lone hit was the game-tying home run in the fifth, her 19th of the season, tying MIssissippi State's junior hoem run record.
Sophomore Emily Williams was tagged with the loss, falling to 7-4 on the season. Williams tossed 6.1 innings, allowing eight hits and five runs. The right-handered walked six and struck out three in the contest.
In the first inning, both starting pitchers gave up two walks, but solid defense on both sides left all four runners stranded. Redshirt freshman Kinsey Goelz's turned in the big play in the first as she robbed LSU of a hit and turned an inning-ending double play.
The Bulldogs took the early lead in the bottom of the second. Spexarth led off the inning with a single to center before senior Sarai Niu got on board via a hit by pitch. After redshirt sophomore moved both runners into scoring position with a ground ball to third, an LSU fielding error help plated the first run of the game. Senior Emily Heimberger extended the lead to 2-0 with a ground ball to second to pick up an RBI.
LSU tied up the game in the top of the third with a two-run home run to left field from Shemiah Sanchez. A solo Michaela Schlattman homer to straight-away center to lead off the top of fourth gave the Tigers their first lead of the game.
After a two-hour rain delay at Nusz, Mississippi State locked the game back up at 3-3 with a solo home run from Leilua.
The game remained tied until the top of the seventh as Sanchez followed Shelbi Sunseri's lead-off walk with a two-run home run to secure the series win for the Tigers.
LEILUA TIES STATE'S JUNIOR RECORD
Slugging her 18th home run of the season, Fa Leilua has now tied Mississippi State's junior home run record of 18 set by Iyhia McMichael in 2003.
LSU SERIES RESULTS
Friday, April 5
Mississippi State def. No. 7/5 LSU, 6-0
Saturday, April 6
No. 7/5 LSU def. Mississippi State, 10-9
Sunday, April 5
No. 7/5 LSU def. Mississippi State, 5-3
ON DECK
Mississippi State closes rounds out its midweek home slate on Wednesday, April 10 against Memphis. First pitch on the SEC Network + is slated 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".
STARKVILLE – Junior Fa Leilua sparked Mississippi State softball's (24-14, 3-9 SEC) offense after a lengthy rain delay with a game-tying home run, but No. 7/5 LSU (33-8, 11-4 SEC) knocked a two-run home run in the top of the seventh to claim the series win at Nusz Park on Sunday.
Sophomore Carter Spexarth turned in the lone multi-hit performance for the Bulldogs as she went 2-for-3 at the plate. Leilua's lone hit was the game-tying home run in the fifth, her 19th of the season, tying MIssissippi State's junior hoem run record.
Sophomore Emily Williams was tagged with the loss, falling to 7-4 on the season. Williams tossed 6.1 innings, allowing eight hits and five runs. The right-handered walked six and struck out three in the contest.
In the first inning, both starting pitchers gave up two walks, but solid defense on both sides left all four runners stranded. Redshirt freshman Kinsey Goelz's turned in the big play in the first as she robbed LSU of a hit and turned an inning-ending double play.
The Bulldogs took the early lead in the bottom of the second. Spexarth led off the inning with a single to center before senior Sarai Niu got on board via a hit by pitch. After redshirt sophomore moved both runners into scoring position with a ground ball to third, an LSU fielding error help plated the first run of the game. Senior Emily Heimberger extended the lead to 2-0 with a ground ball to second to pick up an RBI.
LSU tied up the game in the top of the third with a two-run home run to left field from Shemiah Sanchez. A solo Michaela Schlattman homer to straight-away center to lead off the top of fourth gave the Tigers their first lead of the game.
After a two-hour rain delay at Nusz, Mississippi State locked the game back up at 3-3 with a solo home run from Leilua.
The game remained tied until the top of the seventh as Sanchez followed Shelbi Sunseri's lead-off walk with a two-run home run to secure the series win for the Tigers.
LEILUA TIES STATE'S JUNIOR RECORD
Slugging her 18th home run of the season, Fa Leilua has now tied Mississippi State's junior home run record of 18 set by Iyhia McMichael in 2003.
LSU SERIES RESULTS
Friday, April 5
Mississippi State def. No. 7/5 LSU, 6-0
Saturday, April 6
No. 7/5 LSU def. Mississippi State, 10-9
Sunday, April 5
No. 7/5 LSU def. Mississippi State, 5-3
ON DECK
Mississippi State closes rounds out its midweek home slate on Wednesday, April 10 against Memphis. First pitch on the SEC Network + is slated 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".
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Maribeth Gorsuch (9-0)
L: Williams, Emily (7-4)
Batting:
2B: Elyse Thornhill 1 ; Michaela Schlattman 1
HR: Shemiah Sanchez 2 ; Michaela Schlattman 1
RBI: Shemiah Sanchez 4 ; Michaela Schlattman 1
SH: Aliyah Andrews 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Aliyah Andrews 1 ; Shelbi Sunseri 1 ; Shemiah Sanchez 2 ; Michaela Schlattman 1
CS: Aliyah Andrews 1
Batting:
2B: Moore, Kat 1
HR: Leilua, Fa 1
RBI: Heimberger, Emily 1 ; Leilua, Fa 1 ; Goelz, Kinsey 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Leilua, Fa 1 ; Spexarth, Carter 1 ; Niu, Sarai 1
HBP: Niu, Sarai 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Softball
UTL
/ Softball
P/UT
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballSOFTBALL | Postgame Press Conference vs. Washington
Saturday, May 17
SOFTBALL | Postgame Press Conference vs. Texas Tech
Saturday, May 17
SOFTBALL | Raelin Chaffin ESPN2 Postgame Interview
Saturday, May 17
SOFTBALL | Postgame Press Conference vs. Washington
Friday, May 16