Thursday, May 9
College Station, Texas
12:30 PM
Mississippi State
33-21
4
vs
9
#17 Ole Miss
37-16
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Mississippi State
0
0
3
0
0
0
1
4
12
1
Ole Miss
0
0
1
7
0
1
X
9
4
3
Bevia Robinson was one of seven Bulldogs to record a hit against the Rebels.
Bulldogs Stumble to No. 17 Ole Miss at SEC Tournament
May 09, 2019 | Softball
By Taylor Shirey, Assistant Director/Communications
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Mississippi State softball (33-21) could not hang on to its three-run lead as No. 17 Ole Miss (37-16) used a seventh-run fourth inning to mount a 9-4 comeback victory Thursday at Davis Diamond to end the Bulldogs' Southeastern Conference Tournament run.
Mississippi State used five straight singles in the top of the third to plate three runs for the early lead, but the Rebels battled back in the fourth with seven runs, including a grand slam from Abbey Latham, to complete the comeback.
The Bulldogs out hit the Rebels at the plate, 12 to 4, stringing together 12 singles against the Ole Miss pitching staff. Junior Candace Denis led the Bulldogs at the plate going 3-for-4 with an RBI. Sophomore Mia Davidson also turned in a multi-hit performance, doing 2-for-4 with an RBI single to her credit.
Emily Williams earned the start and tossed the first three innings of the contest. The right-hander allowed just two hits, three walks and a hit by pitch to give up five runs. She fanned three in the outing. Fagan tossed the final three innings, giving up five runs and two hits. She was charged four runs.
Williams and Rebels' Moly Jacobsen tossed two scoreless innings before the Bulldogs came through in the top of the third with timely hitting. Seniors Bevia Robinson and Emily Heimberger led off the inning with lightning speed as both beat out bunt singles to get on base ahead of the heart of the Bulldog order.
Davidson knocked her first hit of the SEC Tournament with an RBI single to left field to score Robinson from second. An Ole Miss error on the throw at the plate allowed both Heimberger and Davidson to move up an extra base. Junior Fa Leilua followed with a single through the left side to extend the lead before senior Kat Moore delivered her third RBI single of the SEC Tournament with a base hit to right center.
A Rebel error at first base loaded the bases with no outs for State, but relief pitcher Brittany Finney retired the side to limit State's damage to three runs.
Ole Miss responded in the bottom of the third getting two runners on with one out after a hit by pitch and an error at second base. A deep fly ball to left field allowed both base runners to move into scoring position before a pass ball allowed an unearned run to score to cut the lead to 3-1.
The Rebels led off the bottom of the fourth with a walk and a single through the left side to break up Williams' no-hitter. Tate Whitley knocked a single up the middle to plate a run to make it a one-run contest.
A hit by pitch loaded the bases with no outs for the Rebels, forcing State to make a pitching change with leftie freshman Grace Fagan. A four-pitch walk with the bases loaded brought home the tying run to lock the game up at 3-3.
Ole Miss took the lead off an error on a fielder's choice play at the plate before Latham delivered the big blow with a grand slam to left field to push the Rebel lead to 8-3. The Rebels added a run in the bottom of the sixth taking advantage of a walk, a wild pitch and single to third to put runners on the corners. A Kaylee Horton groundout to second scored a run to push the lead to 9-3.
State did not go away, battling in the seventh inning to plate a run. Heimberger led off the inning with a single through the left side followed by a one-out single to third base from Leiliua. The Rebels picked up the second out of the inning with a fielder's choice play at second base to put runners on the corners. Denis' infield single brought home Heimberger to cut the Rebel lead to 9-4, but Finney closed out the game with a pop up at third base.
QUOTING VANN STUEDEMAN
"We were crushing the ball. We had twelve hits. We just had to get them at the right time. I feel like we didn't really need a message, we just kept doing what we were doing. We were swinging the bat well. [Ole Miss] made some good plays. We really didn't really say much. Just told our girls to keep after it and have good, quality at bats. We just needed to pitch better with bases loaded."
ON DECK
Mississippi State's NCAA Regional fate will be announced on Sunday, May 12 with the NCAA Selection Show. The NCAA Division I Softball bracket will be announced with Sunday's selection special on ESPN2 at 8 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".
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Mississippi State softball (33-21) could not hang on to its three-run lead as No. 17 Ole Miss (37-16) used a seventh-run fourth inning to mount a 9-4 comeback victory Thursday at Davis Diamond to end the Bulldogs' Southeastern Conference Tournament run.
Mississippi State used five straight singles in the top of the third to plate three runs for the early lead, but the Rebels battled back in the fourth with seven runs, including a grand slam from Abbey Latham, to complete the comeback.
The Bulldogs out hit the Rebels at the plate, 12 to 4, stringing together 12 singles against the Ole Miss pitching staff. Junior Candace Denis led the Bulldogs at the plate going 3-for-4 with an RBI. Sophomore Mia Davidson also turned in a multi-hit performance, doing 2-for-4 with an RBI single to her credit.
Emily Williams earned the start and tossed the first three innings of the contest. The right-hander allowed just two hits, three walks and a hit by pitch to give up five runs. She fanned three in the outing. Fagan tossed the final three innings, giving up five runs and two hits. She was charged four runs.
Williams and Rebels' Moly Jacobsen tossed two scoreless innings before the Bulldogs came through in the top of the third with timely hitting. Seniors Bevia Robinson and Emily Heimberger led off the inning with lightning speed as both beat out bunt singles to get on base ahead of the heart of the Bulldog order.
Davidson knocked her first hit of the SEC Tournament with an RBI single to left field to score Robinson from second. An Ole Miss error on the throw at the plate allowed both Heimberger and Davidson to move up an extra base. Junior Fa Leilua followed with a single through the left side to extend the lead before senior Kat Moore delivered her third RBI single of the SEC Tournament with a base hit to right center.
A Rebel error at first base loaded the bases with no outs for State, but relief pitcher Brittany Finney retired the side to limit State's damage to three runs.
Ole Miss responded in the bottom of the third getting two runners on with one out after a hit by pitch and an error at second base. A deep fly ball to left field allowed both base runners to move into scoring position before a pass ball allowed an unearned run to score to cut the lead to 3-1.
The Rebels led off the bottom of the fourth with a walk and a single through the left side to break up Williams' no-hitter. Tate Whitley knocked a single up the middle to plate a run to make it a one-run contest.
A hit by pitch loaded the bases with no outs for the Rebels, forcing State to make a pitching change with leftie freshman Grace Fagan. A four-pitch walk with the bases loaded brought home the tying run to lock the game up at 3-3.
Ole Miss took the lead off an error on a fielder's choice play at the plate before Latham delivered the big blow with a grand slam to left field to push the Rebel lead to 8-3. The Rebels added a run in the bottom of the sixth taking advantage of a walk, a wild pitch and single to third to put runners on the corners. A Kaylee Horton groundout to second scored a run to push the lead to 9-3.
State did not go away, battling in the seventh inning to plate a run. Heimberger led off the inning with a single through the left side followed by a one-out single to third base from Leiliua. The Rebels picked up the second out of the inning with a fielder's choice play at second base to put runners on the corners. Denis' infield single brought home Heimberger to cut the Rebel lead to 9-4, but Finney closed out the game with a pop up at third base.
QUOTING VANN STUEDEMAN
"We were crushing the ball. We had twelve hits. We just had to get them at the right time. I feel like we didn't really need a message, we just kept doing what we were doing. We were swinging the bat well. [Ole Miss] made some good plays. We really didn't really say much. Just told our girls to keep after it and have good, quality at bats. We just needed to pitch better with bases loaded."
ON DECK
Mississippi State's NCAA Regional fate will be announced on Sunday, May 12 with the NCAA Selection Show. The NCAA Division I Softball bracket will be announced with Sunday's selection special on ESPN2 at 8 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: Brittany Finney (15-8)
L: Williams, Emily (13-8)
Batting:
RBI: Davidson, Mia 1 ; Leilua, Fa 1 ; Moore, Kat 1 ; Denis, Candace 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Heimberger, Emily 2 ; Davidson, Mia 1 ; Robinson, Bevia 1
Batting:
HR: Abbey Latham 1
RBI: Kylan Becker 1 ; Abbey Latham 4 ; Kaylee Horton 1 ; Tate Whitley 1 ; Mikayla Allee 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kylan Becker 1 ; Abbey Latham 1 ; Autumn Gillespie 1 ; Kaylee Horton 1 ; Katelin Cooper 1 ; Tate Whitley 1 ; Taylor Watford 1 ; Mikayla Allee 1 ; Kelsha Loftin 1
SB: Autumn Gillespie 1
CS: Kacey Hvitved 1
HBP: Amanda Roth 1 ; Mikayla Allee 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
0
H
3
RBI
1
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
C/INF
/ SoftballP/UT
/ Softball
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/ SoftballUTL
/ Softball
UTL
/ Softball
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