No. 22 Dogs Drop Heartbreaker To Kansas, 4-3
Wind Stops Seventh-Inning Rally By Mississippi State TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Kansas (5-7) plated four runs in the first three innings of the ballgame, then held off a seventh-inning charge by 22nd-ranked Mississippi State (12-7) to slip by the Bulldogs, 4-3, Sunday afternoon at the Florida State Sunshine Classic in Tallahassee, Fla. Kelle Wilkerson went 2-for-3, while Jennifer Nelson and Iyhia McMichael turned in 2-for-4 showings at the plate to account for seven of the Bulldogs nine base hits. Jennifer Jessup and Brooke Best hit 1-for-3 for the Bulldogs. Christi Musser turned in a pair of RBIs on a 2-for-3 tally to pace the Jayhawks. Mississippi State starter Melissa Massey (2-3) scattered five hits and struck out five over five and two-thirds innings of work, but surrendered a pair of earned runs on a home run in the first to take the loss. Serena Settlemier (3-2) nearly allowed a double-digit hitting performance with six strikeouts, but got help from a strong wind from leftfield to escape with a victory in the circle. The Bulldogs wasted little time posing a scoring threat, using consecutive singles and two stolen bases to put a pair of runners in scoring position with no outs in the first. However, Settlemier calmed down and struck out the next three batters to effectively nix the scoring threat moments later. Massey delivered a leadoff walk on six pitches to begin the bottom of the frame, then could only watch as Kansas moved the runner into scoring position on a sac bunt by Lindsey Weinstein. Christi Musser gave the Jayhawks a 2-0 lead one batter later on a homer to the gap in right-centerfield. The Jayhawks used a one-out single and a wild pitch by Massey to move a runner to third base with two outs in the second, then utilized a walk three batters later to put runners on the corners. On a double steal attempt by Kansas in the next at-bat, Waterman's throw left her hands off target and went off the glove of Best at second, allowing Megan Urquhart to stroll home from third with the 3-0 lead. Kansas used an error and a base hit in its first two at bats to put runners on the corners in the third, then conjured up a semi-successful double steal attempt with Waterman getting the runner going to second but failing to field the throw on the runner coming home. The Jayhawks took a 4-0 lead into the fourth inning. Mississippi Statelit up the scoreboard in the fifth for the first time in 18 innings, using a one-out hit by Wilkerson and a towering two-run dinger by McMichael to straight-away centerfield with the wind blowing in from leftfield. State mounted a two-out rally in the seventh, using two consecutive hits to plate Wilkerson (hit by pitch) from first base, but then succumbed when Blaire Brown's hard hit to left field was held up by the wind and was collected by Musser at the warning track. Mississippi State will return to action this afternoon when the Bulldogs return to the Seminole Softball Complex to battle #18 Florida State (14-6) in a 2:30 p.m. CT contest at the Seminole Softball Complex.
Kansas 4, #22 Mississippi State 3 Mississippi State 000 020 1 - 3 9 4Kansas 211 000 0 - 4 5 0Massey, Wilkerson (6) and Waterman; Settlemierand Campbell, May (6). W - Settlemier (3-2).L - Massey (2-3). Save - None. HR - Kansas:C. Musser, Miss. State: McMichael (3).