'Dogs Clinch Series With 6-2 Victory Over Florida
Official Game 2 Statistics
State Sweeps Twinbill With Gators, Will Honor Senior Class On Sunday STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Kellie Wilkerson's three-run double in the bottom of the fifth inning proved to be the game winner as the Mississippi State softball team (33-27, 12-16 SEC) completed a doubleheader sweep of visiting Florida (32-32, 12-17) with a 6-2 victory in the nightcap Saturday afternoon at the Mississippi State Softball Field. Wilkerson plated four RBIs and walked once on a 2-for-2 day at the plate, while teammate Jennifer Nelson completed an exceptional hitting day, scoring a pair of runs on a 2-for-3 tally. Senior Katy Berger paced the Gators on a 3-for-4 clip. Mississippi State starter Melissa Massey (6-12) allowed just three hits in four and one-thirds innings of work to record the victory, striking out two Gators in the process. Amanda Moore (11-13) gave up five runs on four Mississippi State hits to saddle the loss for the Gators. Despite not being able to scratch the hit column of the scoreboard, State took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second, getting Iyhia McMichael aboard on a throwing error, then using the short game to move the runner to third before Brooke Best plated McMichael on an RBI groundout to the shortstop. The Bulldogs got a leadoff single from Jennifer Nelson in the fourth, then extended their lead to a pair on Wilkerson's second triple of the campaign moments later. Wilkerson's two-out triple with the bases loaded in the fifth extended State's lead out to 5-0, before Florida reliever Brittani Houghton's wild pitch in the bottom of the sixth brought Kate Jaspers racing across the plate with an insurance run. Florida plated two unearned runs on a pair of MSU errors with two outs in the seventh to provide the final. In the opener of the series, Mississippi State rallied for four runs behind a strong pitching performance by its senior tandem as the Bulldogs put an end to an eight-game conference losing streak with a 4-1 win over the Gators. McMichael collected two RBIs and scored once on a 2-for-3 hitting day, with Lindsay Nelson (2-for-3) also turning in a multi-hit performance. Jennifer Nelson walked and scored twice on a 1-for-1 day at the plate. Shortstop Jackie Marchetta sparked Florida on a 2-for-4 hitting performance. Bulldog starter Kasey Whitehead scattered five hits and struck out two in four innings of work to become just the third pitcher in school history to record 20 or more wins in a season. Wilkerson finished out the game with three innings of one-hit ball to record her nation-leading 14th save of the season and building on the NCAA single season record she already owns. State wasted no time in lighting up the left field scoreboard, moving Jennifer Nelson into scoring position with two outs in the first to set the table for McMichael's RBI single up the middle. Florida knotted the score up in the top of the third on Jenilee Garner's RBI single down the rightfield line, but the Maroon and White retook the lead in the bottom of the inning on McMichael's double down the rightfield line. State put runners on the corners with one out in the fifth, then scored Jennifer Nelson from third base on Kate Jaspers' fielders' choice RBI. Jennifer Waterman's sacrifice fly to right field two batters later plated McMichael with the insurance run for the Bulldogs. Mississippi State and Florida will close out their three-game series tomorrow when both return to the Mississippi State Softball Field for the 12:30 p.m. series finale. The game will be preceded by Senior Day festivities as MSU's Class of 2002 -- Wilkerson, Whitehead and manager Larry Hood --will be honored in a pregame ceremony.
GAME 1 - Mississippi State 4, Florida 1Florida 001 000 0 - 1 6 0Mississippi State 101 020 x - 4 6 2Schuerman, Houghton (5) and Berger, Zimbardi (5);Whitehead (1,3), Wilkerson (2,5) and Waterman.W - Whitehead (20-12). L - Schuerman (7-8).Save - Wilkerson (14). 2B - MSU, McMichael.GAME 2 - Mississippi State 6, Florida 2Florida 000 000 2 - 2 8 1Mississippi State 010 131 x - 6 6 3Moore, Houghton (6) and Zimbardi; Massey,Wilkerson (5), Whitehead (6) and Mosley, Brown (7).W - Massey (6-12). L - Moore (11-13). Save - None.3B - MSU, Wilkerson. 2B - MSU, Wilkerson, Jaspers.