'Dogs Pound Florida, 8-2, To Complete Series Sweep
State Sends Seniors Out With A Win, Heads Into SEC Tournament As #7 Seed STARKVILLE, Miss. -- The Mississippi State softball team (34-27, 13-16) erupted for nine hits and eight runs over the final four innings of play to erase an early 2-0 lead by visiting Florida (32-33, 12-17) and complete a three-game series sweep of the Gators Sunday afternoon at the Mississippi State Softball Field. Senior Kellie Wilkerson, playing in her last game in front of the home crowd, scored three runs on a 3-for-3 hitting performance to pace the Bulldogs, with Lindsay Nelson matching a career-high with four RBIs on a 2-for-3 tally at the plate. Jennifer Nelson (2-for-3, R), Iyhia McMichael (2-for-3, 2 R, RBI) and Kate Jaspers (2-for-2, 2 RBI, R) also provided multi-hit days for the Maroon and White. Jenilee Garner (1-for-3) plated and scored a run to spark the Gators. The win was extra special for at least three individuals on the field as Whitehead, Wilkerson and manager Larry Hood were honored in a pregame ceremony commemorating Senior Day. The win also closed out Mississippi State's regular season schedule with a 17-8 home record and, with 352 on hand to watch Sunday's contest, the Bulldogs finished with 8,777 total home attendance in 25 dates (377 average). Florida got three hits in the second and third innings combined, but could not muster any kind of offense the rest of the way out off Mississippi State starter Melissa Massey. Massey (7-12) struck out two and walked one through six innings of work to notch her second-straight decision, with senior Kasey Whitehead working a hitless seventh. Gator starter Amanda Moore (11-14) gave up five runs on seven Bulldog hits in just two and one-thirds innings to get the loss for the Orange and Blue. Florida got a leadoff single from senior Katy Berger in the second, then took a 1-0 lead on Jenilee Garner's seeing-eye triple through the left side one batter later. After Massey got Andrea Zimbardi to foul out, Florida took a 2-0 lead moments later on Bree Berger's sac fly to deep centerfield. State left three runners through its first two at-bats of the game, but cashed in on four hits and a pair of walks to take the lead on a five-hole in the third. After Krystal Tillman grounded out to start the frame, State loaded the bases on Jennifer Nelson's one-out single and a couple of free passes issued to Wilkerson and McMichael, respectively. Lindsay Nelson's two-run single down the leftfield line knotted the score up at two apiece, but Jaspers followed with a two-run triple down the rightfield line that threw up chalk on its second bounce. Amy Mosley's RBI groundout one batter later scored Jaspers and closed the floodgates. Wilkerson and McMichael both reached on two-out singles in the fourth to set the tables for Lindsay Nelson once again, who hammered a 1-1 offering into left-centerfield to give the Bulldogs a 7-2 advantage. McMichael's RBI double to left-centerfield in the bottom of the sixth scored Wilkerson to provide the final. Mississippi State will again be action on Thursday as the Bulldogs head to Chattanooga, Tenn., for the 2002 SEC Tournament. The seventh-seeded Maroon and White will face second-seeded and SEC East champion South Carolina (41-16, 20-10) in an opening round contest at 2 p.m. EDT on Thursday. All games of the 2002 SEC Tournament will be played inside the 3,300-seat Jim Frost Stadium. For ticket information, contact the Southeastern Conference at (205) 458-3000.
Mississippi State 8, Florida 2 Florida 020 000 0 - 2 3 0Mississippi State 005 201 x - 8 13 0Moore, Houghton (3), Schuerman (5) and Zimbardi,B. Berger (5); Massey, Whitehead (7) and Mosley,Waterman (7). W - Massey (7-12). L - Moore (11-14).Save - None. 2B - MSU, Wilkerson, McMichael.3B - UF, Garner; MSU, Jaspers.