'Dogs Rally To Burn Demons In Marathon Contest, 9-6
State Matches Season High With 13 Hits In 2 Hour, 54 Minute Regulation Contest LAFAYETTE, La. -- The Mississippi State softball team (36-30) matched a season high with 13 hits and twice rallied from deficits to oust sixth-seeded Northwestern State (45-25) from NCAA Regional 3 with a 9-6 defeat early Friday morning at Lady Cajun Park in Lafayette, La. Four players recorded multi-hit performances for Mississippi State with Kellie Wilkerson paving the way on a 3-for-4 night at the plate. Krystal Tillman cashed in on a 2-for-4 tally at the plate with her second home run of the campaign, Iyhia McMichael scored twice on a 2-for-4 clip and shortstop Jennifer Jessup plated two runners and scored once on a 2-for-4 night. Kate Jaspers added three RBIs on a 1-for-3 performance. Leadoff hitter Nicole Martin paced the Demons with a 3-for-5 showing at the plate. The reliever Wilkerson (6-2) came on in the third inning, scattering four hits and striking out two Demons through two and one-thirds innings of work to notch the victory for the Bulldogs. Northwestern State reliever Amanda Ortego (17-13) worked the final three and one-thirds innings of the contest, allowing five runs on six Mississippi State hits, to saddle the loss. Wilkerson's three hits against Northwestern State moves the senior to within three hits of matching former MSU all-American Keri McCallum's school career record of 319. The two hour and 54 minute contest is believed to be the longest regulation game in school history, surpassing two hour and 48 minute seven-inning contests against both Southern Mississippi in 2001 and Alabama earlier this season. The final out of the contest was recorded at 1:24 a.m. CDT early Friday morning. After the Maroon and White thwarted a suicide squeeze attempt with one out in the bottom of the second on Tanelda McDonald's flip throw to home plate, the Demons loaded the bases with its next two at-bats, then took a 2-0 lead into the third on a two-run single off the bat of Johnston. Mississippi State cut the lead in half on Tillman's dinger in the third to the bleachers in leftfield, but NSU extended their lead back out to three in the bottom of the inning, getting Erin Mancuso on with a catcher's interference before a two-run line drive home run by Jana Strickland gave the Purple and White a 4-1 advantage and chased Whitehead from the circle. The Maroon and White got a one-out triple from Iyhia McMichael in the fourth, then scored its second run of the game on Jaspers' seeing-eye single up the middle. MSU loaded the bases for the first time in the ballgame with its next two batters of the inning, then knotted the game back up on Jessup's hard shot to centerfield. Northwestern State retook the lead with a run in the bottom of the fourth, but State answered again in the fifth, scoring two runs on a pair of singles and a two-base fielding error to take its first lead of the ballgame, 6-5. The Bulldogs continued their rally into the sixth, loading the bases with their first three at-bats, then extending their lead out to 8-5 on Wilkerson's hard liner to rightfield. Kate Jaspers' fielders' choice RBI two batters later put the finishing touches on the three-run inning for the Maroon and White. Northwestern State attempted to rally in the seventh, using a leadoff double from Scott and a sacrifice fly from Krystle Nichols to score a run, but could not get any closer. Mississippi State will be back in action Friday afternoon when the Bulldogs return to Lady Cajun Park for another elimination contest against tournament host and third-seeded Louisiana-Lafayette (49-12). First pitch is set for 2:30 p.m. The winner of the contest will move on to play top-seeded LSU (54-9) at 7:30 p.m. Mississippi State 9, Northwestern State 6Mississippi State 001 323 0 - 9 13 4Northwestern State 022 100 1 - 6 13 1Whitehead (1,6), Massey (3), Wilkerson (3) and Brown,Waterman (6); Miller, Rasberry (4), Ortego (4) andFrasier, Nichols (6). W - Wilkerson (6-2).L - Ortego (17-13). Save - None. HR - MSU, Tillman;NSU, Strickland. 3B - MSU, McMichael. 2B - MSU,Tillman, Brown; NSU - Danzy 2. SF - NSU, Danzy, Nichols.