Chanticleers Salvage Series, Down State 7-6 In Game Three
Sixth-Inning Homer Completes Comeback For Coastal; MSU Completes 4-3 Road Trip
CONWAY, S.C. -- Three-time all-region selection Holly Lee's two-run home run with two outs in the bottom of the sixth helped homestanding Coastal Carolina (14-7) overcome 10 hits by Mississippi State (19-8) and defeat the visiting Bulldogs, 7-6, Wednesday evening at the Coastal Carolina Softball Field.
Jennifer Waterman (2-for-3, R) and freshman Callye Williams (2-for-3, HR) each turned in a pair of multi-hit showings to key the Maroon and White's seventh double digit hitting performance of the season. Williams also joined Jennifer Jessup and Iyhia McMichael in hitting home runs. Rightfielder Suzanne Kimbrell paced the Chanticleers on a 2-for-2 showing with a trio of RBI.
MSU starter Melissa Massey worked just two-thirds of an inning, surrendering three earned runs on three hits and three walks, before being pulled in favor of freshman reliever Stephanie Owens. Owens (0-1), an Easley, S.C., native, suffered her first loss of the season after giving up four earned runs on seven Coastal Carolina hits. Chanticleer reliever Brittany Nelson (3-2) came on at the start of the third inning and surrendered just one run on four hits to get the victory for Coastal.
"I thought we came out good that second game by putting some runs on the board, but we just couldn't hold them," said Mississippi State head coach Jay Miller. "Melissa struggled big time finding the plate and giving up some hits and then Stephanie came in and they hit her pretty hard. She got them out at times but, when you have a 1-2 count to their best hitter with first base open, you can't give her a pitch that she can hit out of the ballpark. That's what killed us."
State wasted no time in lighting up the rightfield scoreboard, getting a solo home run from McMichael and a RBI single from Waterman to take a quick 2-0 lead, but Coastal Carolina responded with three runs of their own in the bottom of the frame to take a 3-2 lead into the second. Jessup's three-run home run in the second gave Mississippi State its second lead of the contest, but the Chanticleers trimmed the deficit to just one run, 5-4, on Sara Hostetler's RBI groundout in the bottom of the second.
Williams' solo home run -- the first of her collegiate career -- pushed State's lead back to two in the third, but Coastal Carolina rallied for three runs in the fifth and sixth innings to take the lead for good. Suzanne Kimbrell's RBI double in the fifth brought the Chanticleers to within one, 6-5, and Lee hammered a 1-2 offering from Owens in the bottom of the sixth to secure the win.
Mississippi State will return to action this weekend when the Bulldogs lace up to host the SEC East-leading Georgia Bulldogs (24-3) in a three-game series at the Mississippi State Softball Field. The two will open the set with a 12 p.m. Saturday doubleheader and close out the series on Sunday afternoon with a single game at 12:30.
COASTAL CAROLINA 7, MISSISSIPPI STATE 6
Mississippi State 231 000 0 -- 6 10 0Coastal Carolina 310 012 x -- 7 10 0
Massey, Owens (1) and Waterman; Tolleson, Nelson (3) and Hastings. W - Nelson (3-2). L - Owens (0-1). Save - None. 2B MSU, Williams, Jaspers. CCU, Thompson, Hostetlet, Kimbrell. HR MSU, Jessup, McMichael, Williams. CCU, Lee.