State Completes Twinbill Sweep Of Panthers, 4-0
Bulldogs Wrap Up Five-Game Homestand
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Mississippi State (22-10) rallied for single runs in the third and fifth innings, then put a tight game out of reach with two more in the sixth to complete a doubleheader sweep of visiting Birmingham Southern (11-21) Wednesday evening at the Mississippi State Softball Field.
Kate Jaspers scored a run on a perfect 2-for-2 night at the plate, with Jennifer Nelson (1-for-3), Iyhia McMichael (1-for-3, R), Jennifer Jessup (1-for-3) and Krystal Tillman (0-for-1) all driving in runs. Second baseman Kerri Owens and third baseman Leslie Roberts accounted for the Panthers? only two hits on the night.
MSU starter Courtney Frank (4-2) dominated the Birmingham Southern batting order for much of the game, facing the minimum through one out in the fifth, striking out one and allowing just two hits, to take the shutout win for the Bulldogs. Dawn Treadwell (5-7) had a good grasp on the Mississippi State lineup for the first four innings, but saddled the loss after allowing four earned runs on seven Maroon and White knocks.
State scraped together a run in the third, getting Jaspers into scoring position on a bunt single and a sac bunt from Tillman, then taking the 1-0 lead on Jennifer Nelson?s RBI single up the middle. The Bulldogs struck again in the fifth, getting consecutive one-out singles from Callye Williams and Jaspers to set the table for Tillman, who drove in a run on a RBI groundout to the left side.
Mississippi State got a one-out triple from McMichael in the sixth, then extended its lead out to three on Waterman?s 13th double of the campaign, then scored the game?s final run on Jessup?s RBI single to centerfield.
Mississippi State will step back into conference play this weekend when the squad travels to Knoxville, Tenn., for a three-game series with the Tennessee Lady Vols. The two will open their set with a 1 p.m. EST Saturday afternoon doubleheader and close out the series with a single game on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Tyson Park.
| MISSISSIPPI STATE 4, BIRMINGHAM SOUTHERN 0 | |||||||
| Birmingham Southern | 000 | 000 | 0 | - | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Mississippi State | 001 | 012 | x | - | 4 | 7 | 0 |
Treadwell and Cantrell; Frank and Brown. W ? Frank (4-2). L ? Treadwell (5-7). Save ? None. 3B MSU, McMichael (4). 2B MSU, Waterman (13). SH BSC, Fuhrmann. MSU, Tillman.