Bulldogs Take On Wildcats In Three-Game Home Series
State Continues 10-Game Homestand
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- The Mississippi State softball team (24-14, 4-8 SEC) will continue a 10-game homestand this weekend as the Bulldogs suit up to welcome SEC Eastern Division foe Kentucky (9-21, 1-11) with a three-game series at the Mississippi State Softball Field.
The 'Dogs and the 'Cats will open their series on Saturday as the two engage in a double dip beginning at noon, and will close out their series on Sunday with a single game set for 12:30 p.m. Admission to all 2003 Mississippi State Softball home games is free of charge.
Kentucky will ride a camouflaged eight-game losing streak into Starkville, having dropped all three games of its series with nationally-ranked Georgia and Alabama, as well as the last two games of its set with Mississippi in Oxford. Mississippi State will enter the series after salvaging its series with No. 11 LSU in a 6-2 thumping of the Tigers on Thursday evening at home. The Bulldogs led in each game of its series with the Purple and Gold, with last-inning rallies falling short in each of the first two contests.
"I was very pleased with the way we came back against LSU after two just demoralizing losses on Wednesday when we had both of those games in our grasp," said Mississippi State head coach Jay Miller. "I was concerned that we would just come out and tank the whole series, but the kids showed me a lot of heart the way they came back against LSU. I feel good about that. I think it was great to get one win.
"Prior to the LSU series, we were saying that if we could get one out of three that we would be in good shape. The thing that is disappointing in looking back is that we could have won all three of them and swept."
In as tightly a contested series as they come, Mississippi State will enter Saturday having taken eight of its 15 meetings with Kentucky, including the last of its three-game series with the Wildcats last season in Lexington, Ky. Very few of the games in the series have been low-scoring, but just less than half have been decided by two runs or less. The series has just three shutouts to its credit, with two of them falling on the Bluegrass side with identical 1-0 blankings of the 'Dogs in a 1998 doubleheader.
Kentucky's strengths may lie in the heart of its order as just two Wildcats clutch batting averages above the .300 plateau. The 'Cats are hitting just .215 as a squad, led by its usual suspects in seniors Nikki Jones and Lyndsey Angus. Jones has belted out a team-leading .400 (39-for-95) clip this season, including nine extra-base hits and eight RBI. Angus is hitting .364 (28-for-77) including team highs in both home runs (6) and RBI (19).
Three of its four-armed pitching staff are under the age of 19 which could account for the 'Cats' team ERA of 4.55. Kentucky has just one shutout to its credit (Morehead State, March 12), but 43 of its 168 runs allowed are of the unearned variety. The Wildcats have been devastated by a two-error average over 60 contests and will bring a paltry .933 fielding percentage into Starkville.
"We're fighting to get into the SEC Tournament right now, let alone the NCAA Tournament," Miller said. "I don?t think that we can take anybody lightly. If you look at our schedule compared to the other schools in the SEC, I think we have played the toughest schedule by far. Nobody has played as many top 25 teams as we have in the whole league. Hopefully that has prepared us well to finish strong in the conference season and going into the NCAA Tournament."
In the mix of six Bulldogs hitting .297 or better, Iyhia McMichael has distanced herself above the rest, in turning in a banner season through 38 games. McMichael, who will enter the weekend stretch with a 18-game hitting streak, is hitting .432 (48-for-111) with 20 extra-base hits and 37 RBI. She paces the conference in both slugging (.820) and on-base percentage (.519) and has proven successful in 27-straight stolen base attempts dating back to last season. Kate Jaspers might be MSU's hottest hitter right now, however, as the junior hit .636 (7-for-11) in the three-game set with LSU, including a trio of doubles and four runs scored.
"I still think that we are in good shape," Miller said. "Hopefully, the win in the last game of the LSU series will carry us through and lead to a good performance this weekend against Kentucky. We're in a situation that we want to go out and play good ball. We have got to keep hitting the ball the way we have been and we have got to get good performances on the mound like we got Thursday from Jennifer Nelson. If we keep playing like that, I think we'll have a great weekend against Kentucky."