Bulldogs Blank Kentucky 7-0, Clinch Series
Massey Hurls Three-Hit Shutout, McMichael Homers
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Mississippi State (26-14, 6-8 SEC) exploded for five unearned runs in the fourth to break open an otherwise close game as the Bulldogs completed a doubleheader sweep of visiting Kentucky (9-23, 1-13 SEC) with a 7-0 win in Saturday's nightcap at the Mississippi State Softball Field.
Iyhia McMichael highlighted a 3-for-3 day at the plate with her tenth homer of the campaign, driving in three runs, stealing two bases and scoring twice. Jennifer Nelson scored and drove in a run on a 1-fo4 tally in accouting for State's other RBI. Second baseman Nikki Jones delivered a 2-for-3 showing to pace the visiting Wildcats. McMichael's three hits in the contest stretched her career-long hitting streak to 20 games.
MSU starter Melissa Massey put an end to a personal two-game skid by dominating the Bluegrass felines, striking out four and allowing just three hits over her fifth shutout of the campaign. Crystalie Wolfe (0-3) allowed seven runs on 10 Maroon and White knocks to saddle the loss for Kentucky.
"It was nice to see Melissa come out and dominate a ballgame for a change," said Mississippi State head coach Jay Miller. "She struggled the last the last few outings and for her to come out and throw a shutout is a big step for her."
"We hit the ball very well. That's what we need to do ? come out and put some runs on the board. In the first game, we put some runs up early and then sort of hung on. We got the outs when we needed them today. Courtney (Frank) came into the first game and shut the door and picked up a big save for us. The second game, it took us a while to get going, but we finally got a big hit from Iyhia to bust it open."
Both teams' offenses proved stagnant until the fourth inning when the Bulldogs took advantage of a crucial two-out error by Jones. With the bases juiced and a pair of outs on the board, Kate Jaspers' hard grounder was misplayed by Jones, allowing a pair of runners to score for the 2-0 lead and leaving the Bulldogs with two more runners in scoring position. McMichael finished the damage two pitches later, smacking a 1-0 offering from Wolfe over the fence in right centerfield for the 5-0 lead.
Mississippi State stretched its lead to 6-0 on Jennifer Nelson's RBI infield single in the sixth, then provided the final when McMichael raced home on a wild pitch in the sixth.
Mississippi State and Kentucky will close out their series on Sunday afternoon when the squads return to the Mississippi State Softball Field for the series finale at 12:30 p.m. Admission to all 2003 Mississippi State Softball home games is free of charge.
MISSISSIPPI STATE 7, KENTUCKY 0
Kentucky 000 000 0 - 0 3 3 Mississippi State 000 511 x - 7 10 0
Wolfe and Angus; Massey and Waterman. W ? Massey (16-6). L ? Wolfe (0-3). Save ? None. 2B MSU, McMichael, Waterman. HR MSU McMichael.