Bulldogs Finish Off Sweep Of Kentucky, 6-3
State Erases Late Deficit With Four-Run Sixth
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Freshman Callye Williams drove in and scored the winning run in a four-run sixth inning for Mississippi State (27-14, 7-8 SEC) as the Bulldogs erased a late deficit to finish off its series sweep of visiting Kentucky (9-24, 1-14) with a 6-3 victory Sunday afternoon at the Mississippi State Softball Field.
Williams' heroics highlighted a 1-for-3 day for the Katy, Texas, native, while two of her teammates turned in multi-hit showings. Jennifer Nelson scored twice on a 2-for-4 day, while Lindsay Nelson crossed the plate once on the same tally. Kate Jaspers drove in a pair of runs with a 1-for-3 performance and all-American Iyhia McMichael stretched her career-long hitting streak to 21 games on a 1-for-2 knock with a pair of walks and one RBI. Second baseman Nikki Jones hit 2-for-4 with a run scored and a two RBI to lead Kentucky.
Melissa Massey (17-6) recorded her second-straight victory, striking out five and allowing a trio of earned runs over her 12th complete game of the campaign to notch the victory for MSU. Kentucky starter Amy Kendall (6-13) took the loss for Kentucky despite surrendering just one earned run on nine MSU hits in six innings of work.
"We started off slow and we got in trouble a couple of times," said Mississippi State head coach Jay Miller. "We walked their eight and nine batters in the third and then gave up a triple to their leadoff kid. Then, we have her out at the plate and don't make the play. All of a sudden we are behind and we get in a situation where we have runners on base every inning and can't get the big hit.
"It was big in that sixth inning. J.J. (Jennifer Jessup) was struggling a little bit to get on top of the ball, but she gave us a good hard hit up the middle to give us a start and, obviously, Callye gave us a big hit. You have to look at Kate Jaspers coming up big for us as well with a couple of insurance runs."
Mississippi State took a 1-0 lead on Brooke Best's RBI single in the second, but Kentucky took advantage of defensive lapses by the Bulldogs in the third to plate three runs of their own. Massey walked UK's eight and nine hitters to start off the inning and set the table for Jones who laced a base-clearing double to rightfield. A groundout moved Jones within 60 feet of the plate, before Lyndsey Angus' RBI groundout finished off the damage and gave the Wildcats a 3-1 lead.
The Bulldogs got to within one on McMichael's RBI single in the third, then came up big in the sixth inning to put the game away. Jessup's hard hit up the middle was misplayed by Kentucky shortstop Rachel Friberg and, two batters later, Williams blasted a double to the gap in right centerfield to plate the runner. Best's hard shot to rightfield moved Williams to third and MSU took its second lead of the contest when Williams crossed the plate on Kendall's wild pitch.
The Bulldogs got two more runners on with consecutive singles by Tillman and Jennifer Nelson, then put both into scoring position on a double steal. Jaspers provided a pair of insurance runs moments later on a single to left centerfield.
Mississippi State will return to action on Thursday when the Bulldogs battle Southern Mississippi at Madison's Liberty Park as part of the M&F Bank Fastpitch Classic. First pitch of the event's featured game is set for 6:30 p.m. and tickets can be obtained by calling the MSU Athletic Ticket Office at (662) 325-2600.
MISSISSIPPI STATE 6, KENTUCKY 3
Kentucky 003 000 0 -- 3 5 3Mississippi State 011 004 x -- 6 9 0
Kendall and Angus; Massey and Waterman. W ? Massey (17-6). L ? Kendall (6-13). Save ? None. 2B UK, Jones, Angus. MSU, McMichael, L. Nelson, Williams.