State Hammers Rebels In Oxford, 14-0
Bulldogs Eclipse Home Run Record; McMichael's Hit Streak At School-Record 25 Games
OXFORD, Miss. -- Visiting Mississippi State (29-16, 9-9 SEC) sent 13 batters to the plate in a 10-run fifth-inning explosion and handed homestanding Mississippi (14-25, 3-13) its worst loss of the season with a 14-0 rout of the Rebels Wednesday evening at the Ole Miss Softball Complex.
Six different players recorded multi-hit nights for the Bulldogs with Jennifer Nelson leading the way in the hits column, turning in a 3-for-4 evening with a pair of runs scored and one RBI. Iyhia McMichael extended her hitting streak to a school record 25 games, while also turning in four RBI and three runs scored, to highlight a 2-for-3 tally. Jennifer Jessup also recorded a career night at the plate, collecting four RBI on a 2-for-3 tally with a run scored.
Kate Jaspers (2-for-3, 3 R), Lindsay Nelson (2-for-3, HR, 2 R) and Callye Williams (2-for-3, 2 R) also turned in multi-hit nights for the Maroon and White. Mississippi catcher Phyllis Manley doubled and walked on a 1-for-1 showing to pace the Rebels.
MSU starter Melissa Massey (19-6) allowed just a leadoff hit in the first and a two-out hit in the fifth in recording her eighth shutout of the campaign while striking out four. Lindsay Price (8-11) could not dodge the Mississippi State bats and was saddled with the loss after allowing 14 runs on 15 Bulldog knocks. Nine of her 14 runs allowed were of the unearned variety.
McMichael's current hit streak eclipses a four-year old record formerly held by four-time all-American Kellie Wilkerson, who hit safely in the first 24 games of her career in 1999. McMichael and Nelson's back-to-back home run performance in the fifth pushed MSU's season total to 32, breaking the old record of 31 that was held by the 2001 Maroon and White squad. The victory also marked MSU?s seventh consecutive victory in the series with its cross-state nemesis.
"We got a very good performance from Melissa tonight and we swung the bats very well," said Mississippi State head coach Jay Miller. "We can't sit back though. Ole Miss is a good team and they will come to play tomorrow. We need to be ready to come out and play the way we did today."
State wasted no time in lighting up the rightfield scoreboard, loading the bases with one out in the first to set the table for Jennifer Waterman who laced a two-run single to centerfield for the 2-0 lead. Brooke Best's RBI groundout gave the Bulldogs a 3-0 advantage heading into the second. The Maroon and White got a leadoff double from Williams in the third and a RBI single from Jessup to extend its lead to 4-0, then threatened to push the lead out to five on a leadoff triple from Lindsay Nelson in the third. However, Price showed signs of damming the flood and retired the next three Bulldogs in order.
After scoreless third and fourth innings, State jumped all over the Rebels again, scoring once and getting its first four batters aboard before the Rebels recorded an out in the inning. With two outs showing, however, State rallied for nine unearned runs on five hits, a walk and a costly error by the Rebels, including back-to-back homers from McMichael and Lindsay Nelson. It marked the second-straight contest in which the Bulldogs have recorded back-to-back dingers. McMichael and Jaspers combined to accomplish the feat in a 7-1 rout of Auburn on Saturday at the Mississippi State Softball Field.
The Bulldogs and Rebels will close out their series on Thursday afternoon when the squads return to the Ole Miss Softball Complex for a 5 p.m. doubleheader. Both games of the series-ending twinbill can be followed via a live stats link at www.MstateAthletics.com, the official website of Mississippi State University athletics.
MISSISSIPPI STATE 14, MISSISSIPPI 0
Mississippi State 310 0(10) -- 14 15 1Mississippi 000 00 -- 0 2 3
Massey and Waterman, Brown (1); Price and Manley. W -- Massey (19-6). L -- Price (8-11). Save -- None. 2B -- MSU, Williams, Jessup. UM, Manley. 3B -- MSU, J. Nelson, Jaspers, L. Nelson. HR -- McMichael (13), L. Nelson (2).