'Dogs Head To Tuscaloosa For Series With SEC-Leading Alabama
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- The Mississippi State softball team (29-18, 9-11 SEC) will continue a nine-game roadtrip this weekend when the Bulldogs head to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to take on SEC-leading and 16th-ranked Alabama (34-14, 17-4) in a three-game series at the Alabama Softball Complex.
The squads will open up their set on Saturday with a 1 p.m. doubleheader and close out their series on Saturday with a single game set for 1:30 p.m. Tickets will be available at the gate or can be purchased by calling the University of Alabama athletic ticket office at (205) 348-6161.
State will roll into Tuscaloosa fresh off a series loss at Mississippi, dropping both ends of a Thursday twinbill on walk off home runs after absolutely hammering the Rebels 14-0 in the series opener on Wednesday. Alabama will make its final conference homestand this weekend on the heels of a 2-1 series victory over then-SEC East-leading Florida on Tuesday and Wednesday in Gainesville.
"The first game against (Ole Miss) went pretty good, but we struggled on the mound yesterday and we made some bad decisions on the basepaths and some key errors that really cost us at really crucial times," said Mississippi State head coach Jay Miller. "You can't do that in the conference. It doesn't matter who you are playing, if you don't go out and play well, you're going to get beat. We found that out yesterday."
The Bulldogs and Crimson Tide will play the 25th game of a series dominated by Alabama, 20-4. The Tide has taken the last 11 meetings with Mississippi State, including a three-game series sweep of the Bulldogs last season in Starkville. State's last victory over UA came in the 1999 SEC Tournament in Columbus, Ga., when the Maroon and White handed Alabama a 6-3 loss in the opening round. Alabama has taken eight of nine meetings all-time in Tuscaloosa.
Alabama has distanced itself from the rest of the pack in the SEC West primarily with a three-arm strong staff, led by freshman phenom Stephanie VanBrakle who is a current member of the U.S. Junior Women's National Team. The Crimson Tide will carry a 1.57 team ERA into the weekend, led by VanBrakle's 11-4 record and 1.06 ERA. However, Alabama's pitching strength can be traced to its depth as both Erin Wright (15-5, 1.77 ERA) and Jennifer Wright (8-5, 1.87) have earned run averages below the 2.00 plateau.
Offensively, Alabama is paced by a wealth of hitting with junior all-American Jackie McClain paving the way on a .374 (52-for-139) clip with six home runs and 40 RBI. McClain is well supported by three other hitters with batting averages above the .300 mark, including all-American Ashley Courtney who is hitting .357 (51-for-143) with nine extra-base hits and 23 RBI.
"I think it all goes back to pitching," Miller said. "We can hit with anybody, but we have got to get some pitching that will allow us to compete. We have to play good defense this weekend as well and get some people out. I think that is going to be the key is what kind of performance we can get on the mound."
State continues to be led by Iyhia McMichael who, although having her 25-game hitting streak snapped in Thursday's twinbill opener, still managed to shatter three records in Oxford. In the series opener, McMichael set a new record for consecutive games hitting streak and, in game two, took over the lead on MSU's career stolen base list with the 90th theft of her three-year tenure. McMichael hit her 14th and 15th home runs of the season in game three to establish a new single season mark in that category. On the season, the junior all-American is hitting .450 (63-for-140) with 29 extra-base hits (15 HR) and 53 RBI. McMichael needs just 13 more RBI this season to break State's single season record.
"This series is going to be very similar to our other series with Georgia and the other leaders in the conference," Miller said. "We have beaten all of them and we've had opportunities to beat them more than once. We have to go out and play well. This is another great opportunity. We're playing a ranked team that can give us some points in the RPI standings if we get some victories and help us solidify our postseason berth."