Bulldogs Salvage Series, Upset No. 17 Alabama, 7-3
State Ends Three-Year Drought, Snaps 14-Game Skid To SEC-Leading Crimson Tide
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Visiting Mississippi State (30-20, 10-13 SEC) sent 11 batters to the plate in a five-run sixth inning, then got a key defensive play to kill a late rally by homestanding Alabama (36-15, 19-5) in the bottom of the frame, as the Bulldogs snapped a 14-game losing skid to the Crimson Tide with a 7-3 victory in the series finale Sunday afternoon at the Alabama Softball Complex.
Four different players recorded multi-hit days for the Maroon and White, including Krystal Tillman who scored twice and drove in a run on a 2-for-5 tally at the plate. Iyhia McMichael walked twice and scored once on a perfect 2-for-2 performance, Blaire Brown drove in a run on a 2-for-4 showing and Lindsay Nelson plated a pair of runs on a 2-for-4 exhibition. Jennifer Nelson stretched her career-long hitting streak to 17 games, driving in a run on a 1-for-5 tally. Ashley Courtney (run scored) and Lacy Prejean (RBI) both paced the Crimson and White on 2-for-3 clips.
With the exception of an offensive outburst by Alabama in the third, State starter Courtney Frank kept the hosts off balance for much of the day, scattering eight hits and striking out a pair in evening her record up at 5-5. Jennifer Wright (8-6), one of three Alabama pitchers in the game, was saddled with the loss for the Crimson Tide after allowing four runs on six Mississippi State hits.
The loss effectively ended a 14-game losing streak to Alabama and marked State's first victory in the series since prevailing 6-3 in the opening round of the 1999 SEC Tournament. It also marked Alabama's first conference home loss of the season.
Courtney Frank wanted the ball today and wanted to get the win for us, said Mississippi State head coach Jay Miller. That is what we needed ?€“ someone to step up and take charge for us. I thought we did very well offensively and we got a key defensive play down the stretch to take away their momentum.
This was a huge win for us and it will, hopefully, help our RPI standings and help us secure a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Mississippi State took advantage of a pair of hits and a huge Alabama miscue in the second inning to plate a run. After a leadoff single and a stolen base from McMichael, Lindsay Nelson swung through a 1-2 offering from Wright, but went all the way to second when the pitch went wild. A heads-up play by McMichael brought the run home on a close play at the plate and gave the Maroons and a 1-0 lead heading into the third.
A hit and an Alabama error put runners at the corners for MSU with one out in the third, and Lindsay Nelson came through again, this time lifting a fly ball deep enough to leftfield to allow Tillman to score from third on the sac fly. Alabama got its first hit of the game in its half of the third and followed with three more to score its first run of the game and cut its deficit in half. One batter later, all-American Jackie McClain knotted the score back up at two apiece on a sac fly to rightfield that brought Ashley Courtney across the plate with a belly flop underneath the tag of Brown on a close play at the plate.
The Bulldogs put their first two runners aboard in the sixth to chase Wright from the circle, then loaded the bases on reliever Stephanie VanBrakle's four-pitch walk issued to Jennifer Jessup that chased VanBrakle in favor of Erin Wright. State pushed the count to two strikes with the next two at-bats, but managed to get RBI singles from Tillman and Jennifer Nelson and chase Erin Wright in favor of VanBrakle again.
MSU got a fielder's choice RBI from Kate Jaspers to take a 5-2 lead before Alabama recorded recorded its first out of the inning, but the Tide elected to intentionally walk McMichael to load the bases back up. An RBI walk from Lindsay Nelson and a RBI single from Brown gave State a 7-2 advantage before VanBrakle closed out the inning with a pair of strikeouts.
Alabama led off its half of the sixth with two straight hits, the latter of which being a RBI single from Prejean, but Callye Williams snared a hard shot by Jennifer Reach with the next at-bat and turned it into a huge double play that took away UA's last breaths.
Mississippi State will return to action Monday morning when the Bulldogs close out a nine-game roadtrip in Atlanta, taking on Georgia Tech in an 11 a.m. doubleheader at Glenn Field. The game can be heard via a live broadcast link at www.MStateAthletics.com, the official website of Mississippi State University Athletics.
| MISSISSIPPI STATE 7, NO. 17 ALABAMA 3 | |||||||
| Mississippi State | 011 | 005 | 0 | - | 7 | 9 | 1 |
| Alabama | 002 | 001 | 0 | - | 3 | 8 | 2 |
Frank and Brown; J. Wright, VanBrakle (6), E. Wright (6) and Prejean. W ?€“ Frank (5-5). L ?€“ J. Wright (8-6). Save ?€“ None. 2B UA, VanBrakle, Ramsey.