Bulldogs Drop Home Finale To UAB, 3-0
Mississippi State Strands Nine, Five In Scoring Range
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Visiting UAB (24-23) took advantage of mental miscues to build an early 3-0 lead, then frustrated Mississippi State (31-25) the rest of the way out as the Blazers spoiled the home finale for the Maroon and White with a 3-0 upset victory Tuesday evening at the Mississippi State Softball Field.
Senior Jennifer Nelson recorded a trio of hits on four trips to the plate and was joined in the multi-hit column by junior Jennifer Jessup who turned in a 2-for-3 performance at the plate to highlight the MSU offense. The Blazers got two hits from five different players, with Kris Lara and Amanda Byrne both scoring a run on their multi-hit showings.
Despite striking out five batters, Krystal Tillman (0-1) got a bit roughed up in her first career start for the Bulldogs, surrendering three earned runs on seven hits in two and one-thirds innings of work to saddle the loss for the Maroon and White. MSU reliever Courtney Frank struck out four and allowed just four hits through the last four and two-thirds, but got the no decision.
UAB starter Kerri Foster (12-12) got her first victory in three tries against State, scattering seven hits and three walks in five and one-thirds scoreless innings of work. Reliever Kelli Thompson did not allow a baserunner in the final five outs of relief to pick up her third save of the campaign.
"We dug ourselves a hole early in the ballgame and, lately, we've been having trouble climbing out," said Mississippi State head coach Jay Miller. "We left too many runners on. We had the hitters we wanted at the plate with runners in scoring position and hit the ball hard, but the hits were right at them. We need to get a little bit more fight in us in order to be successful."
MSU withstood an error and a wild pitch in the opening frame and forced UAB to leave the sacks full, but the Blazers got consecutive singles to lead off the second and set the table for Cliffanie Engram's single to rightfield that drove in a run and gave the visitors a 1-0 lead heading into the third. UAB got more offense in the next inning, however, loading the bases with one out before Kristin Stanfill took a five-pitch walk to plate another run and chase Tillman from the circle. Frank beaned Chelsea McCall to with the next at-bat to give the Blazers a 3-0 advantage, but shut down UAB the rest of the night.
State loaded the bases with just one out in its half or the third, but Foster fought off the scoring threat, forcing the next two batters to ground out to get out of the inning. MSU put runners at the corners with one out in the sixth, but Foster recovered again, getting a fielder's choice groundout from Jennifer Nelson and a comeback hit from Tillman to escape again.
Mississippi State will close out the 2003 regular season this weekend when the Bulldogs head to Gainesville, Fla., for a three-game series with No. 25/22 Florida (35-16, 16-8) at the Florida Softball Field. The two will open up their set with a 1 p.m. Saturday afternoon twinbill and close out the series on Sunday at 1 p.m.
UAB 3, MISSISSIPPI STATE 0
UAB 012 000 0 -- 3 11 2Mississippi State 000 000 0 -- 0 7 1
Foster, Thompson (6) and Ellis; Tillman, Frank (3) and Brown. W -- Foster (12-12). L -- Tillman (0-1). Save -- Thompson (3).