'Dogs Complete Twinbill Sweep Of No. 22 Florida, 7-3
Massey Shuts Down Gator Lineup With Career High Eight Strikeouts
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Visiting Mississippi State (33-25, 13-15 SEC) sent nine batters to the plate in a five-run second inning, then climbed on the shoulders of a dominating pitching performance from clinch its second SEC series victory of the season and complete a doubleheader sweep of No. 22/25 Florida (35-20, 16-10) with a 7-3 victory over the Gators Saturday afternoon at the Florida Softball Stadium.
Four different players recorded multi-hit tallies for the Maroon and White, with Jennifer Nelson (1-for-3, 2 RBI) and Kate Jaspers (2-for-3, RBI) both scoring twice for the Bulldogs. Jennifer Waterman (2-for-3, RBI) recorded a pair of hits for the second-straight game and Blaire Brown also turned in two hits on four trips to the plate. Florida got a perfect 2-for-2 tally from Jenny Gladding, including the Arizona transfer's 11th home run of the season.
MSU starter Melissa Massey (21-10) kept the Gators off balance for much of the contest, striking out a career high eight batters and scattering five hits over her 15th complete game of the season. Mandy Schuerman (3-3) saddled the loss for Florida after allowing five earned runs on four hits and a pair of walks in just five outs of work.
"We came out and got some hits and produced some runs," said Mississippi State head coach Jay Miller. "We got a good game out of Melissa and we scored some runs early. That was the difference. She kept them off balance for the majority of the game and that gave was all that we needed."
State used a pair of leadoff walks and a sac fly from Iyhia McMichael to take a 1-0 lead after one half of an inning, then utilized six hits and a wild pitch in the second to plate five more runs and extend its advantage out to 6-0. The Maroon and White pushed its lead out to seven on a Jennifer Jessup RBI single in the fourth, before Florida finally scratched the scoreboard on Gladding's solo dinger in the bottom of the frame.
Gladding doubled in a run in the sixth, and Florida pushed its second run of the inning across the plate two batters later on Jennifer Mossadeghi's RBI single through the left side. Florida attempted to inch even close in the seventh, but Lindsey Cameron was nabbed trying to stretch a single into a double to leadoff the last inning and Massey took care of the rest, inducing Jackie Marchetta to fly out and striking out Andrea Magura swinging.
The Gators and Bulldogs will close out their series Sunday afternoon when the two engage each other in the series finale at 1 p.m. EDT. Admission to the Florida Softball Stadium is free of charge.
MISSISSIPPI STATE 7, NO. 22/25 FLORIDA 3
Mississippi State 150 100 0 - 7 13 0 Florida 000 102 0 - 3 5 0
Massey and Brown; Schuerman, Moore (2), Knowles (6) and Goble, Butler (5). W - Massey (21-10). L - Schuerman (3-3). Save - None. HR UF, Gladding.