State Knocks Off No. 22 Florida In Series Opener, 11-8
Bulldogs Get Big Outings From Best, Jaspers; Clinch SEC Tournament Berth
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Senior Brooke Best broke open a six-run fifth inning for visiting Mississippi State (32-25, 12-15 SEC) with her first career grand slam and the Bulldogs held off a late surge by homestanding Florida in the seventh (35-19, 16-9) to secure a 11-8 victory over the nationally-ranked Gators Saturday afternoon at the Florida Softball Stadium.
Best walked twice and notched a career-high four RBI on her fifth four-bagger of the campaign and the third grand slam of the season for the Maroon and White. Kate Jaspers fell one double short of hitting for the cycle, driving in a pair of runs and scoring twice on a 3-for-4 tally that included a key third-inning home run. Jennifer Nelson and Krystal Tillman scored twice on 2-for-4 tallies and Jennifer Watermen returned to the lineup for the first time since April 9 and drove in a pair on a 2-for-4 showing at the plate.
Jenny Gladding highlighted a 3-for-4 tally at the plate with her 10th home run of the season to pace three Gators with double-digit hitting tallies. Iyhia McMichael had her string of 40 consecutive successful stolen bases snapped when she was nabbed in the first on an attempted steal of second base. The win marked MSU's sixth-straight victory over the Orange and Blue dating back to the 2001 campaign.
The win also secured MSU's sixth-straight SEC Tournament berth and officially eliminated cross-state nemesis from SEC Tournament contention.
Jennifer Nelson (7-6) came on in relief of MSU starter Courtney Frank in the second and limited the Gators to three runs on four hits in four innings of work while striking out three. Melissa Massey came on in relief of Tillman with two outs in the seventh to record her first save of the campaign. Jenny Gladding (18-11), the reigning USA Softball and NFCA National Player of the Week suffered her second-straight loss to MSU after surrendering eight earned runs on seven hits in just four and one-thirds innings of work. The Maroon and White blistered Gladding and her then top-ranked Arizona Wildcats 7-1 last season.
Florida took a quick 2-0 lead on a quartet of hits in the bottom of the first, before MSU finally answered the output on a two-run homer from Jaspers in the third that knotted the score back up. The Gators retook the lead on a Mylin Prieto RBI single in the fourth, but MSU rallied to take the final lead of the game in the fifth. After a leadoff triple from Jennifer Nelson, Gladding issued free passes to the next two Mississippi State batters - Jaspers and McMichael - but was unable to get out of the inning. The Bulldogs got consecutive RBI singles from Waterman and Blaire Brown, then completed the outburst on Best's grand slam.
Florida got a solo homer from Gladding in the bottom of the frame to cut the deficit to four, 8-4, but the Bulldogs got another RBI single from Waterman in the sixth to push the lead back to five. The Gators scraped together a run and got a solo homer from Andrea Magura to inch to within three runs, 9-6, in the bottom of the sixth, but State scored a pair of runs in its half of the seventh to put the game out of reach.
MISSISSIPPI STATE 11, NO. 22/25 FLORIDA 8
Mississippi State 002 061 2 - 11 11 1 Florida 200 112 2 - 8 12 1
Frank, J. Nelson (2), Tillman (6), Massey (7) and Brown; Gladding, Moore (5) and Butler. W - J. Nelson (7-6). L - Gladding (18-11). Save - Massey (1). HR MSU, Jaspers, Best (GS). UF Magura, Gladding. 3B MSU, J. Nelson, Jaspers.