Washington Erupts, Knocks State Into Losers Bracket, 8-0
Maroon And White To Face Nebraska In Friday Night Elimination Contest
LINCOLN, Neb. -- Although grappling back and forth for more than an hour, eighth-ranked Washington (45-14-1) sent 10 batters to the plate in a eight-run fifth inning to break open an otherwise close game as the top-seeded Huskies knocked fourth-seeded Mississippi State (34-29) into the losers bracket of the NCAA Region 5 Tournament with a 8-0 rout of the Bulldogs Friday afternoon in Bowlin Stadium.
Five different players recorded base hits for the Maroon and White, with the entire quintet of knocks coming from the first six hitters in the MSU batting order. Senior shortstop Jaime Clark led the Huskies offensively, hitting 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored, including a game-ending three-run blast in the sixth.
Mississippi State starter Jennifer Nelson (7-8) pitched brilliantly for the first five innings of the ballgame before running into trouble in the sixth and being chased from the circle. Nelson's final line included two earned runs on three hits and a pair of walks, as well as two strikeouts. The Huskies? Tia Bollinger (25-9) earned her 25th victory of the campaign after scattering five hits and striking out three over a complete game.
"This was a great game up until that last inning," said Mississippi State head coach Jay Miller. "Jennifer Nelson pitched a great ball game for us, but got a little tired. We decided to make a change, and it didn't work out very well. I thought we had some great opportunities early on with the bases loaded, runners at second and third, but we need to get someone to step up and drive in runs in that situation.
"We had our opportunities and didn't take advantage and you can't do that over and over against good teams. It caught up with us today."
The 'Dogs and Huskies battled back and forth early, both having their chances early, but both struggled to get key base hits. Washington put runners into scoring position in each of the first and third frames, but Nelson got Kathy Fiske on flyouts to centerfield both times to shut the door on the scoring opportunity. MSU put runners at second and third with one out in the top of the second, but Bollinger got Tanelda McDonald to groundout to third base and held her breath as Krystal Tillman's blast to leftfield was corraled at the warning track by UW's Dena Tyson.
The Huskies got their first leadoff hitter of the game on base in the sixth, then loaded the bases on two-straight walks -- one from Nelson and the other from reliever Melissa Massey -- before Miller opted to bring Tillman in from left to try and douse the Washington fire. However, Tyson ripped a 2-1 offering from Tillman to bring home the first two runners of the ballgame and open the floodgates.
Sarah Hyatt crossed the plate moments later on a crucial fielding error by Tanelda McDonald then, two batters later, Washington got a two-run double over the head of Nelson in leftfield to take a 5-0 lead. After Tillman beaned Roach on a first pitch offering moments later, Clark finished off the damage, crushing a full-count offering over the fence in left centerfield.
Mississippi State will now attempt to stave off elimination later Friday evening when the Bulldogs take on second-seeded and tournament host Nebraska (37-17) in a losers bracket matchup under the lights of Bowlin Stadium. First pitch of the contest has been estimated for 9:45 p.m.
NO. 8 WASHINGTON 8, MISSISSIPPI STATE 0 (6 Innings)
#4 Seed Mississippi State 000 000 -- 0 5 1#1 Seed Washington 000 008 -- 8 6 2
J. Nelson, Massey (6), Tillman (6) and Waterman; Bollinger and Rivera. W ? Bollinger (25-9). L ? J. Nelson (7-8). Save ? None. HR ? UW, Clark. 2B ? UW, Oleson, Tyson.