No. 23 Softball Falls To McNeese State

Friday, February 26

Gulfport, Miss.

8:00 PM

Mississippi State

10-1

McNeese State

8-2

McNeese State

Mississippi State

No. 23 Softball Falls To McNeese State

February 27, 2016 | Softball

Box Score

By: hailstate.com

GULFPORT, Miss. – On a cold night on the coast, No. 23 Mississippi State (10-1) was unable to keep up with the timely hitting of McNeese State (8-2) and fell 8-4 on Friday in day one of the Mississippi Gulf Coast Classic at the Gulfport Sportsplex.

The Bulldog lineup lacked balance for the first time all season as all seven of MSU's hits and all four of their runs came from the first five hitters.

“We had some very well hit balls right at them tonight,” head coach Vann Stuedeman said. “Softball is a game of inches and we were a couple of inches short. We will dust ourselves off and get ready for tomorrow.”

With back-to-back walks, McNeese State put runners on and used a groundout to open the scoring and take a 1-0 lead in the top of the first.

The Cowgirls would add to their lead in the third by bringing across two more runs with help from a Bulldog error to push their lead to 3-0.

MSU would answer at their next opportunity as junior Caroline Seitz set the table with a two-out double down the line in left to move freshman Emily Heimberger to third. Facing a 2-2 count, junior Mackenzie Toler seized the moment with a single up the middle to score Heimberger and Seitz and bring the deficit to 3-2 at the end of three.

McNeese State followed the Bulldogs' runs in the third with their own in the fourth, but a much heavier dose. On four hits, including one double and one triple, the Cowgirls plated five runs to go ahead 8-2, the largest deficit of the season for State.

Putting their mindset of never going away on display, MSU led off the home half of the fifth with back-to-back doubles from junior Katie Anne Bailey and Heimberger to spark a rally. Two more base hits followed and the result was a two-run frame that brought the score to 8-4.

Freshman pitcher Regan Green kept the Cowgirls in check down the stretch. The reliever entered in the fourth for the Bulldogs and made her presence felt immediately as she allowed just two hits and struck out four in 3.2 shutout innings.

Unfortunately for Green's side, no more runs would come across as McNeese captured the 8-4 win for their third win of the season over a Power 5 school (No. 24 Baylor, Ole Miss).

Emily Vincent (2-0) collected the win and struck out nine in the complete game effort. Sophomore Holly Ward (5-1) took the loss as she allowed three runs on five hits in three innings as the starter.

The Bulldogs will have a quick turnaround and return to the Gulfport Sportsplex on Saturday for a twin billing vs. Incarnate Word (5:30 p.m. CT) and No. 24 Baylor (8 p.m. CT). The games can be heard through HailStatePLUS as the voice of Bulldog softball, Anthony Craven, will have the call.

For more information on the MSU softball program, follow “HailStateSB” on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. You can also find all-access coverage of the Bulldogs on SnapChat by searching for “HailStateSnap.”