No. 23 Softball Bounces Back To Defeat McNeese State

Sunday, February 28

Gulfport, Miss.

12:30 PM

Mississippi State

12-2

McNeese State

10-3

Mississippi State

McNeese State

No. 23 Softball Bounces Back To Defeat McNeese State

February 28, 2016 | Softball

Box Score

By: hailstate.com

GULFPORT, Miss. – With strong pitching and defense on top of aggressive and alert base running, No. 23 Mississippi State (12-2) bounced back for a Toughness Sunday victory over McNeese State.

After having fallen to McNeese State (10-3) on Friday night, the Bulldogs came out swinging in the second meeting between the two teams on the weekend to win 3-0. Going 3-for-4 at the plate with two runs batted in, junior Mackenzie Toler led MSU offensively while freshman Regan Green starred in the circle for a three-hit shutout in a complete-game victory.

Senior Kayla Winkfield wasn't far behind Toler at the plate as she went 3-for-3 with two stolen bases, one walk and one run scored.

“We learned a lot about ourselves this weekend,” head coach Vann Stuedeman said. “One of the toughest concepts to teach and learn is celebrating the process-based wins. We are improving in that aspect.”

Aggressive and alert, the Bulldogs caught the McNeese defense off the guard in the second inning. With runners at the corners, MSU executed a double steal to score junior Katie Anne Bailey with Winkfield taking third on the throw to the plate and putting their side on top 1-0.

Toler would score Winkfield on a single to left center that put the Bulldogs ahead 2-0 and cap a two-run inning on three hits.

After State scored, both pitchers kept opposing batters in check down the stretch with crucial outs with runners in scoring position.

Toler would deliver for the Bulldogs again, this time in the seventh with a single up the middle to score freshman Emily Heimberger from second and go up 3-0 with the insurance run.

Green (3-1) struck out five Cowgirls in her second complete-game shutout of the season. Suffering the loss for McNeese was Jolie Trahan (1-1) who allowed the first two Bulldog runs on eight hits in 4.1 innings of work.

State will return home to Nusz Park on March 4 to open the Bulldog Slamboree against Chattanooga with first pitch set for 6:04 p.m. CT. MSU will play a total of five games during the three-day event with free admission to all regular season games at Nusz Park. The full schedule can be found on the Bulldog Slamboree Central page.

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.”