Silkwood Shutout Helps Bulldogs Blank Golden Eagles

Tuesday, April 19

Starkville

6:00 PM

Mississippi State

24-20

Southern Miss

23-24

Southern Miss

Mississippi State

Silkwood Shutout Helps Bulldogs Blank Golden Eagles

April 19, 2016 | Softball

Box Score

By: hailstate.com

STARKVILLE, Miss. – What started as a two-sided pitching duel resulted in a shutout victory for the Mississippi State softball team (24-20) over Southern Miss (23-24) by a score of 4-0 on Tuesday night at Nusz Park.

With a stellar start from junior Alexis Silkwood and reinforcement from a stout Bulldog defense, the Maroon and White played an error-free ballgame as a solo homer by junior Katie Anne Bailey and a three-run sixth lifted MSU to the midweek victory.

“As soon as the game ended I noticed that we did not give up any freebies,” head coach Vann Stuedeman said. “That is something we have been working on all year and that sets us up to win.”

Both teams were unable to push runs across the plate for the first three innings. That trend was halted in the bottom of the fourth when Bailey broke the scoreless tie with a two-out solo shot to left center.

MSU added on a pair of insurance runs in the sixth inning on a single by junior Mackenzie Toler that pushed across fellow juniors Caroline Seitz and Amanda Ivy to give the Maroon and White a 3-0 lead. Sophomore Calyn Adams followed that up with a one-out RBI double to the right-center field wall to score sophomore pinch runner Olivia Golden for the 4-0 advantage that would stand as the final score.

Silkwood (4-6) scattered six hits in the complete-game victory, while also striking out six batters. She was faced with runners in scoring position in both the first and second innings, but escaped unscathed both times. A pair of double plays from her defense helped keep the shutout intact.

Samantha Robles (14-8) drew the start in the circle for the Golden Eagles and allowed all four of the Bulldogs' runs on six hits. She also walked a batter and struck out one in five innings of work before being relieved in the sixth by Jillian Johnson, who finished out the game. Johnson allowed no runs on a pair of hits.

State will return to SEC play this weekend with a three-game road series against No. 1 Florida that will begin Friday, April 22 at 5 p.m. CT. Friday's contest will air on SEC Network+ which can be viewed through WatchESPN.com and the Watch ESPN app.

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.”