MSU Unable To Take Series Finale From Ole Miss

Monday, April 4

Starkville

6:00 PM

Mississippi State

21-15, 2-7

Ole Miss

28-10, 4-5

Ole Miss

Mississippi State

MSU Unable To Take Series Finale From Ole Miss

April 05, 2016 | Softball

Box Score

By: hailstate.com

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Seven runs over three innings was too much for the Mississippi State softball team (21-15, 2-7 Southeastern Conference) to overcome in its series finale with Ole Miss (28-10, 4-5 SEC) at Nusz Park.

The Bulldogs fell 9-5 in game three, which gave the Rebels the series win for the second-straight year.

Senior leader Kayla Winkfield led the State offense by going 4-for-4 at the plate with a triple and three runs scored. Junior Caroline Seitz finished the night 2-for-2 with three runs batted in and one run scored on a home run.

“Fifteen is absolutely too many to give up in one seven-inning ballgame,” head coach Vann Stuedeman said. “We threw five different pitchers and at some point someone has to step up and get some outs. We are definitely focusing on throwing good moving pitches through the strike zone and limiting walks.”

The Rebels loaded the bases in their first at bat, but a double play between Winkfield and freshman Sarai Niu kept OM off the board.

In the home half of the first, State got off to a hot start as a leadoff single and alert base running from Winkfield paid off as a single to shallow right field from junior Katie Anne Bailey scored her from third to score the first run of the game. After loading the bases on a pair of walks later in the inning, an inside pitch clipped Niu, sending her to first and scoring Bailey to put their side up 2-0.

Immediately OM returned the favor, with four singles that helped the Rebels to take a 3-2 lead. Freshman Cori Cooper relieved sophomore starter Holly Ward with two outs and a runner on second and forced a fly out to left field to stop the bleeding.

OM extended its lead to 5-2 in the third on a two-run home run with two outs. A bases loaded double in the fourth made it 7-2 Rebels, but sophomore Cassady Knudsen came in and limited the damage for the Bulldogs with runners on second and third, tossing a strikeout and forcing a groundout.

Winkfield singled again in the fifth to lead off the inning. Seitz crushed the next pitch to left-center for her team-leading third home run of the season, cutting the Rebel lead to 7-4.

However, the Rebels put together three doubles in the seventh to add insurance to their lead, as MSU trailed 9-4 going into the home-half of the inning.

To lead off the seventh, Winkfield legged out an infield single for her fourth hit of the game as she looked to spark a Bulldog rally. Seitz earned her third RBI of the night on a triple that bounced past the Ole Miss right fielder, however it would not be enough to comeback as the Bulldogs fell 9-5.

Madi Osias (15-3) earned the win for the Rebels, allowing five hits, three earned runs and recording seven strike outs.

State used five of its six pitchers in the rubber game as Ward (9-5) took the loss after allowing three runs, two earned, on five hits in 1.2 innings.

The OM offense was consistent as they collected 15 hits and put runners in scoring position in all but the sixth inning, while scoring runs on each of the Bulldog pitchers.

MSU will take a break from league play to take on South Alabama for the second time this season Wednesday, April 6 at 6 p.m. CT. The game will air on SEC Network+ exclusively through WatchESPN.com and the Watch ESPN app. Admission is free for all regular season games at Nusz Park.

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.”