Tough Breaks Give Game One To No. 4 Tide

Friday, April 8

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

6:30 PM

Mississippi State

21-16, 2-8

#4 Alabama

33-7, 6-4

Mississippi State

Alabama

Tough Breaks Give Game One To No. 4 Tide

April 09, 2016 | Softball

Box Score

By: hailstate.com

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – A pair of early misfortunes did in the Mississippi State softball team (21-16, 2-8 SEC) in game one of its three-game Southeastern Conference series at No. 4 Alabama (33-7, 6-4 SEC).

An error and a catcher's interference gifted the Crimson Tide with seven two-out runs in the game's first two innings which allowed UA to claim a 7-1 victory.

“Tonight simply came down to two bad breaks,” head coach Vann Stuedeman said. “I saw some great things from our batting order. We are so close to putting everything together so I can't wait to get back out there.”

With two outs and a runner on second in the home half of the first, an MSU fielding error extended the frame. A base hit with the bases loaded scored a pair of runs and another single followed to make it 3-0 after one.

The Tide would get another two-out run on a play at the plate that resulted in interference at the plate by the Bulldogs. A bases-loaded double in the same frame added three more to give UA a 7-0 advantage through two.

Once settled into the game, State kept UA from doing anything more than getting the occasional runner on base with help from sophomore reliever Cassady Knudsen and the Bulldog defense.

In the top of the seventh, the Bulldogs put its first two batters on base and moved them to second on a groundout. Senior Kayla Winkfield grounded out to second, scoring sophomore pinch runner Carmen Carter and ending the shutout.

Sydney Littlejohn (15-2) went the distance for the complete-game win, allowing one run on seven hits with no walks allowed and seven strikeouts.

Having allowed a total of seven hits over 13.1 innings last weekend on the road vs. No. 2 Florida, Littlejohn surrendered seven hits over 7.0 innings to the Bulldogs on the night.

Junior starter Alexis Silkwood (1-5) suffered the loss after being touched up for seven runs, only four of which were earned, on eight hits and three walks in 2.1 innings. Knudsen entered in relief of Silkwood and had possibly her best outing of the season, allowing just two hits in 3.2 scoreless innings against the top-five Tide.

The teams will retake the field for game two Saturday at 2 p.m. CT which will air on SEC Network+, exclusively through WatchESPN.com and the Watch ESPN app. Voice of State softball Anthony Craven will also have the call on HailStatePLUS to provide fans with an additional way to follow the game.

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.”