State Falls At No. 4 Alabama In Six

Saturday, April 9

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

2:00 PM

Mississippi State

21-17, 2-9

#4 Alabama

34-7, 7-4

Mississippi State

Alabama

State Falls At No. 4 Alabama In Six

April 09, 2016 | Softball

Box Score

By: hailstate.com

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – A trio of two-out runs over the first two innings was too much for the Mississippi State softball team (21-17, 2-9 SEC) to overcome as No. 4 Alabama (34-7, 7-4 SEC) won game two 8-0 in six innings at Rhoads Stadium.

The victory in game two gives the Crimson Tide the Southeastern Conference series victory and marks the first time since the 2015 SEC Tournament that MSU has lost via run rule.

Junior Mackenzie Toler led the Bulldogs at the plate by going 2-for-3 on the day on a pair of singles.

“The scores this weekend haven't been indicative of how close these first two games have been,” head coach Vann Stuedeman said. “We have an opportunity to bounce back tomorrow on Toughness Sunday and that's what we need to do.”

For the second straight day, UA opened the game's scoring in the first inning, this time with a two-out single that plated a pair and gave the Tide a 2-0 lead.

UA added to its lead with a two-out triple to score a runner from second to bring the score to 3-0 through two.

A single up the middle in the fourth gave the Tide a 4-0 lead by plating a runner from second. The run marked the first time in the series that UA scored with less than two outs.

Back-to-back singles to left from slappers Emily Heimberger and Loryn Nichols to lead off the inning gave MSU a golden opportunity in the fifth. The Bulldogs would go on to load the bases with two outs, but were unable to score.

The Tide went back on the offensive in the sixth with a four-run frame that was capped off with a four-run home run with two outs to put the score at 8-0 and cut the game short by run rule.

Alexis Osorio (10-5) picked up a complete-game shutout victory, allowing just five hits and no walks along with having struck out nine.

Sophomore starter Holly Ward (9-6) suffered the loss after allowing all eight UA runs on nine hits and four walks in 5.2 innings.

The series will conclude Sunday with first pitch set for 1:30 p.m. CT. The game 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.”