MSU Drops Finale To No. 16 Tigers On Toughness Sunday

Sunday, May 1

Starkville

3:30 PM

Mississippi State

25-27, 3-18

#16 Missouri

37-12, 12-9

Missouri

Mississippi State

MSU Drops Finale To No. 16 Tigers On Toughness Sunday

May 01, 2016 | Softball

Box Score

By: hailstate.com

STARKVILLE, Miss. – After jumping out in front early, the Mississippi State softball team (25-27, 3-18 SEC) was unable to curtail a rally from No. 16 Missouri (37-12, 12-9 SEC) Sunday afternoon at Nusz Park.

The Bulldogs went on top 2-0 in the first, but runs in the final four innings from the Tigers lifted the visitors to a 9-2 victory in the Southeastern Conference series finale.

Junior Mackenzie Toler recorded three of State's four hits on the day, finishing 3-for-4 at the plate, which tied a career high for hits.

"We started strong, but in the end we weren't able to come through in some moments that would've allowed us to tack on some more runs," MSU head coach Vann Stuedeman said. "We'll focus on finals this week and getting better on the field so we're ready to get after it next weekend."

The Bulldogs loaded the bases their first time at the plate in the bottom of the first on three-straight walks to open the inning. Junior Katie Anne Bailey made the most of the opportunity with a one-out single through the right side of the infield to put State on top 1-0. Junior Amanda Ivy added to the inning with a sacrifice fly to right field that put MSU on top 2-0 after one.

In the top of the fourth, the Tigers responded by getting a pair of solo home runs to tie the game at 2-2. MU made noise again in the fifth with a two-out single that scored a runner from second and put the Tigers on top 3-2 for their first lead of the day.

A two-run single with two outs in the sixth extended the MU lead to 5-2 before a four-run seventh, capped by a three-run homer gave the Tigers a 9-2 advantage.

MSU had runners on throughout the contest, but were unable to bring enough across to draw any closer as the Bulldogs stranded 12 in the midst of dropping game three, 9-2.

Paige Lowary (20-6) was the winning pitcher for the Tigers after throwing 6.0 innings of relief work in which she allowed no runs, four hits and walked six Bulldogs.

Junior Alexis Silkwood (4-11) suffered the loss for State after allowing four runs on nine hits in 4.2 innings pitched.

With no midweek contests on the slate this week, the Bulldogs will take a breather before closing the regular season with a series at No. 11 Kentucky. The three-game SEC series will open Friday, May 6 at 5 p.m. CT.

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.”