A No. 21 national ranking, a 10-0 victory over Mississippi Valley State and coverage on ESPN.com aren’t quite enough rewards for the Mississippi State softball team this week. All that is nice, but the Bulldogs are looking to round out the week with a successful performance over the three-day Bulldog Round-Robin tournament. This year’s fifth edition of the Round-Robin will take place today through Sunday, as MSU will host Wright State, Southern Illinois and Fordham.
Sixth-year MSU head coach Jay Miller said he is satisfied with how his team has begun the season and that he is especially impressed with the team’s pitching.
“I was very pleased [in California],” Miller said. “We had the best pitching I’ve seen at a tournament since I’ve been here.”
The Bulldogs’ top hurler throughout the Cathedral City Kickoff was junior Kelsey Nurnberg.
Nurnberg tossed 21.2 consecutive scoreless innings in the tournament before giving a run up to California in extra innings.
Nurnberg said that though she is very satisfied with how the team has started out, she admits she is surprised at being undefeated.
“Honestly, I am surprised,” Nurnberg said. “The first weekend is usually to see just where we stand. To be [undefeated] is just an awesome feeling and definitely a surprise.”
Also impressive in Palm Springs was sophomore catcher Chelsea Bramlett, who is now sporting a .684 batting average on the early season. She holds responsibility for 16 of MSU’s 37 runs this season.
“[Chelsea] sets the tone,” Miller said. “When she gets on, we’re going to score the vast majority of the time. Being the leadoff hitter, she has to be very versatile, and she can do it.”
The Bulldogs enter the weekend ranked No. 21 in the nation, their earliest recognition in any national poll since 2001.
Miller said that though it’s nice to be ranked, he still knows that the only ranking that matters comes at the end of the season.
Nurnberg said she is also keeping a “one game at a time” mindset about her.
“Getting overconfident is always an issue, but our team has a constant drive to get better,” Nurnberg said. “We always set the bar really high, and we’re always pushing for something greater. We never sit on a plateau of great. We always want greater.”
This weekend, perhaps the toughest opponent the Bulldogs will face are Southern Illinois Salukis.
The Salukis have also jumped out to begin the season undefeated and are coming off a 41-16 record last season.
Nurnberg refused to acknowledge Southern Illinois as being any more special of a team than the others in the Round-Robin, however.
“It’s kind of cliché, but every team is important to go at head on,” she said. “Whether it’s a junior college team or the U.S. Olympic team, we go at it the same. Every game we play is important.