Once again, the weather didn’t go the MSU softball team’s way. And once again, the Lady Bulldogs persevered and emerged victorious, remaining undefeated.
Setting the all-time school record for consecutive wins, now at 13 games, the MSU Lady Bulldogs (13-0) swept the weekend’s Bulldog Round-Robin to win their third tournament on the year.
The Dawgs began their run on Friday evening, defeating Northwestern State and Southeast Missouri State by identical scores of 5-2.
Stephanie Comeaux and Ragan Blake combined to pitch two complete games on Friday, tallying a total of 11 strikeouts on the night and seven hits allowed.
Saturday saw all of the second-day action rained out, much to the dismay of MSU sophomore shortstop Courtney Bures, who drove in eight RBIs on the weekend and eventually became the BRR Tournament MVP.
“It was unfortunate that Saturday got rained out,” Bures said, “because it’s always good to play more games, and we probably would’ve gotten some more wins out of that day.”
The tournament resumed its regularly scheduled matchups Sunday. MSU took on Southeast Missouri State again, this time winning 3-0 on Bures’s three RBIs.
Comeaux (6-0) got the victory, allowing only three hits and one walk. She struck out five RedHawks en route to her win.
The finale pitted Alcorn State against the Bulldogs, with Ragan Blake (7-0) on the mound. Blake had a perfect game in her pocket until the fourth inning, when she walked a batter on five pitches. She then struck out the next batter and later went on to drive in the two game-winning RBIs, leading the Dawgs to a 9-0 five-inning mercy rule victory and sealing her own first-career no-hitter.
“Pitching was good all weekend,” MSU head coach Jay Miller said. “Both Stephanie and Ragan did a great job. Ragan lost a little focus there when she had her perfect game going, and she walked a kid on four pitches. So it’s just little things like that we have to clean up and move on.”
Blake’s no-hitter is the ninth no-hitter in MSU’s softball program history and the second this year. Stephanie Comeaux earned one in Tampa, Fla., against Jacksonville earlier this year.
The victory over Alcorn State drove the Bulldogs’ winning streak to 13 games, the most all-time in program history without a loss. And although only five MSU players were named to the BRR All-Tournament team-Courtney Bures, Ragan Blake, Stephanie Comeaux, Nakita Boyce and Hayle Guess-there wasn’t one particular player that led the Bulldogs to victory.
Instead, the stat sheet proves it was a total team effort, with players like Lindsay Hunley and Michelle Kinney also contributing to the cause.
Although the Dawgs emerged from the BRR unscathed, Coach Jay Miller still sees some room for improvement for the squad.
“Again,” Miller said, “it was a little frustrating, weather-wise, getting rained out Saturday. I thought we got off to a good start Friday, but I was disappointed in the way we came out and competed today (Sunday). I don’t think we were ready to play, and we are fortunate we won two games. We didn’t compete at the level we need to. We have some work to do this week, but we’re off to a great start on the season, and we hope to keep building on that as we go on.”
The Dawgs continue their run at success tomorrow afternoon, as they tussle with the Bulldogs of Samford (5-10) in a double header here in Starkville, beginning at 4 pm.