The MSU softball Bulldogs (21-15, 4-7) traveled to Madison Wednesday, bringing home their second win ever in the M&F Bank Fastpitch Classic against Ole Miss (14-21, 5-6). The Bulldogs earned the 5-2 victory due to a few timely seventh-inning hits.”We hung in there,” said MSU head softball coach Jay Miller. “We struggled at the plate early, but we finally adjusted a little bit.”
MSU rotated three pitchers during the ballgame, with senior Stephanie Comeaux earning the start. Comeaux allowed one run on four hits before being relieved in the third inning by fellow senior Kelli Miller.
Miller pitched through the fourth inning, allowing Ole Miss a second run and two hits.
Comeaux and Miller each earned one strikeout.
Senior relief pitcher Sara Hickerson stepped in during the fifth inning and shut the Rebels’ offense down. Hickerson tossed a no-hitter through her three innings in the pitching circle, striking out two. She earned her third win of the season, improving her record to 3-4.
One-two hitters Chelsea Bramlett and Nakita Boyce paced the Bulldogs on the evening, each earning two hits. MSU’s three runs in the top of the seventh resulted from the efforts of the first two batters.
“We got a lot of production from the top of the order, which we haven’t gotten lately,” Miller said. “Both Chelsea and Nakita got back on track and really won the ballgame for us tonight.”
Bramlett earned two RBI’s when a single to left field drove in baserunners Katie Johnson and Rachel Hurley, breaking the 2-2 tie between the Egg Bowl rivals.
After coming to rest on second base during the RBI hit, Bramlett took third base on a wild pitch and then scored on a single by Boyce, which would prove to be all the Bulldogs needed to take the victory from the Rebels.
The win against Ole Miss will not count toward the Bulldogs’ conference record, as is M&F Bank Fastpitch Classic tradition. The win, however, is the Bulldogs’ first in three years at the Classic.
As for conference play, MSU will welcome the Rebels to Starkville April 6-7 for a weekend series.
MSU will be competing during Super Bulldog Weekend, as well.
The Bulldogs will be tussling with SEC East foe South Carolina during three games Saturday and Sunday.