Mississippi State softball fans witnessed more intense softball than expected over Super Bulldog Weekend as the Bulldogs (24-15, 7-7) came out on top in each of their three games against South Carolina (25-13, 3-8) Saturday and Sunday, earning their first three-game SEC sweep at home in almost a year.In game one, MSU pulled ahead early, earning two runs off a Jessie Bailey single in the first inning. The two runs would be all MSU would score in the rest of the series opener, as the Dawgs were held to only six hits and left five runners on base.
Senior hurler Kelli Miller started the game for MSU, and she nearly went the full distance in the pitching circle. Through 6.1 innings, she allowed one earned run on five hits, striking out three.
The game’s heroine could have arguably been relief pitcher Sara Hickerson, who took the mound with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning and a runner on second. Throwing only six pitches, Hickerson retired the final two Gamecock batters via pop-ups and earned her seventh save of the season, securing the Bulldogs’ first victory of Super Bulldog Weekend and Kelli Miller’s ninth win on the season.
The Maroon and White heroine in MSU’s second game against the Gamecocks was much easier to point out, as with one out in the seventh inning and runners on second and third, senior second baseman Katie Johnson stepped to the plate.
Prior to Johnson’s at-bat, the game’s score had been tied at 3 in the top of the seventh after MSU jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the sixth inning.
Sophomore pitcher Kelsey Nurnberg earned the start for the Bulldogs and allowed only one run on seven Gamecock hits before being relieved by Hickerson.
With teammates Katie Cooley on third and Jessie Bailey on second, Johnson dug herself into an 0-2 pitch count before slamming a double into center field, bringing in Cooley for the game-winning and series-clinching RBI.
“The kids came out and fought and battled,” MSU head coach Jay Miller said. “Again, I was a little disappointed with how we swung the bats, in the first game especially. We got those two runs in the first inning, and then just sat on them. We did a better job in the second game.”
Sunday brought MSU’s most surprising win of the series, as the Bulldogs found themselves down 5-2 early and down 7-3 moving into the bottom of the seventh inning.
“The top of seventh, when they scored two, that’s a time when you can just pack it in and get ready for Ole Miss, but we didn’t,” Miller said. “We kept battling, we kept fighting, and we came out in the bottom of the seventh and started ripping the ball.”
With their backs seemingly against the wall, the Dawgs fought back against the Gamecocks and strung a few hits together to tie the score at 7 with a Sammie Jo Bailey single up the middle. Her younger sister, Jessie, also reached base, putting runners on first and second for Johnson.
Johnson, however, drew a walk on four pitches and loaded up the bases for Blair Hewett. Hewett ended regulation by lining into a double play, sending the game into the eighth inning.
Pitcher Miller – who started the game for the Bulldogs and was pulled in the second inning – returned to the pitching circle in the eighth to relieve Sara Hickerson and retired the final two Gamecock batters on just four pitches.
After Courtney Bures was intentionally walked to load the bases for Cooley in the eighth, with a 1-2 count, Cooley flied out to left field, allowing Chelsea Bramlett to speed her way across the plate for the game-winning run.
“It’s really important that we’re .500 now in the conference and that we moved up in the standings,” freshman infielder Jessie Bailey said. “It was a good team win, with us coming back from behind, especially with them scoring runs in the seventh inning. Everyone played a big part, we all got big hits, and we scored when we needed to.