The Mississippi State softball team improved to 4-0 on the fall season Sunday, continuing to ride an expected undefeated record into the spring.The Bulldogs defeated its opponents by a total combined score of 22-3 Sunday, making for a dominant outing by the Maroon and White.
State defeated the Golden Suns of Arkansas Tech by a score of 7-3 in a 1 p.m. outing, having to come from behind to gain the win.
In the 3 p.m. contest, MSU slammed the Lady Lions of East Mississippi Community College by a score of 15-0.
Pitching was dominant in MSU’s favor.
Freshmen Elizabeth Woolven and Misty Flesher combined to rack up eight strikeouts against Arkansas Tech while veterans Jessie Bailey and Kelsey Nurnberg also rang up an octet against EMCC, allowing just four hits on the game.
MSU’s offense was also impressive, stepping up its game from last weekend.
Prior to the team’s second weekend tournament, MSU head coach Jay Miller said offense was where he was most disappointed.
“I think we did really well,” MSU sophomore catcher Chelsea Bramlett said. “Our freshmen stepped up and played well, and our defense is good. Our offense did better this weekend than last weekend.”
Bramlett said one of the biggest factors in the game was the performance of the freshmen.
“The freshmen have stepped up, and have made the most of the opportunities they’ve had,” Bramlett said. “They’ve scored a lot of runs for us and have played really well.”
MSU’s batters stepped up their game, batting .403 on the day and going 25-for-62 overall.
The Bulldogs’ leading hitter was senior centerfielder Hayle Guess. Guess went 4-for-7 (.547) on the day. She was accountable for four RBIs and crossed the plate for six total runs.
Bramlett also had a solid weekend.
She is coming off a spectacular freshman season in which she was named an All-American, as well as to the SEC All-Freshman Team.
Following her award-winning season, Bramlett, last year’s SEC Freshman of the Year, is now in her first fall season as a veteran player.
Bramlett said she plans to set an example for the freshman as they adjust to college softball.
“I don’t feel it’s my responsibility to necessarily lead the team because that takes more than one person, but I think I’m supposed to help the freshmen out, although not in a way that I necessarily ‘take over,'” Bramlett said.
Bramlett will be stepping into her new role as MSU’s primary catcher, after spending the majority of her freshman season at second base.
“I love catching,” Bramlett said. “I feel more at home at catcher than I did at second base.”
Bramlett said despite the position change, she plans to continue to be consistent offensively and aims to add to her stolen bases total.
“I hope it doesn’t hinder my game on the basepath any, and I don’t really plan on it doing so,” she said.
Junior infielder Gina McCloud also contributed offensively, going 3-for-4 with four RBI’s.
Arkansas Tech jumped out to a 3-0 lead against MSU in the first two innings.
MSU wouldn’t allow any more runs on the entire day.
The Dawgs took a run back in the third inning and opened the floodgates to score six runs on six hits in the fifth inning to clinch the game by a 7-3 score.
The Bulldogs offense continued to impress, scoring in every inning in the contest against EMCC.
The Maroon and White pounded out 14 hits while the pitching staff allowed only four.
MSU will look to end its fall season undefeated Saturday and Sunday.
The Lady Bulldogs will host several in-state rivals, as well as one Alabama team, in its final fall tournament of the semester.
The Bulldogs will trade runs with Hinds Community College at 3 p.m. Saturday and will close out that day with a 5 p.m. pairing against Holmes Community College.
Sunday will bring MSU two more games, as the Dawgs will take on Delta State University at 1 p.m. and the University of West Alabama at 3 p.m.
Bramlett said the areas for improvement are clearer to the team and should be ironed out after the last fall tournament.
“I think our goal for this semester is to get some games underneath us and to see specific areas where we need work and to solidify our lineups for the spring,” Bramlett said. “We’ve done really well. We have a lot of talent on our team.”
MSU will close its fall season with an alumni game on Oct. 5.