When life gives lemons, make lemonade. That’s what the Mississippi State softball team is trying to do with their bitter first three series of the SEC schedule.
After dropping three to No. 3 LSU on Wednesday and Thursday, the Lady Dawgs were thrown right back into the fire with a weekend home series against 15th-ranked South Carolina.
The Bulldogs rebounded well, coming out in game two of the double-header and demolishing USC 8-0. Freshman Kelli Miller pitched a dominant five innings, allowing only four hits and walking only two batters. The Bulldog offense came alive late in the game, scoring five runs in the fifth inning on Blair Brown’s leadoff home run, a Kate Jaspers single, and a three run blast by Iyhia McMichael.
“In that second game we played like we know how to play,” said senior first baseman Jennifer Waterman. “We’re still learning how to play that way all the time.”
Sunday’s game went back-and-forth before game that saw staff ace Melissa Massey rocked in the first inning for two early runs. The Bulldogs rallied in the bottom of the opening frame and scored three runs, two off Katie Johnson’s double. After a Bulldog pitching change in the top of the second, South Carolina got three early hits off Kelli Miller and plated three more runs. The Gamecocks eventually won 7-4.
“(Our staff) pitched well,” said freshman pitcher Stephanie Comeaux, who pitched three solid relief innings on Sunday, allowing only two hits and one unearned run.
Comeaux says that the Bulldogs’ pitching woes this weekend were more a byproduct of good South Carolina hitting, rather than sub-par MSU pitching.
“We’ve got some things to work on, but there’s no question that their sticks are very good,” Comeaux added.
In the opening game of the series, MSU got a solid performance from Massey. She allowed seven hits on the day, but was able to hold the Gamecocks to just two runs.
The Bulldog bats were unable to hit Stacy Johnson, who went the distance in the contest, allowing only four hits and no earned runs. The Bulldogs’ lone RBI came in the seventh inning when Johnson singled to center. The run cut the Gamecock lead to one, but in the next at bat, Blair Geddings struck out to end the game.
“We’ve got to get better at generating offense,” said head coach Jay Miller. “We didn’t hit well, we didn’t pitch well and we didn’t defend well. You just can’t do that in the SEC.”
From here the schedule still lends no immediate favors to the ladies in Maroon. They resume play next weekend at No. 8 Georgia, and then continue the following weekend against 13th-ranked Tennessee. Miller says the Lady Dawgs have a tough road ahead, and they will need to improve in all facets to stay competitive.
“That’s just the way the schedule is,” Miller said. “We’ve just got to stay as up as we can, and try to scratch out some wins. But to do that we’ve got to start playing better ball.”
The Bulldogs now stand at 1-4 in the SEC. However, Waterman says that all the team needs is a little work ethic to get back to their winning ways.
“We know we can beat these teams,” Waterman said. “We just have to keep our heads up, and work hard going into Georgia. We can turn this around, we know we can win.”