The Mississippi State softball Bulldogs might have saved their No. 24 national ranking when they came away from Columbia, S.C. last weekend with an SEC series sweep in tow.The Bulldogs (35-15, 9-10 SEC) defeated the South Carolina Gamecocks (20-18, 7-10 SEC) in all three games of the series, sweeping USC for only the second time in school history. The first time took place just last season.
MSU beat USC by scores of 1-0 and 3-1 Saturday behind strong pitching from freshman Misty Flesher and junior Kelsey Nurnberg.
“We got great pitching from Kelsey and Misty [Saturday],” MSU sixth-year head coach Jay Miller said. “Our defense did a great job, and our offense scratched across enough runs to win a pair of games. We managed our at-bats better [Saturday] than we have.”
MSU finally broke out the bats, stroking out 11 hits to crush the Gamecocks Sunday 9-1 in six innings.
Leading the charge for MSU Sunday was senior shortstop Courtney Bures, who went 4-for-4 on the contest with a double, 2 RBI’s and a run scored.
“It felt different,” Bures said about the team’s strong offensive showing. “It was kind of a sigh of relief, though. We haven’t been doing as well as we can offensively. It was kind of an ice breaker.”
Misty Flesher, of Lone Grove, Okla., picked up her second win of the weekend Sunday, allowing only one earned run in her complete game showing, striking out seven on the way. The win improved Flesher’s record on the season to 15-7.
“Any time you can score runs there’s a lot more of a relief in the pitching circle,” said Flesher. “With your team scoring you can relax out there. It’s different when you’re ahead.”
MSU’s eight-run win marked the second mercy-rule victory in 10 days for the Bulldogs and the 11th of the season. Miller said he was proud of the offense shown in Sunday’s contest.
“We have struggled to score runs lately, and we did a nice job of scoring runs early and continuing to score runs,” said Miller. “Courtney [Bures] had a big day at the plate, and Sammie Jo [Bailey] hit a big home run for us. Hopefully this will help us as we head back home.”
Bailey, a junior first baseman out of Lithonia, Ga., drove a third-inning pitch over the outfield wall for a solo shot, extending State’s lead to 5-0. The Dawgs would not have to look back.
With the sweep, MSU moves into a tie for third place in the SEC West Division with Auburn, whom State lost to earlier this season in two games out of three.
The Dawgs have only nine SEC contests left on the season. The three series will pit MSU against Georgia, Tennessee, and Arkansas.
Perhaps the most intriguing team on the schedule will take on State this Thursday.
MSU will take on the USA Olympic Softball Team Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. in Ridgeland as part of Team USA’s “Bound 4 Beijing” Tour, designed to prepare the squad for its trip to China for the 2008 Olympic Games.
“The Bound 4 Beijing Tour is great exposure for not only the team but also for the sport of softball,” said Team USA head coach Mike Candrea. “It provides us an opportunity to play in front of fans that may not otherwise have the chance to see us compete. It’s a long haul as we will play six months of competitive softball, but in the end it will help us prepare for our ultimate goal, a fourth-consecutive Gold Medal.