After coming from behind to defeat the University of Southern Mississippi Wednesday night by a 5-2 score, the No. 23 Bulldogs of Mississippi State now must prepare for their next-to-last SEC series on the season.Both teams were slow to score throughout the first four innings of the game. Southern Miss finally broke the scoreless tie in the top of the fifth.
MSU answered in the bottom of the same inning with two runs after three consecutive extra base hits.
USM would answer in the top of the sixth with another run, but the Bulldogs rallied for three runs in the bottom of the inning, two of which came from freshman second baseman Ali Bainbridge.
Bainbridge, of Vestavia Hills, Ala., went 2-for-4 against the Golden Eagles, including a double and her first triple of the season. She was accountable for three of MSU’s five runs on the contest, driving in two and scoring one herself.
“We were definitely struggling at the plate during the first half of the game,” Bainbridge said. “It was big that we adjusted and generated some offense and got the job done.”
The Bulldogs (37-16, 11-11 SEC) will turn its attention to the No. 10 Tennessee Lady Volunteers (45-9, 13-8 SEC) this weekend as part of a three-game set.
In the SEC, the Dawgs are coming off a series win against Georgia last weekend and are poised to make plans for the SEC Tournament.
“We are in a very good position right now,” said Jay Miller, who is in his sixth year as MSU’s head coach. “This is the best we’ve done in the past six year’s I’ve been here. We have an opportunity to move up in RPI and in the SEC standings. We have matters in our own hands now.”
Miller said he attributes the team’s success thus far to three key things.
“We’re stronger in the circle than we ever have been, with three quality pitchers,” Miller said. “Our seniors have given great leadership, and this is one of the strongest freshman classes we’ve had in a while.”
The three Bulldog hurlers, Misty Flesher, Kelsey Nurnberg, and Elizabeth Woolven, have combined for a 1.99 ERA on the season so far, tallying 223 strikeouts.
Several of MSU’s seniors have also put up strong offensive statistics on the season, led by shortstop Courtney Bures.
Bures is second on the team with a .395 batting average and four home runs. She is one of six players on the team who have started all 54 games for the Maroon and White this season.
“We’re in a pretty good position,” Bures said. “We’re coming off two really big series wins. We’re hitting the ball great and several players are coming along.”
The Sunday contest against the Lady Vols is also Senior Day at MSU, where the Bulldogs will honor five seniors in front of their last regular-season home crowd.
Bures said her parents, grandparents, and sister will be coming in to see what will potentially be her final game in Starkville.
“This team is a reflection of the seniors’ work ethic and the leadership they provide, both on and off the field,” Miller said. “We have a big freshman class that isn’t used to the SEC so the seniors have had to provide some good leadership there.”
The Bulldog freshmen have been no slouches, either.
Courtney Nesbit leads the freshman class with a .308 batting average, while Ali Bainbridge has anchored the second base position virtually all season long.
Brittany Bell, who has recently made her presence known in right field, had a career series last weekend against Georgia, and Jessie Spain is not to be forgotten either, having seen action in 46 games so far.
In some very positive news for the Bulldogs, sophomore All-American Chelsea Bramlett, of Cordova, Tenn., who missed the Georgia series due to a head injury, saw action as the designated player Wednesday night against Southern Miss. Bramlett went 2-for-4 with a run scored.
Heading into the weekend, Tennessee is led by Tonya Callahan, who is currently batting .466 with 16 home runs and 58 RBIs. The Lady Vol offense as a whole is batting an impressive .321, while UT’s pitchers have held opponents to a .179 mark. The Lady Vols will provide MSU with quite a tough challenge.
“We’re going to work really hard over the next few days, because Tennessee will be a really tough team,” Bainbridge said.
“We should be ready, though.