Softball is a team sport. And with every team sport, one individual can’t do it all.
After winning the series against South Carolina, Mississippi State is still struggling to fully gel as a unit.
“We’re hitting the ball pretty well,” sophomore shortstop Courtney Bures said following the USC series, “But we’re not stringing the hits together and hitting as a team. If we keep hitting the ball hard, and then eventually hitting as a team will come.”
Mississippi State (27-8, 4-2 SEC) scored eight runs on the entire weekend. Although MSU won the series with back-to-back wins Saturday, South Carolina (22-12, 2-7 SEC) scored more total runs, tapping the plate 10 times and matched the Bulldogs in hitting, both squads grinding out 17 over the three-game stretch.
“We definitely didn’t play our best,” Bures said.
The first tie-up of the series between the Bulldogs and Gamecocks became a 10-inning marathon after South Carolina scored one run in the top of the seventh to tie the Bulldogs 2-2.
State was unable to score in the bottom half of the inning, forcing the game into extra innings. In the top of the 10th, it appeared South Carolina had a stronghold on the Bulldogs, scoring one run on a triple, driving home the tiebreak runner.
The Bulldogs, however, wouldn’t be stifled and came back in the bottom half of the 10th to score two runs and seal the victory.
Although Stephanie Comeaux delivered a stellar pitching performance through six innings, Ragan Blake picked up the victory, striking out five and allowing only two hits.
One each of the three total runs in game two came in the first three innings. South Carolina jumped ahead early in the first, only needing three batters to do damage to the Dawgs. MSU, however, bounced back in the second and third, with Michelle Kinney and Bures driving in Rachel Hurley and Hayle Guess.
Blake’s contribution of four strikeouts and three hits allowed was enough to steer the Bulldogs to victory.
The 2-1 victory marked Blake’s 14th complete game of the year.
A nightmarish first inning Sunday sent Bulldog ace Comeaux out of the pitcher’s circle before chalking up a single out. Comeaux allowed three earned runs on only one hit, but two key defensive errors by the Maroon and White sent three Gamecocks to the plate in the first inning.
Blake made her third appearance in as many games on the weekend, relieving Comeaux for the rest of the game.
The Bulldog offense couldn’t make up for what the defense messed up, however, the Dawgs lost the Sunday afternoon season finale by the score of 6-2. Comeaux was saddled with the loss, despite pitching only a fraction of the game, facing three batters.
“Our goal is to come out and win every series, and we accomplished that,” Miller said. “It’s frustrating that we can’t sweep when given the opportunity.”
Injury and misfortune can partly be to blame for making meshing difficult. Third baseman Gina McCloud is constantly off and on with back problems, as is catcher Blair Geddings, who also suffered a foul ball shot to the facemask Sunday and had to leave the game.
Rightfielder and cleanup hitter Katie Cooley has also been battling foot injuries this year. Add in the flu bug the team had to battle earlier in the season, and one can see how much tribulation the Lady Bulldog squad has had to overcome this year.