Hope is not completely lost for Bulldog softball in the 2006 season, but it does seem to be wearing thin, as the rope that holds the Dawgs from plummeting out of postseason contention now consists of only a few thin threads.
Mississippi State (30-26, 4-20) bowed quietly to the Ole Miss Rebels (18-33, 5-19) Wednesday evening at home, losing a pitcher’s duel 1-0.
The defeat marks the sixth straight Southeastern conference series sweep against the Bulldogs and the 18th straight loss, all since the beginning of April.
One double was all Ole Miss needed to dispose the Bulldogs in the third game of the series, which was spread out over three different venues over the course of four weeks.
Designated Ole Miss player Mandy Ott drove a double to left-center field in the fourth inning, splitting the gap between MSU fielders Nakita Boyce and Hayle Guess and scoring Rebel shortstop Lisa Conchos from second.
MSU went on to score no runs on the evening, as UM hurler MaryJane Callahan held the Dawgs to only three hits in her seven innings of work.
“You’ve got to give Ole Miss credit,” MSU head softball coach Jay Miller said. “They made the plays when the game was on the line. They got the hits, they made plays defensively and (they) made the pitches. That made the difference.”
“I thought they did a nice job this year getting hits when they needed them to beat us,” Miller added.
Stephanie Comeaux (14-9) was saddled with the loss, despite pitching a valiant five innings and allowing only three Rebel hits against three strikeouts.
She was relieved in the sixth and seventh innings by Kelli Miller, who worked two innings of no-hit, no-earned-run ball.
“We’re not tired,” Comeaux said, defending the pitching staff. “We really want to work harder. It bothered me letting just that one run score tonight. I wish we could’ve battled back, but when the other team does their job by adjusting and stuff and we don’t, it’s just frustrating. But it just makes us more determined to do better.”
Three Bulldogs split the three team hits with one apiece, as Kinney and Boyce each went one-for-two on the night, and Lindsay Hunley turned in a one-for-three performance. All three hits were singles.
Despite the loss to Ole Miss, the Lady Dawgs are still alive in the hunt for postseason glory.
The team remains at the bottom of the SEC along with the Rebels and the Kentucky Wildcats.
After losing to UM Wednesday night, however, prying into the SEC Tournament will be a much more difficult task for the Bulldogs.
“I think everyone’s very disappointed with the losing streak we’re in right now, especially after such a good start we had this year,” Miller said. “It leads to a lot of frustration, and then our kids start pressuring themselves to play better than they actually can, and that’s when they mess up. We just have to play ball how we play ball.”
State has six remaining games on the year, and none can be considered easy by any stretch of the imagination.
The Dawgs’ final home series will be played Saturday and Sunday against the No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide (41-8, 19-4 SEC).
The final three games of the regular season will be in Lexington, Ky., against the Wildcats.