“With softball, you have pitching, offense and defense. All season long, we’ve been struggling to put those three together.”
Mississippi State softball head coach Jay Miller voiced those words Sunday following a disappointing 10-0 loss to the No. 4 Tennessee Lady Volunteers (47-6, 18-6 SEC).
It was UT’s third win in as many games played against the Lady Bulldogs on the weekend, earning their fifth SEC series sweep on the season.
The Lady Bulldogs (30-25, 4-19 SEC) have now broken the all-time school record for consecutive losses. State’s last victory was a 8-0 whipping of Southern Mississippi on March 30.
Since the start of April, the Bulldogs have lost 16 straight games.
“In general, we’re frustrated,” MSU sophomore pitcher Ragan Blake said. “Everyone talks in every single game about getting back on top, like we were in the beginning of the season. It seemed like then we were on fire, and now we’ve hit a brick wall, and as a team, we have to climb the wall.”
In Game One of the threegame stretch, it appeared as if Mississippi State might pose an upset threat against UT All-American pitcher Monica Abbott (34-5), as MSU clung to a 1-0 lead heading into the sixth inning.
However, that would be the only run the Dawgs could muster in the seven-inning ballgame.
UT bounced back in the sixth and seventh innings to score one run in each, rallying to agitate the Bulldogs by the final score of 2-1.
It seemed as if the pitching and defensive terms of Miller’s equation were present, as Stephanie Comeaux allowed one earned run on five hits in six innings of work, and the entire defensive line-up committed no errors in the game.
The offense, however, only produced six hits on the day, proving once again to be State’s kryptonite in the one-run loss to the Lady Vols.
“The big thing is that we’ve been struggling offensively,” Miller said. “We give ourselves opportunities to score some runs, but we just can’t seem to come up with consistent hitting. Putting hits together back-to-back is what we’re struggling with.”
The pitching element of the equation was shaken up in the second game of the Maroon and Orange series, as Blake took the circle for the Bulldogs but lasted only three innings after allowing three earned runs on four hits.
She was replaced by reliever Sara Hickerson, who split four innings of pitching with fellow reliever Kelli Miller, both of whom went two innings, allowing no runs on a total of five hits.
MSU could only muster one run in the second tie-up as well, with four hits.
The defense performed well in Game Two, restraining from making a single error.
Though parts of Games One and Two looked promising for the Lady Dawgs, the Lady Vols came out Sunday to pick apart the Bulldogs.
First they shook up Comeaux for four runs in only 1.2 innings pitched.
Blake got the nod to relieve her, only to be replaced later by Miller after pitching 1.1 innings.
Tennessee’s offense, mixed with some defensive lapses by MSU, led the Vols to an early 7-0 lead by the second inning. The defense would finish with two errors on the day, both of which led to runs batted in for Tennessee.
MSU’s offense couldn’t touch UT starter Monica Abbott, as she pitched five flawless innings, allowing only three hits and no runs, leading UT over the Bulldogs by a final mercy-rule score of 10-0.
Mississippi State still remains alive in the hunt for the SEC tournament, as only the top eight teams in the conference will make the cut. The Dawgs currently sit at No. 9 in the SEC, joining Kentucky and Ole Miss just outside the bubble.
Luckily for the Bulldogs, two of the three remaining opponents on the schedule are Kentucky and Ole Miss.
“It’s really important for us to step up and win every single game from here on out,” Blake said. “If we don’t win, then we have to be on top of our game anyway and leave the field feeling good about what we just did.”