The Mississippi State softball team earned two more conference victories Saturday against Auburn but lost a close contest Sunday afternoon, leaving its hopes of a sweep unfulfilled.The Bulldogs (20-15, 4-7) held Auburn to only two runs over both games Saturday, defeating the Tigers 3-1 in the early game and 4-1 in the nightcap.
The Lady Dawgs got great pitching efforts from seniors Kelli Miller and Sara Hickerson and sophomore Kelsey Nurnberg.
“Obviously, these were two great wins,” MSU head coach Jay Miller said. “We needed this to pick ourselves up a little bit. We got great pitching from Kelli and Sara and from Kelsey in the second game. They all handled them really well.
“The key was we kept the leadoff runner off base, and we made the plays that we needed to.”
Though the Tigers out-hit the Bulldogs in the first game 8-2, timely hitting from Jessie Bailey and Courtney Bures and consistent pitching guided the way to a Maroon-and-White victory.
Auburn again put up more hits on the board than the Lady Bulldogs in the second contest Saturday evening, but the Bulldogs were able to pull out another victory by besting the Tigers on the scoreboard, this time 3-1.
Nurnberg pitched a complete game Saturday afternoon, allowing only one earned run on eight hits striking out and walking none.
Nurnberg improved her win/loss record to 6-2 on the year.
Junior center fielder Hayle Guess proved to be the Bulldog leader offensively, going 2-for-2 on the contest with 2 RBIs, two runs scored, one walk and her fifth home run of the season.
A rare call led to the Bulldogs’ demise in the third game of the Auburn series, as a single by Nakita Boyce, which would have tied the game in the final inning, was ruled an out when Boyce stepped on home plate after leaving the batter’s box.
The out was the third out of the inning and the final out of the game, handing the Lady Bulldogs their seventh conference loss of the season.
Miller and Hickerson teamed up to pitch against the Tigers, allowing only two runs on four hits for the entire the day.
The Bulldogs notched seven hits Sunday, winning the hit battle for the first time in the series.
Guess paced the Bulldogs once again at the plate, earning two hits on the day and scoring MSU’s only run.
With the weekend under her belt, Guess is currently batting .344.
“I’m just glad to be playing at home again against a team that reminds us of ourselves,” Miller said. “We and Auburn are pretty similar teams, and it is important that we go out and beat this team.
“Going on the road against Tennessee and Alabama back-to-back isn’t easy. It’s tough, and so it’s good to be back here against teams we can really compete against.