The Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs softball team improved its record to 16-8 this weekend as they went 4-2 at the Buzz Classic hosted by Georgia Tech in Atlanta.
MSU’s first win came against the Rattlers of Florida A&M Friday. The Bulldogs pulled out to a 2-0 lead off of home runs from Blair Geddings and Courtney Bures, but A&M tied the game in the bottom of the third inning.
The score stayed that way until the sixth, when a leadoff walk followed by an error and a wild pitch put runners on second and third base for the Bulldogs.
Katie Johnson delivered in the clutch with a RBI groundout to give the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead. Another wild pitch allowed Lindsay Hunley to score as the Dawgs won 4-2.
Pitcher Stephanie Comeaux was lights out in her relief appearance. Comeaux pitched four innings, allowing only four hits and striking out four.
Later Friday, Melissa Massey showed she could throw a little too as she no-hit St. Francis.
It was Massey’s second career no-hitter and her first since her freshman season. The no-no was only the seventh no-hitter in Mississippi State history. Massey struck out nine and only walked one in seven innings.
Massey also helped herself out at the plate, blasting her first career home run and helping the Bulldogs to a 7-0 victory.
“That was a good game for Melissa,” head coach Jay Miller said. “She had the big blow as well, coming in off the bench and hitting the ball out of the ballpark. That has got to be good for her and hopefully, that will give her a little spark and get her back on track. She pitched a really good ballgame for us.”
Freshman Courtney Bures also hit her ninth homerun of the season against St. Francis. The blast marked Bures’ third homerun in as many games.
The Bulldogs received their first defeat of the tournament Saturday, falling to Virginia Tech 4-3. Pitcher Kelli Miller dominated the first three innings sitting all nine batters down in order but ran into trouble in the fourth allowing all four of Virginia Tech’s runs.
“Kelli was sailing along so well,” Coach Miller said. “She went nine up and nine down and nobody hit the ball hard. You have to give them credit though-they made adjustments at the plate and we didn’t.”
Senior Tenelda McDonald knocked in all three Mississippi State runs with her second home run of the season.
The Bulldogs got back on track against Troy. MSU’s bats sizzled as they defeated the Trojans 12-6. The Bulldog bats were on fire while the Troy gloves were ice cold; Mississippi State scored seven of its 12 runs off of errors.
Jennifer Jessup, Callye Williams and Katie Cooley all homered for the Bulldogs. Williams also had a double and knocked in three runners. Cooley was three for four on the day and also had three RBIs.
The Bulldogs winning ways continued as elimination play began. The Bulldogs showed heart and toughness coming back from a 4-0 deficit to top Georgia Southern 7-4. Coach Miller was pleased with his team’s character.
“I thought the kids showed some character tonight. Melissa gave up the early home run, but we came right back and swung the bats and put some runs on the board,” Miller said.
Michelle Kinney and Lindsay Hunley both homered for the Bulldogs while each scored twice and each had two RBI’s. Jennifer Jessup also added two RBI’s on a two for three day.
After playing five games in two days the Bulldogs fell to the Ohio State University Buckeyes 11-0. The Buckeyes scored 11 runs off of 10 hits as pitcher Jamee Juarez threw a one-hit shutout. Ohio State would move on to finish as the tournament’s runner-up.
“The bottom line is that we didn’t compete,” Miller said. “It was embarrassing for us to come out and compete like we did. Hopefully it served as a little wake up call as we get ready for SEC play that we need to make some changes and people need to step up. That’s what we are looking for.”
Senior Jennifer Jessup was named to the Buzz Classic’s All-Tournament team. Jessup batted .467 for the tournament.