The long trip to California proved to be a tough one as the Lady Bulldogs finished with a 2-3 record in the Palm Springs Classic this weekend.
The Bulldogs pulled out victories against Utah and Cal-State Fullerton but dropped games to Oregon State, Pacific and California-Berkeley. Head coach Jay Miller was disappointed by the losses but saw some bright spots in his team’s play.
“Coming out of this weekend’s tournament with a 2-3 record isn’t bad, but we had the opportunity to do a lot better. We didn’t take advantage of that and that was disappointing in a way,” Miller said. “But, overall, we saw a lot of good things that we can build on in these next couple of weeks before conference play starts.”
The Dawgs opened the tournament with a tough loss to No. 1 ranked California. The Bulldogs made six errors that led to six unearned runs in a 9-4 loss.
“If you want to compete with the No. 1 team in the country, you have to play solid defense, and we just didn’t do that,” Miller said.
Bulldog seniors Tenelda McDonald and Jennifer Jessup tried to overcome the lack of defense with an offensive explosion. The two combined to go 6-8 at the plate. McDonald drove in a couple of RBIs, while Jessup added a run in the loss.
The Bulldogs first victory came against previously ranked Cal-State Fullerton.
Freshman Courtney Bures provided the pop at the plate with a home run, while pitchers Stephanie Comeaux and Melissa Massey pitched a gem as the Dawgs won 5-4. Blair Geddings also scored two runs in the victory.
“We got a great pitching performance from Stephanie and Melissa came in and shut the door to give us an opportunity to win,” Miller said. “Courtney’s home run early in the game was huge for us and Blair Geddings scored twice after battling a stomach bug the entire day. She gave us a very gutty performance.”
The Bulldogs could not fight off the errors once again as they allowed two unearned runs in the 5-4 loss to Pacific. Keri McFarling was the bright spot for the Lady Bulldogs, going 2-4 with a RBI, a double and a stolen base.
The Bulldog bats came alive against Utah; scoring five runs in the third inning on their way to a 10-3 win.
Mississippi State pitcher Ragan Blake earned her first career victory after coming in for Kelli Miller. Blake gave up four hits while striking out six in five innings.
Bures fueled the Bulldogs at the plate going 4-4 with three runs scored, four RBIs, a double and a stolen base. Jessup cleaned up what Bures could not, knocking in three runners on two hits.
“We came out and put some runs on the board and I thought Ragan came in and did a nice job picking up the win and shutting them down after Kelli struggled those first couple of innings,” Miller said.
Mississippi State threatened to win their third game on the final day of the tournament, leading Oregon State 5-4 in the bottom of the seventh inning. But Oregon State outfielder Mia Longfellow belted a two-run walk-off homer to end the Bulldogs bid at a win.
Freshman Courtney Bures continued her offensive tear throughout the tournament. The Virginia native batted .500 going nine for 18. She also scored seven runs while knocking in another seven.
Bures hit for the cycle over the five ball games with two doubles, a triple and a home run. She also stole four bases.