The Mississippi State University Lady Bulldogs softball team traveled to Tuscaloosa, Ala. this weekend, to meet the 10th ranked Crimson Tide of Alabama. The Bulldogs came up short all three games in the series as the Tide rolled to a sweep.
The Bulldogs troubles began early in the first game as pitcher Kelli Miller gave up three runs on five hits and lasted only one inning. Tide pitcher Stephanie VanBrakle was the positive to Miller’s negative, tossing her seventh shutout of the season in an 8-0 victory for Alabama.
The Lady Bulldogs were only able to get two hits off of VanBrakle. Katie Cooley and Courtney Bures both singled in the contest.
Looking to bounce back after the loss, the Bulldogs sent out Stephanie Comeaux to pitch. Comeaux had not lost since March 20 and hoped to keep her winning streak alive.
But the Bulldog bats were again kept quiet as MSU tallied only one run in game, but a great pitching performance by Comeaux almost made one run enough for a victory.
Comeaux pitched a complete game for the Bulldogs but was bitten by untimely errors. In the second inning Katie Cooley dropped a fly ball that allowed the Tide to score, Alabama tacked on three more unearned runs as they defeated the Bulldogs 4-1. All four runs were unearned.
Senior Jennifer Jessup drove in the only Bulldog run of the day.
MSU jumped to a 1-0 lead in the first inning of the final game, trying to avoid the Alabama sweep. But the run would be the only one for the Bulldogs as the Tide rolled in a 9-1 mercy rule game.
“It’s just one of those series where we couldn’t get anything generated offensively and we struggled defensively. We bunted really well so that was the positive from the weekend,” coach Jay Miller said.
With the sweep the Bulldogs record drops to 25-21 for the year with a 6-12 ledger in SEC play. Alabama’s record improves to 44-9 for the season and 16-5 in the Southeastern Conference.
The Bulldogs will continue play this Tuesday at home against UAB at 6 p.m. The game will be the first of a five-game home stand for MSU. The Bulldogs face Ole Miss Thursday and Arkansas this weekend.
“We have Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday here at home and the opportunity to get back into the race for the SEC tournament,” Miller said. “Hopefully we can take advantage of that.”