The Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs Softball team won five of their six games this weekend, claiming the title in the 2005 Bulldog Invitational Tournament.
Sophomore pitcher Kelli Miller and freshman outfielder Courtney Bures led the Lady Dawgs. Miller pitched 12 innings, two complete games and a no-hitter. The Colorado native only gave up a combined six hits and no earned runs.
The no-hitter came against Louisiana Tech and was only the fifth no-no in school history. Miller was a first-inning throwing error away from a perfect game. Coach Jay Miller was impressed with Kelli’s performance.
“It was a tremendous performance from Kelli on the mound and Blair (Geddings) called a great ball game behind the plate and made some nice plays,” Coach Miller said in a release.
While Miller was tossing BB’s, Bures was hitting big flies.
Bures finished the tournament with four home runs, seven RBIs, a double and a stolen base on her way to picking up her first SEC Player of the Week award.
Two of Bures home runs came against Louisiana Tech.
“I think it was a great opening weekend for our ball team,” Coach Miller said. “Obviously to have a freshman step up and hit four homeruns in her first series and bat .500, it’s a great start for Courtney as well.”
The Bulldogs lost their opening game 2-1 to North Carolina State. But MSU prevailed over the rest of the tournament winning by a combined score of 46-8. The Bulldogs defeated both Louisiana Tech and Mississippi Valley State twice while topping NC State 5-1 in a rematch.
“Overall, I think we hit the ball well up and down the lineup over the course of the weekend and we really gave ourselves a good start to the season,” Coach Miller said. “If we can go 5-1 every six games the rest of the way, we are in good shape.”
Mississippi State placed five members of its squad on the All-Tournament team. Both Miller and Bures were selected with Miller taking home the tournament MVP.
Also on the team was first baseman Katie Johnson, second baseman Callye Williams and outfielder Lindsay Hunley.
Also pitching well for Lady Dawgs was senior Melissa Massey. Massey took the loss against North Carolina State, but pitched two complete games over the weekend, with 19 strikeouts in 13 innings.
The MSU squad hit eight home runs over the weekend with a batting average of .375.
The Lady Dawgs walked and struck out 16 times over the six games. They were also a perfect seven for seven on stolen bases and had a fielding percentage of .952.
The Bulldog pitching staff scattered four earned runs for a combined 0.78 ERA. As a team the Lady Dawgs struck out 35 batters while only walking three.