Blaire Brown’s RBI single with two outs in the bottom of the
seventh brought in Iyhia McMichael with the gamewinning run as
Mississippi State (15-5) came from behind to down Syracuse (4-6),
3-2, and clinch the championship of the Florida State Seminole
Challenge.
Brown drove in a pair of runs on a 1-for-4 tally at the plate,
while Krystal Tillman extended her hitting streak to 10 games,
scoring a run and adding a RBI on a 2-for-4 performance. Designated
player Cassie Morales’ two-run homer on a 1-for-3 clip paced the
Orangewomen.
Mississippi State starter Melissa Massey (10-1) got off to a
rough start, but settled down the rest of the way out, allowing a
pair of earned runs on eight hits and striking out three to nab her
eighth consecutive decision. Tara DiMaggio (2-2) came on in the top
of the fourth and allowed a pair of runs on three MSU hits to
saddle the loss for Syracuse.
The win marked State’s 10th-straight and gave the Bulldogs their
longest string of victories since a 12-game winning streak from
March 28-April 10, 1986. It is just the second winning streak to
hit double digits in the history of the program.
Massey looked like she would dice through the Orangewomen lineup
from the start, getting leadoff hitter Jessica Holowish on a soft
grounder to begin the game, but Syracuse got a one-out single from
Rachel Park and a two-run dinger from Morales to take a 2-0 lead
that would hold up for four innings. Brooke Best drew a walk to
leadoff the third, then scored two batters later on Tillman’s
triple down the leftfield line to cut the deficit to one, 2-1. MSU
rallied again in the fifth, getting consecutive one-out singles
from Jennifer Nelson and Tillman, before a throwing error moved
both into scoring position. Brown’s fielder’s choice RBI two
batters later knotted the score back up at two apiece.
Mississippi State will return to action on Wednesday afternoon
when the Bulldogs return home to host Samford in an afternoon
doubleheader at the Mississippi State Softball Field. First pitch
of the twinbill is set for 4 p.m. and admission to all 2003
Mississippi State Softball home games is free of charge.
After a home date with Samford, the Lady Bulldogs will go on the
road to face South Carolina for a doubleheader on March 8, one game
on March 9 and a doubleheader with Coastal Carolina on March
12.