Two-time all-SEC outfielder Iyhia McMichael recorded a grand slam and two triples on her way to shattering MSU’s single game RBI record as Mississippi State (6-5) routed Samford (1-1) 15-4 in five innings Sunday afternoon at the Rebel/Easton Invitational in Oxford.
McMichael’s 3-for-4 day at the plate included a school-record seven RBI–a feat which broke a six-year-old record set when Michelle Gates drove in six runs in a 30-0 rout of Alabama State on March 1, 1997. She also became just the third Bulldog to record two triples in one contest and the first since Keri McCallum recorded the feat against Belmont on Feb. 19, 2000.
Her four runs marked the most for an MSU player in one game since McCallum crossed the plate four time against Tennessee on April 14, 2000.
Jennifer Waterman highlighted a 3-for-4 day at the plate with a pair of RBI and Jennifer Jessup (2-for-3, 3 RBI) hit a two-run homer and scored twice. Kate Jaspers (2-for-3, R) turned in MSU’s only other multi-hit performance. Abi Casillo (1-for-3) hit a solo homer for Samford.
MSU starter Melissa Massey (5-1) won her third consecutive decision, scattering six hits over four and one-thirds innings of work to get the win for the Maroon and White, with freshman Stephanie Owens working the final two-outs of hitless ball.
Samford starter Erin Landsburg (1-1), who led her team to an upset of Auburn on Tuesday evening, took the loss after surrendering five runs on seven Mississippi State hits.
After taking down Samford 1-2-3 in the opening frame, State struck the scoreboard quickly, using three hits and a costly Samford error to plate a trio of runs and take a 3-0 lead into the second. Casillo’s solo shot brought Samford to within a pair in the top half of the second, but Blaire Brown’s two-run single in the bottom of the second extended the MSU lead out to four. Samford got a two-run bases-loaded single from Michelle Wright in the third, but State opened the floodgates in the bottom of the frame, sending 10 batters to the plate in a six-run inning to put the game out of reach, 11-3.
MSU stretched its lead to 15-3 with a four-run fourth inning, then closed the door on a Samford rally in the seventh.
Mississippi State will return to action on Friday when the Dawgs head to Las Cruces, N.M., for the Troy Cox Classic, hosted by New Mexico State. MSU will open series with three different opponents–Nevada, Miami (OH) and Nevada–at the tournament, while also taking on Illinois-Chicago and Colorado State.