In collegiate sports, winning can be contagious. Once a team can get a few wins under its belt and start playing with a little confidence, history says that it will begin to win more.
The Mississippi State softball team defied history last weekend with a series win over the 10th-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide.
The Lady Dawgs converted that momentum into a series win on the road at Arkansas.
State’s pitching penned the Lady Razorbacks in Saturday’s double-header. State got off to a quick start in the series behind a spectacular pitching performance by staff ace Melissa Massey. Massey pitched a complete game and held the Razorbacks to only two hits.
Senior All-American Iyhia McMichael blasted her team-high ninth home run of the season to drive in the game’s only two runs.
The Lady Dawgs came alive at the plate in the second game of the day. After scoring one in the first and none in the second and third innings, State posted seven runs and cruised to an 8-0 win. Reigning SEC Player of the Week Kate Jaspers paced the Lady Dawgs with a game-high three RBIs.
The real story of the game, however, was the dominant Bulldog pitching.
“We got great pitching from both Melissa (Massey) and Kelli (Miller) today,” said head coach Jay Miller. “They just dominated and didn’t give up anything.”
The Lady Dawgs expounded on Massey’s performance in the second game of the day when freshman Kelli Miller stepped into the circle. Miller handcuffed the Lady Razorbacks with her fourth shutout of the year, pitching a complete game with four strikeouts.
“We made some nice plays defensively-especially in the infield. We got a couple of double plays that got us out of some situations,” the coach said. “Overall, it was just a real good day for us.”
The Lady Dawgs couldn’t complete the sweep Sunday, however.
The team dropped Sunday’s 4-2 decision to the Lady ‘Backs on a late Arkansas rally when Mindy O’Malley led off the sixth with a double off Stephanie Comeaux. Massey came in to relieve Comeaux.
Shana Easley sacrifice bunted O’Malley to third and O’Malley scored on the following at bat. Arkansas added one more insurance run and Heather Schlictman retired State three up, three down in the seventh.