April 1, 2007
STARKVILLE, Miss. – In a see-saw battle right from the start, the South Carolina Gamecocks could not hang on as they suffered an eight-inning 8-7 loss to the Mississippi State Bulldogs Sunday afternoon. The win gave the first ever series sweep to the Bulldogs. MSU scored four runs in the seventh to tie the game and force extra-innings. In the eighth, Katie Cooley had a sacrifice fly to score Chelsea Bramlett for the winning run. With the loss, South Carolina falls to 25-13 and 3-8 in SEC play, while MSU improves to 24-15 and 7-7 in the SEC.
Bramlett led off the eighth inning with a single, her fourth hit of the day, and stole second, also her fourth of the day, before advancing to third on a sacrifice bunt by Hayle Guess. Bramlett’s four stolen bases was a single game school record for the Bulldogs. With runners at second and third, Cooley was the hero for the Bulldogs as she drove in Bramlett with one out win the game.
Both starting pitchers returned to the game towards the end and became the pitchers of record. Melissa Hendon, who re-entered in the seventh, took the loss and fell to 10-9 on the year and 2-7 in the SEC as she pitched 1.1 innings and gave up the winning run in the eighth. Kelli Miller, who re-entered in the eighth, picked up the win for the Bulldogs in 2.2 innings pitched. Miller gave up five runs on four hits, while Hendon gave up three runs on three hits.
MSU took a 2-0 lead in the first after scoring two runs on four hits in the inning. Courtney Bures and Cooley each hit RBI-singles to drive in Nakita Boyce and Guess for the two runs.
South Carolina rallied back in the top of the second and scored five runs to take a 5-2 lead. The Gamecocks batted through the lineup and connected on four hits, including a leadoff double by Jessica Josker. Adele Voigt represented the lead run after reaching on a single and Lisa Longo drove in the tying run when Josker scored on a fielder’s choice. The Gamecocks loaded the bases after Jacqueline Wetherbee drew a two-out walk and set the scene for Ashton Payne. Payne hit a single to left field, but an error by Boyce allowed the bases to clear as Voigt, Longo and Wetherbee all scored and Payne advanced to third and put South Carolina ahead 4-2. Payne eventually scored on an RBI single by Becky Martinez to give the Gamecocks the three-run lead.
The Bulldogs put another run on the board in the fifth when Bramlett, who went 4-for-5, scored on an RBI single by Guess and cut the Gamecocks lead to two.
South Carolina tacked on two more runs in seventh with the hopes that it would be enough to earn the win. Walker scored on a fielder’s choice by Voigt and pinch runner Cagney Davis scored on an error by Bures to give South Carolina the 7-3 lead into the bottom of the seventh.
MSU answered back in the bottom half and scored four runs off of Kate Pouliot to tie the game. For the second game of the series, the Bulldogs had rallied to win. After an error put the first base runner on for the Bulldogs, MSU followed with five straight hits, to bring in the runs and tied the game 7-7. The rally was cut short when Blair Hewett lined into a double play to end the inning. Pouliot pitched 6.1 innings and gave up five runs and 12 hits.
In the eighth, South Carolina had two runners reach as Martinez singled and Wetherbee walked but the Gamecocks were unsuccessful in moving the runs around.
The Gamecocks have now lost eight consecutive conference games and have lost their last 10 of 11 games.
Mississippi State 8, South Carolina 7 (Apr 01, 2007 at Starkville, Miss.)
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South Carolina…… 050 000 20 – 7 10 3 (25-13, 3-8)
Mississippi State… 200 010 41 – 8 15 3 (24-15, 7-7)
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Pitchers: South Carolina – Melissa Hendon; Kate Pouliot(2). Mississippi State – Kelli Miller; Kelsey Nurnberg(3); Sara Hickerson(8).
Win-Kelli Miller(10-6) Loss-Melissa Hendon(10-9) T-2:20 A-247
Hendon, M. faced 2 batters in the 1st.
