SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 3, TENNESSEE STATE 0; TENNESSEE STATE 2, SACRED HEART 1
ORLANDO, Fla. ? Candace Hildebrand put Tennessee State softball back on the winning track with an outstanding pitching performance after the Tigers dropped a 3-0 game to South Dakota State. The senior pitcher struck out a career high 12 batters as TSU picked up a 2-1 win over Sacred Heart.
Hildebrand scattered five hits without allowing a walk as the Pioneers could only manage one unearned run. SHU led off the top of the seventh inning with a hit, but the Moreno Valley, California native would strike out the side and end the hopes of a Pioneer comeback.
Sacred Heart opened the scoring in the second inning only to see the Tigers bounce back in the bottom half of the frame to tie the score at 1-1. After a Bridget Metzger triple to right field, junior Katie Anderson reached on a throwing error by the Sacred Heart pitcher that allowed Metzger to score.
The Tigers would piece together three hits in the fifth inning to push the eventual game-winning run across home plate. Anderson drove a ball up the middle that brought home Hildebrand who opened the inning with a hit.
TSU finished the game with nine hits, but stranded ten base runners, as they improved to 16-4.
In the first game, South Dakota State pitcher Jenna Marston threw a complete game three-hit shutout without allowing a walk and striking out six. Freshman Tamara Perkins notched two of the hits off Marston, while junior Jennifer Gregory picked up the third hit for the Tigers.
Amanda Vaught lost her first game as a Tiger and dropped to 7-1 on the season. The junior pitcher surrendered five hits and three runs, one earned, while striking out eight against one walk.
AUSTIN PEAY 9, CUMBERLAND 4; AUSTIN PEAY 11, CUMBERLAND 3
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. ? Austin Peay’s softball team ended its four-game losing streak with a doubleheader sweep of Cumberland University Wednesday afternoon at Lady Govs Field by scores of 9-4 and 11-3.
Austin Peay (8-7), a day after managing only six hits in a doubleheader against Western Kentucky, pounded out 30 hits on Wednesday -- including two home runs ? as the Lady Govs went back to basics.
Eight different Lady Govs collected at least two hits on the day, led by freshman Daniella Hooper, who finished the day going 6-for-8, with two doubles and seven RBIs.
Another player having a big day was senior Natasha Anderson, who went 5-for-7 at the plate, with a double, a home run and four RBIs.
In Game 1, Austin Peay got out to a 4-0 lead after two innings, but Cumberland (3-5) cut the margin in half with two runs of its own in the third.
But the Lady Govs answered back with a five-run fifth inning, highlighted by back-to-back home runs by Anderson and Sarah Longmire.
Lacey Briscoe (2-0) picked up the win in the opener, going 6 2/3 innings allowing four runs on seven hits. She walked one and struck one.
The nightcap proved to be much like the opener, as the Lady Govs scored five runs in the first two innings, but failed to do anything for the next three innings, before putting the game under the 8-run rule, with a six-run sixth.
Hooper had two doubles in Game 2, with both driving in two runs each, Brittany Williams, Ashley Taylor, Anderson and Taylor Newberry adding two hits each.
Anderson (5-4) got the win, in relief of starter Megan Williams, pitching 3 2/2 innings of shutout ball ? striking out six ? while giving up no hits or walks.
MISSISSIPPI STATE 7, SAMFORD 0
MISSISSIPPI STATE, Miss. ? The Samford University softball team allowed a season-high 15 hits against the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Wednesday in a 7-0 non-conference loss held at the MSU Softball Field.
Samford (10-8) finished with three hits in the game and failed to score a run for only the third time this season. The Bulldogs?? Susanna Meyer (2-4) suffered the loss in the circle and the team dropped to 2-7 in road contests.
We didn't do anything well today, said Samford head coach Beanie Ketcham. We didn’t make adjustments at the plate and we didn’t do things on defense that we normally know how to do. Obviously, Susanna struggled a little bit, but that wasn’t our main problem.
Mississippi State (15-8) picked up its sixth shutout of the 2007 campaign Wednesday.
The Bulldogs finished with five players recording multiple-hit performances and were led by Nikita Boyce and Hayle Guess. Both Boyce and Guess went 3-for-4 at the plate and accounted for five of the teams seven runs. Boyce scored a run and earned an RBI, while Guess crossed the plate twice and drove in a run.
Samford was held hitless until the fifth inning.
In the top of the fifth frame, the Bulldogs Amanda Barrs singled through the left side of the infield before junior Tracey Deaux lined a single off the pitcher. Samfords third hit of the game occurred in the sixth inning when sophomore Jessica Owens ripped a grounder up the middle.
Mississippi State’s starting pitcher Kelli Miller (6-3) earned the victory.
We are going to come out and practice hard this week and hopefully be ready by the time conference play rolls around, Ketcham said. â??I thought that Brittany Simao did a good job at third base for us today and she’s really been learning. She’s a smooth athlete and comes from a baseball background. I think she’ll end up being pretty solid for us.
Mississippi State jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning as Guess and Courtney Bures both crossed the plate for the Bulldogs.
Boyce led off the frame with a bunt single to first base, but was later forced out at third on a ground ball to Samford’s Simao. Guess then came to the plate and tallied an infield single to shortstop. She later advanced to third on a wild pitch and came around to score on Jessie Bailey’s infield up the middle.
Mississippi State scored its second run of the inning on a sacrifice fly. With one out in the frame, Lindsay Hunley flied out to deep center field allowing Bures to cross the plate from third.
MSU exploded for five runs in the bottom of the fourth frame to extend its lead to 7-0.
The Bulldogs sent 10 hitters to plate in the inning and recorded six hits. The big blow occurred with two outs as Hunley lined a double to left-center field driving in both Bailey and Bures.
Hunley, Mississippi State’s first baseman from Aurora, Ill., finished the day with a three runs batted in after tallying a 1-for-3 performance at the plate.
All seven of the Bulldogs runs were scored with two outs.
The Samford University softball team will next be in action Saturday as the Bulldogs host their annual Bulldog Bash Tournament. This season’s three-team field includes Samford, Saint Louis and Alabama State.