STARKVILLE — Mississippi State University softball player Sam Lenahan talked earlier in the week about her desire to attend lots of Super Bulldog Weekend activities.
Lenahan knew to get everywhere on campus Saturday afternoon that the Southeastern Conference softball game she was playing in needed to end. That finish came when the third baseman slapped a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift MSU to a 2-1 victory against the University of Kentucky.
The victory helped MSU (27-19, 10-14 Southeastern Conference) clinch its third straight conference series before a national television audience and a season-best crowd of 889 at the MSU Softball Field. Kentucky fell to 23-25 and 10-11.
In the eighth, Jessica Cooley drew a leadoff walk. After a sacrifice bunt by Ka’ili Smith, Lenahan hit a shot back up the middle for the game-winning hit.
“Before that at-bat started, I knew I need to get a good pitch to hit,” Lenahan said, “something preferably on the outside of the plate to make it easier for Jessica (Cooley) to score. Once I got ahead 2-0, I was looking for a good pitch to hit and she gave me one. I was ecstatic (when Cooley scored). The first thing I did was start running back down the middle of the field to get to her.”
MSU coach Vann Stuedeman had hoped to keep a talented Kentucky lineup off balance by using multiple pitchers. The Bulldogs did that by using four pitchers who held the Wildcats to five hits and scoreless after the first.
“(Starting pitcher) Misty (Flesher) was able to get a ground ball and we were able to roll the double play (in the first inning),” Stuedeman said. “She got out of it with bases loaded and just one run. That’s huge. Kylie (Vry) came out and gave us three really good innings. (Lindsey) Dunlap gave us four strikeouts. The pitching staff did a great job.”
Winning pitcher Stephanie Becker (15-10) pitched the final two innings, walking one and only facing one past the minimum. Kentucky had three hits in the first, two hits in the third, and none in its six other at-bats.
To advance to the SEC tournament and a potential NCAA regional, Stuedeman knows pitching depth will be critical.
“You have to be able to give a team multiple looks,” Stuedeman said. “The pitching staff has really grown a lot over the course of this season. We have built trust on in each of our pitchers. We feel like each of them can be counted on in critical situations to come in and get outs.”
The Bulldogs pulled even in the fifth. A two-base infield error opened the door. Brittany Gates reached and took second base on that error. After a groundout, Brittany Bell followed with a two-out RBI single.
Lenahan had a single in the sixth and teammate Erin Nesbit had a single in the seventh. However, each was stranded.
Not deterred, MSU came through in the eighth less than 24 hours after opening the series with a dramatic come-from-behind 4-3 victory Friday.
“(These wins) are helping to keep our moral up and really gives us a lot of momentum,” Lenahan said. “The coaches talk about winning each inning so we are not really thinking about the overall game. If we win each inning that is all that matters.”
The Bulldogs will look for their first series sweep of the Wildcats since 2008 at 1 p.m. today. MSU also could clinch a berth in the conference tournament with a win or a loss by the University of Arkansas at Auburn University.
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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