Mississippi State seemed poised to break a scoreless tie in the fourth inning of Saturday’s Southeastern Conference opener at Ole Miss in Oxford.
Carter Spexarth had just ripped a leadoff double into the gap in right center field, and the Bulldogs had three chances to bring her home.
But Anna Kate Segars’ bunt bounced up into her arm outside the batter’s box, and she was called out. Montana Davidson grounded out to shortstop on the next pitch, and Paige Cook took a strike before a soft liner to short.
The Bulldogs’ threat had ended on three outs in four pitches. In the bottom of the inning, Ole Miss broke through for five runs.
It was enough for the Rebels (16-7, 1-0 SEC) in a 6-0 win as the Bulldogs (15-6, 0-1) dropped their first conference game of the year. Spexarth’s double and a third-inning single by Chloe Malau’ulu went down as the Bulldogs’ only hits of the contest. Ole Miss’ Anna Borgen pitched a complete-game shutout, walking one and striking out four.
“I think (Borgen) did a good job sticking to her game plan, and we have to be able to make adjustments quicker,” Mississippi State coach Samantha Ricketts said in a news release. “We need to not start pressing when we get behind and continue to do what we do best, which is put pressure on the defense and swing the bat.”
After a bloop single and a full-count walk, Williams served up a three-run home run to center field for Ole Miss’ Abbey Wilcox. An error preceded an RBI single by Mikayla Allee later in the inning, and Williams was lifted for Annie Willis. Before the inning ended, Tate Whitley brought home a fifth Rebels run on a sac fly.
“When both pitchers were rolling, I think they made some adjustments, and we’ve got to make sure we’re still hitting our spots and making plays on defense,” Ricketts said. “We need to be able to limit the damage so they don’t get the big inning.”
Ole Miss got its sixth run when Paige Smith homered to lead off the fifth inning.
The two teams will be back in action at 4 p.m. Sunday. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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