Bulldogs blank the Blazers 8-0
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – Playing on the hallowed ground of the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium, the Mississippi State Bulldogs closed out their Oklahoma road trip with a dominating 8-0 victory against the UAB Blazers on Saturday afternoon.
The Bulldogs (24-9) grabbed the lead with a one-run fourth inning and added an insurance run in the fifth to make it a 2-0 game. The flood gates opened in the sixth with MSU exploded for six runs to put the game well out of reach.
Holly Ward put on another masterful performance in the circle, throwing her fifth-career complete game shutout. The junior ace fanned six batters and allowed just three hits to earn her seventh win of the year.
Ward only allowed two hits over the first two frames as both sides found itself in a pitching duel. UAB held the Bulldogs to no hits over the first three innings, but that changed when State came to bat in the fourth.
With one out and a runner on second, Caroline Seitz delivered one of her three hits of the day to score Reggie Harrison and give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead. MSU tacked on another run in the fifth as a UAB fielding error allowed Olivia Golden to reach safely and score Bevia Robinson.
One inning later the floodgates opened, as MSU dropped eight runs on the Blazers in the sixth. The Bulldogs got things started thanks to Maddie Dorsett’s first-career hit. A single and a walk later, Calyn Adams knocked an RBI single to left. The next batter, Harrison reached on a fielder’s choice and a run scored thanks to a drop by the catcher on the play at home.
The runs kept coming as a passed ball brought Robinson home to up the score to 5-0. Golden drove in a run the next play and a wild pitch cleared the bases as Harrison came home to make it 7-0. Three batters later, Katie Anne Bailey brought Seitz home on a single to center, setting State up with an 8-0 lead.
Ward finished off the Blazers in the bottom half of the frame, working around a one-out single and walk to slam the door on MSU’s 8-0 run-rule victory.
Six Bulldogs earned a hit for the day, led by Seitz’s threehit performance. With those three base knocks, Seitz now has 200-career hits and ties Ali Bainbridge (2008-11) for 10th on the MSU all-time hits list.
Kat Moore went 1-for-3 with a run scored, extending her career-high hitting streak to eight-straight games.
The Bulldogs will stay on the road for a Tuesday night showdown in Hattiesburg against the Southern Miss Golden Eagles. State will return home a day later for a battle against Mississippi Valley State at Nusz Park. Both games are set for 6 p.m. starts.