No. 20 MSU Ends Weekend With Loss to Fresno State
CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. - Mississippi State's hot start to the season may have cooled off slightly, but the Bulldogs are still surpassing preseason expectations.
No. 20 Mississippi State (11-3) ended their time at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic with three wins and a pair of losses. The Bulldogs rebounded from their second loss of the season to No. 1 Oklahoma on Friday night with a 4-2 victory against Cal State Fullerton (9-5) on Saturday.
Cal State Fullerton built an early 2-1 lead against Mississippi State in the third inning. Brylie St. Clair tied the game for MSU in the top of the fourth inning on a single through the middle of the defense. Salen Hawkins gave her team the lead later in the inning with sacrifice fly to left field. Kylee Edwards brought the score to 4-2 in the fifth inning with an RBI single.
Josef Marion earned her fourth win of the season, allowing only one earned run on four hits. Aspen Wesley was credited with her first save of the season, pitching the last two innings without allowing a hit or walk and one strikeout.
The Bulldogs' second game of the day against Fresno State didn't go as well as late Saturday night.
Fresno State (9-4) opened the scoring with a solo homer in the first inning and added another run in the fourth inning on a MSU error.
St. Clair drove in the lone run for the Bulldogs in the fifth inning on a single up the middle that drove in Nadia Barbary. But Fresno State answered back in the seventh inning with a RBI double to make the score 3-1.
Lexi Sosa (2-1) took the loss in the late night game. She pitched 6.1 innings and gave up two earned runs on seven hits and recorded a pair of strikeouts. Delainey Everett faced the final two batters in a relief appearance.
Next up for MSU is it's own tournament, the Bulldog Invitational. MSU is scheduled to play six games over four days, beginning with Southern Miss on Thursday night.