Bulldog Softball Falls 8-3 To No. 14 California In NCAA Tournament Opener

Chelsea Bramlett collected three hits and Brittany Bell went 2-for-2 Friday afternoon as Mississippi State fell 8-3 to 14th-ranked California in the opening game of the NCAA Tallahassee (Fla.) Regional at JoAnne Graf Field on the Florida State campus.

Bramlett also added an RBI and scored a run as she extended her hit streak to 14 games, two shy of the career-best 16 she collected earlier this season.

The Bulldogs (28-27) jumped out to a 3-0 lead through the first two innings before the Golden Bears (36-18) rallied with a pair of runs in both the second and third and four runs in the sixth.

“We did a nice job of putting some runs on the scoreboard early, but our pitching struggled today. We had some opportunities that we didn’t take advantage of which is frustrating,” MSU head coach Jay Miller said. “We hit the ball well throughout the line-up but left a lot of runners on base.”

State opened the scoring in the first as Sammie Jo Bailey lined a one-out base hit up the middle that scored Bell after she drew a walk and took second on a fielder’s choice.

MSU extended the lead to 3-0 with a pair of runs in the top of the second inning. With one out, sophomore Courtney Nesbit lined a double over the head of Cal centerfielder Frani Echavarria. A Bramlett base hit scored pinch-runner Allie Heon. She came all the way around to score as the ball went through the legs of Echavarria, giving State the 3-0 advantage.

The Golden Bears cut the lead to 3-2 in the bottom half of the frame on home runs from Elia Reid and Sanoe Kekahuna. Reid and Kekahuna each drove in two runs on the day.

California tied the game in the third as Jamia Reid (4-for-4) tripled and later scored on a Valerie Arioto sacrifice fly. The Golden Bears took the lead when Gina Leomiti was hit by a pitch with two outs and scored on a Taylor Kelly ground ball that snuck through the left side of the infield.

State had the tying run thrown out at the plate in the top of the fourth. Brittany Gates was hit by a pitch to open the frame. After stealing second, she moved to third on a bunt single by Bramlett but was thrown out trying to score when Bramlett broke for an unoccupied second base.

After being struck for the three early runs (two earned), Cal starter Melissa Drewrey held the Bulldogs off the scoreboard the rest of the way to pick up the win and move to 22-10 on the year. Drewrey struck out five and walked one in the complete-game effort.

The Golden Bears gave her four extra insurance runs in the sixth off Kelsey Nurnberg, who entered the game in the fourth in relief of starter Lindsey Dunlap. Dunlap fell to 17-15 as she went three innings and allowed four runs on five hits with a strikeout and a walk.

Cal’s Kekahuna homered to open the frame. A bases-loaded walk to Arioto made it a 6-3 game, and Leomiti plated the final two runs with a base hit to right field.

The Bulldogs next face the host Seminoles, who were upset 1-0 by Oklahoma State Friday, in an elimination game at 2:30 p.m. CDT on Saturday.