Southern Miss (23-24) took to the road this past Tuesday to face Mississippi State, losing 4-0. The matchup was the second between the two this season, with the Bulldogs winning both contests.
Both teams have had their struggles against SEC opponents with the Bulldogs only producing an 3-12 record against opponents in their conference and Southern Miss producing an 1-6 record against the conference. Out of the six games for the Golden Eagles, four of them have been shutout losses.
Both teams were unable to push runs across the plate in the first three innings. The scoring drought would end for MSU when Katie Ann Bailey delivered a two-out home run to left center field to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead.
The Bulldogs went on to score three more insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.
After a walk and a stolen base, Mackenzie Toler singled to bring both runners home, and then was able to advance to second on a wild throw to first.
After a pitcher change for Southern Miss brought in Jillian Johnson, Calyn Adams doubled to bring home the final run of the ball game and solidify the win for MSU, 4-0.
Southern Miss was able to produce six hits on the night, but failed to cross a run at home. Lauren Holifield and Samantha Robles both had a pair of hits on the night. Katie Cleary and Morgan McKeever added the additional hits.
Robles pitched five innings in the game, giving up three runs off of six hits and one strikeout.
Johnson came into the ball game to replace Robles in the bottom of the sixth inning. Johnson allowed one run off of two hits in the one inning she pitched.
Pitching has not been an issue this season for the Golden Eagles, but this game seemed to be a peculiar time on the mound. Robles was the only pitcher able to record a strikeout. That would be the only strikeout of the night for Southern Miss.
Alexis Silkwood’s day on the mound for MSU proved to be efficient enough as she pitched a complete game shutout. With her efforts, the Golden Eagles recorded six hits combined with six strikeouts on the night.
The Golden Eagles will have time to recover and adjust as they are set to face the University of Louisiana at Monroe at home on April 27. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.
