Early Offense Enough to Upend Bulldogs

Feb. 15, 2015 

Box Score (PDF)

Starkville, Miss. - The Fighting Illini handed Mississippi State (9-1) its first loss of the season on Sunday, knocking off the host Bulldogs, 4-3, in the final game of the February Freezer. The Orange and Blue (3-7) put up four runs in the first inning, and Shelese Arnold took care of the rest in the circle to capture her second straight win.

"We had a strong start to today's game with early clutch RBIs for Perk, Coley (Evans) and Giddy," said head coach Terri Sullivan. "Today, that's all Shey needed, because she brought her best stuff with Perk working with her all the way. Great team win to close out the weekend the way this team knows how."

After going 3-for-3 in Saturday's night cap, senior catcher Jess Perkins led the team at the plate once again, going 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs. Ruby Rivera doubled and scored to start the two-out rally in the first inning, and Nicole Evans and Kate Giddens both had RBI singles in the first.

Arnold (2-4) hurled the full seven innings, limiting her opponents to just two earned runs despite nine hits and four walks, turning in seven strikeouts. Arnold took care of the heart of the Bulldogs' order, keeping #3-batter Caroline Seitz and cleanup hitter Erika Gaul, who entered the game with a combined 12 extra-base hits in the first two weekends of play, off the base paths the whole game with five strikeouts.

The Illini used a two-out rally to put up a four-spot in the top of the fourth. Rivera got things started with a double down the right field line, and Evans drove her in on a single to left. Carly Thomas and Brittany Sanchez walked to load the bases, and Perkins came through with a two-run single to left. Giddens kept it going with an RBI single to center to spot Arnold four runs before she threw her first pitch.

After stranding a pair of leadoff singles in the bottom of the first, Mississippi State sent its first runner across the plate in the third, as Katie Anne Bailey led off with a single. Julia Echols laid down a sacrifice bunt, then Bailey advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a ground out by Seitz.

The Bulldogs threatened again in the bottom of the fourth, but despite three runners reaching third base, the Fighting Illini infield threw two runners out at the plate to keep MSU off the board.

Mackenzie Toler took over in the circle for the Bulldogs in the top of the fourth and limited the Illini to just one base runner, a sixth-inning single by Sanchez, for the remainder of the game, but MSU still had ground to make up, trailing 4-1.

The Bulldogs cut the deficit to two in the sixth, as Toler and Calyn Adams singled and Loryn Nicols walked to load the bases. Kayla Winkfield drove in Toler with a ground out, but Arnold struck out Amanda Ivy to end the inning and strand a pair in scoring position.

Bailey led off the bottom of the seventh with a walk and reached second on a passed ball. A single up the middle by Echols put runners on the corners, and a wild pitch allowed Bailey to cut the lead to one run, 4-3. However, Arnold then shut down the Bulldog offense for three straight outs to seal up the Illini's second-straight one-run victory and hand Mississippi State its first loss of the season.

Next Up: The Illini return to the South next weekend for the Houston Hilton Plaza Classic on Feb. 20-22. The Orange and Blue open the weekend with the first of two games against New Mexico at 1:30 p.m. on Friday. Illinois will also play a pair of games against Houston and square off with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi over the weekend.