The Southern Miss softball team fell short in a 7-2 midweek contest to in-state rival Mississippi State on Wednesday.
While hits were hard to come by for the Golden Eagles, the Bulldog’s elite hitting was the difference of the night. Most notably, Mississippi State’s Mia Davidson, who finished 4-for-4 with two home runs and four RBI.
“I really am not at all disappointed,” Southern Miss coach Brian Levin said. “I really thought our pitchers did a good job. You look at the scoreline and its 11 hits, but when you count them up and go back and watch the video, they just hit four balls hard.”
A two-run double, a couple of homers and the lineouts were hard-hit balls. Other than that, balls were hit off the end of the bat, fisted and just strong enough to get to the outfield. Then you end up facing Davidson with runners on, and it puts yourself in a tough spot.
Starting pitcher Makenna Pierce had a tough start in the game as she gave up three back-to-back singles, although Pierce did not give up another hit in the inning but walked in two runs to give Mississippi State a 2-0 lead.
“Their first three hitters got on, but none of the balls were hit hard,” Levin said. “All you can do is keep battling there, and that’s why we left her in there. You just work yourself out of it and see what you got. I thought she did a good job of bouncing back.”
Southern Miss’ offense responded as Lacey Sumerlin delivered an RBI single that scored Alyssa Davis from first base.
The No. 21 Lady Bulldogs broke the game open in the fourth inning with Davidson’s first home run swing in which was followed with an RBI double.
In the next inning, Davidson homered again to extend Mississippi State’s lead to 7-1.
Southern Miss managed to add a run in the bottom of the seventh inning from an RBI sac fly from Petal native Jamie Powell.
In 3.1 innings, Pierce allowed four runs off five hits, walked four, and struck out two as she recorded the loss. Kaylan Ladner finished the game for Pierce and 3.2 innings she struck out four batters and three runs off six hits.
“I’m not at all displeased with any of it,” Levin said. “I thought we showed some resilience there coming back and being efficient there.
“That was tough there, but we are also facing SEC pitching. There’s a lot of teams that go down against pitching like that. We have to look to bounce back.”
Southern Miss will open conference play against Florida Atlantic in Boca Raton, Florida, starting March 13 at 5 p.m.
The Southern Miss softball team fell short in a 7-2 midweek contest to in-state rival Mississippi State on Wednesday.
While hits were hard to come by for the Golden Eagles, the Bulldog’s elite hitting was the difference of the night. Most notably, Mississippi State’s Mia Davidson, who finished 4-for-4 with two home runs and four RBI.
“I really am not at all disappointed,” Southern Miss coach Brian Levin said. “I really thought our pitchers did a good job. You look at the scoreline and its 11 hits, but when you count them up and go back and watch the video, they just hit four balls hard.”
A two-run double, a couple of homers and the lineouts were hard-hit balls. Other than that, balls were hit off the end of the bat, fisted and just strong enough to get to the outfield. Then you end up facing Davidson with runners on, and it puts yourself in a tough spot.
Starting pitcher Makenna Pierce had a tough start in the game as she gave up three back-to-back singles, although Pierce did not give up another hit in the inning but walked in two runs to give Mississippi State a 2-0 lead.
“Their first three hitters got on, but none of the balls were hit hard,” Levin said. “All you can do is keep battling there, and that’s why we left her in there. You just work yourself out of it and see what you got. I thought she did a good job of bouncing back.”
Southern Miss’ offense responded as Lacey Sumerlin delivered an RBI single that scored Alyssa Davis from first base.
The No. 21 Lady Bulldogs broke the game open in the fourth inning with Davidson’s first home run swing in which was followed with an RBI double.
In the next inning, Davidson homered again to extend Mississippi State’s lead to 7-1.
Southern Miss managed to add a run in the bottom of the seventh inning from an RBI sac fly from Petal native Jamie Powell.
In 3.1 innings, Pierce allowed four runs off five hits, walked four, and struck out two as she recorded the loss. Kaylan Ladner finished the game for Pierce and 3.2 innings she struck out four batters and three runs off six hits.
“I’m not at all displeased with any of it,” Levin said. “I thought we showed some resilience there coming back and being efficient there.
“That was tough there, but we are also facing SEC pitching. There’s a lot of teams that go down against pitching like that. We have to look to bounce back.”
Southern Miss will open conference play against Florida Atlantic in Boca Raton, Florida, starting March 13 at 5 p.m.
