Missouri Softball Falls to Mississippi State in Game Two

Needing a spark, Coach Earleywine tried to fire up the Tigers, but it didn’t work as Mississippi State took game two of the series 8-4.

“We didn’t have enough energy, until Coach [Earleywine] went out, had our backs, and got kicked out for us and showed some energy,” said senior infielder Corrine Genovese.

Flat from the beginning of the game, Mizzou failed to cash in on an opportunity in the second inning as they left the bases loaded. After walks to Genovese, Kelsea Roth and Natalie Fleming loaded the bases, Morgan Walters hit a ground ball to second base to end the inning.

In the third inning, Mississippi State failed to take advantage after a single and two walks loaded the bases with two outs. Kate Bailey hit a sinking line drive to right field, but sophomore Emily Crane made a sliding catch to keep MSU off the board.

Mississippi State would take the lead in the top of the fourth after a mistake by Missouri extended the inning. With two runners on and two outs, sophomore second baseman Fleming misplayed a potential inning-ending groundout by MSU’s No. 9 hitter, Amanda Ivy. The error brought senior Julia Echols to the plate. She delivered a single to right field to score the first run of the game. Echols finished the game 5 for 5 with 1 RBI.

Missouri had a chance to tie the score in the bottom of the fifth, but could not convert after a Mississippi State error gave them an opening. Emily Crane reach based on a hit, that could have been ruled an error on Mississippi State second baseman Julia Echols.

Crane then stole second, and advanced to third when the throw from sophomore catcher Katie Bailey sailed into the outfield. With Crane at third, Sanchez hit a slow ground ball to second base. A tough play for Echols to make, but she shoveled the ball to first and Sanchez was called out on a bang-bang play to end the inning.

Coach Ehren Earleywine immediately sprinted across the diamond to argue the call with the first base umpire. Earleywine was promptly ejected as all three umpires converged on the argument. Earleywine was not available for comment after the game, but his team was glad he was willing to fight for them.

“I loved it. I loved every second of it,” said Genovese. “It was the worst call in America, and the fact that our coach has our back like that shows that we need to be playing with that amount of energy.”

After the Earleywine ejection the wheels fell off the bus for Missouri.

“Our emotions might have gotten the best of us,” said Genovese. “We didn’t come back to reality and realize hey we still have to play the game. We got screwed on a call, but the game is not over [and] we still have a chance to win.”

After a strikeout to start the sixth inning, Sophomore Tori Finucane surrendered two singles and a hit batter to load the bases. Caroline Seitz took a walk with the bases loaded, which brought home a run. Then Mackenzie Toler singled in another run, making it a 3-run lead for the Bulldogs.

With the bases still loaded Finucane induced a ground ball back to the circle, but an indecisive moment lead to a throwing error as she tried to get a force out at home. The error brought in two more runs.

“For some reason I was going to turn and [throw to second],” said Finucane. “But, then my brain worked and realized I should throw it home.”

Cheyenne Baxter came into the game to relieve Finucane who surrendered 5 hits and 5 runs in 2 and a third of an inning after the error, but she would not fair much better. Erika Gaul, the first batter that Baxter faced, hit a Home Run to left center. The Home Run capped a six run inning and gave MSU a commanding 7-1 lead.

Missouri tried to rally and scored three runs in the bottom half of the sixth. Genovese reached base on an error. Angela Randazzo and Kelsea Roth followed with singles to load the bases. A sacrifice fly by Alyssa Cousins and a productive ground out by Natalie Fleming brought home two runs, and a single by Morgan Walters brought home a third.

After Mississippi State tacked on an insurance run in the top of the seventh with a walk and two singles, Missouri tried to rally again.

Crane, Sanchez and Genovese all reached base to load the bases with no out, but a sharply hit ball by Angela Randazzo was gloved by third baseman Caroline Seitz and she stepped on third base and threw to first for the double play.

Roth who was 2 for 2 on the day followed with her second walk of the game, but Alyssa Cousins would strikeout to end the game.

Game Notes:

After a swing and miss in the bottom of the fourth inning, senior catcher Kirsten Mack left the game with an apparent injury. Backup catcher Sami Fagan was sitting out the game due to an illness/injury and Missouri was forced to turn to third catcher,Alyssa Cousins.

The two teams combined for five errors in the game, two by Mississippi State and three by Missouri. Mississippi State scored five unearned runs, and Missouri scored three unearned runs.

The game time was 2 hours 57 minutes.

The two teams meet for the rubber game of the series at University Field on Sunday at 2:30 p.m.