STARKVILLE, Miss. – Mississippi State senior designated player Morgan Bell singled in the game-winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning, spoiling Southeastern Louisiana's upset bid with a 3-2 extra-inning victory in non-conference softball action Tuesday evening at Nusz Park.
 
Southeastern Louisiana fell to 7-2 overall with the loss, while Mississippi State, which entered the game with a .320 batting average and a 0.24 earned run average, improved to 9-1 with the victory. Southeastern head coach Rick Fremin was pleased with his team's effort in its road opener, if not the final result.
 
"We wanted this win for everyone involved in our program," Fremin commented. "The encouraging part of this game was that we never looked overwhelmed tonight on the road against a high-caliber opponent.
 
"(Senior pitcher) Rachel Hayes gave us another excellent performance in the circle," Fremin added. "She gave us a chance to win, which is all we can ask for. We were also pleased to be able to string some hits together to force extra innings. Overall, we did some good things in our first game on the road that we can build on moving forward."                            
 
Mississippi State took the lead in the bottom of the first inning off Hayes (2-1). A two-run double by freshman catcher Mia Davidson staked the Bulldogs to an early 2-0 advantage. Lady Lion senior centerfielder Maddie Edmonston limited the damage, throwing Davidson out at home on a fly out by junior first baseman Sarai Niu.
 
Southeastern finally got its first base runner off Mississippi State freshman starter Emily Williams in the top of the fourth inning, as junior shortstop Jaquelyn Ramon reached on an error to open the frame. However, Williams retired the next three Lady Lions to keep SLU off the board.
 
Mississippi State threatened to break open the game in the bottom of the fourth inning. The Bulldogs loaded the bases with three consecutive two-out singles, but Hayes forced junior second baseman Emily Heimberger to fly out to center to keep the deficit at 2-0.
 
Southeastern managed its first hit in the top of the fifth inning, as senior designated player Peyton Sutton hit a sharp single up the middle, which senior pinch hitter Carlie Whittington followed with a walk to put a pair of runners on with one out. However, Williams retired senior second baseman Alli Daigle, then Whittington was thrown out trying to steal third to keep SLU off the board.
 
Southeastern finally scratched out runs in the top of the sixth inning versus sophomore reliever Candace Denis. Edmonston led off the inning with a single, then one out later, senior left fielder Kinsey Nichols laced a double into left centerfield to put a pair of runners on. Senior right fielder Mahalia Gibson then laced a double into right centerfield to clear the bases and tie the score.
 
MSU then brought in senior ace Holly Ward to retire junior first baseman Rebecca Skains and freshman catcher Ella Manzer to strand the go-ahead run at second.
 
The Bulldogs looked poised to win the game in the bottom of the seventh inning, as a single and a throwing error put junior left fielder Bevia Robinson at third representing the potential game-winning run with two outs. However, Hayes forced Davidson to fly out to deep right to send the game to extra innings.
 
Southeastern threatened in the top of the eighth inning versus Ward, as Edmonston and Ramon beat out consecutive infield singles to open the inning. After Nichols bunted the runners into scoring position, Ward battled back to retire Gibson and Skains to keep the game deadlocked.
 
Mississippi State would end the game in the bottom of the eighth inning. Consecutive one-out singles by junior centerfielder Kat Moore and Niu put runners at the corners, then Bell plated Moore with a sharp single to left field to give the Bulldogs the victory.  
 
Edmonston led SLU at the plate with two hits and a run scored, while Gibson ran her team-best RBI total to 16 for the season. Hayes took the hard-luck loss, holding the Bulldogs, who are just outside of the most recent top 25, to three runs over the complete-game performance.
 
Southeastern will continue its 11-game road swing and head to Lafayette to compete in the 32^nd Annual Louisiana Classics, hosted by UL Lafayette. The Lady Lions will face the host Ragin' Cajuns on Thursday at 4 p.m., take on UMBC (9 a.m.) and North Florida (11:30 a.m.) on Friday, before closing the tournament on Saturday versus Memphis (11:30 a.m.) and UMBC (4:30 p.m.).