MISSISSIPPI STATE BULLDOGS Contact: Brock Turnipseed • [email protected] • 662.325.7556 • 662.325.2563 - Fax SOFTBALL MSU Athletic Media Relations • P.O. Drawer 5308 • Mississippi State, MS 39762 2008 SCHEDULE/RESULTS 22-6 Overall • 1-2 SEC No. 15/18 Mississippi State Bulldogs (22-6 Overall • 1-2 SEC) 2/8 1-v. No. 20/23 Oregon W, 3-0 2/8 1-v. Cal State Northridge W, 4-2 2/9 1-v. UC-Riverside W, 8-0 (5 inn.) at 2/9 1-v. San Diego State W, 8-0 (6 inn.) 2/10 1-v. Cal W, 4-1 (9 inn.) 2/13 MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE W, 10-0 (5 inn.) No. 2/3 Alabama Crimson Tide 2/15 2-Wright State W, 4-0 2/15 2-Southern Illinois W, 7-3 (21-3 Overall • 3-2 SEC) 2/16 2-Fordham W, 6-5 (8 inn.) 2/16 2-Wright State W, 5-2 2/17 2-Southern Illinois W, 4-3 March 15-16 • MSU Softball Field • Starkville, Miss. 2/22 3-v. Western Kentucky L, 2-1 2/22 3-v. Austin Peay W, 12-4 (6 inn.) Live Stats: Live stats for all games will be available on www.MStateAthletics.com 2/23 3-v. Western Kentucky L, 4-2 Radio Broadcast: March 15 (Gm. 1) and March 16 on WMSV 91.1 (www.wmsv.msstate.edu) 2/23 3-v. Mercer W, 5-3 — All Times Central 2/26 at UAB Cancelled 2/29 4-v. North Carolina State W, 4-0 2/29 4-v. No. 11/12 Michigan L, 2-0 MSU v. UA 3/1 4-v. Syracuse W, 8-2 Series Record: UA leads 32-7 3/1 4-v. UC-Santa Barbara L, 5-2 (8 inn.) Last Meeting: Alabama, 8-0 (3/11/07) 3/2 4-v. UMass W, 3-2 UA Head Coach Patrick Murphy 3/4 UAB W, 7-0 Coach Miller v. Opp. 3-12 3/7 5-Charleston Southern W, 19-2 (5 inn.) 3/7 5-Louisiana Tech Cancelled 3/8 5-Austin Peay W, 3-1 BULLDOGS VS. CRIMSON TIDE 3/8 5-Charleston Southern W, 5-1 Saturday's opening game between Mississippi State and Alabama is the 40th between the two teams. UA holds 3/9 5-Louisiana Tech W, 5-2 a 32-7 lead in the series and have claimed the last nine in the series. MSU is 4-12 against the Tide in Starkville. In the 3/9 5-Austin Peay Cancelled last meeting between the two teams (Mar. 10-11, 2007), Alabama swept State in Tuscaloosa. Bama won last season's 3/11 *at Auburn (DH) W, 8-3/L, 5-4 (9 inn.) opening game 10-2 before taking 5-3 and 8-0 victories in the final two. Four of the Bulldogs' seven victories in the series 3/12 *at Auburn L, 8-0 (5 inn.) have come at the MSU Softball Field. 3/15 *ALABAMA (DH) 1:00 p.m. 3/16 *ALABAMA 1:00 p.m. LAST TIME OUT 3/18 at Southern Miss 6:00 p.m. Mississippi State opened the SEC slate at Auburn and rallied from a 3-2 deficit to take the opening game of the set 3/21 *at Ole Miss (DH) 3:00 p.m. 8-3. The Bulldogs took a 4-0 lead in the second game, only to see AU rally and win on a Kyndall White walk-off home 3/22 *at Ole Miss (SEC-TV) 1:00 p.m. run in the ninth inning. MState dropped the series as the Tigers took an 8-0 win in Wednesday's rubber game. 3/26 *at LSU (DH) 4:00 p.m. The Bulldogs took an early 2-0 lead in the opening game before Auburn rallied to take a 3-2 lead on a Jorja Bell 3/29 6-Mississippi Valley State 4:00 p.m. home run. Jessie Bailey put MSU on top for good as she hit a two-run, sixth-inning home run, her first of the year, to 3/29 6-Georgetown 6:00 p.m. break a 3-3 tie. 3/30 6-Georgetown Noon Freshman Misty Flesher picked up her seventh victory of the season as she tossed six and a third innings, allowing 3/30 6-Mississippi Valley State 2:00 p.m. three runs on nine hits with four strikeouts. 4/1 at Mississippi Valley State 6:00 p.m. 4/3 *KENTUCKY (DH) 4:00 p.m. STATE IN SEC HOME OPENERS 4/5 *FLORIDA (DH) 1:00 p.m. 4/6 *FLORIDA 1:00 p.m. Since returning to SEC play in 1997, MSU has put together an 86-74 record in home SEC games. The Bulldogs were 9-5 at home 4/8 7-v. Ole Miss 6:30 p.m. in conference action a year ago. MSU won two of three games against Auburn in its 2007 home conference opener. 4/12 *at South Carolina (DH) 1:00 p.m. 4/13 *at South Carolina 1:00 p.m. FAST START 4/17 8-v. USA Olympic Team 6:30 p.m. Mississippi State's 22-6 mark through the first 28 games of the season matches the best start in school history. The 4/19 *GEORGIA (DH) 1:00 p.m. 2006 squad stood at 22-6 after winning a school-record 16 straight games to start the season. This year's contingent 4/20 *GEORGIA 1:00 p.m. won 11 straight to begin to year, . 4/23 SOUTHERN MISS 6:30 p.m. 4/26 *TENNESSEE (DH) 1:00 p.m. MILESTONE WIN 4/27 *TENNESSEE 1:00 p.m. MSU's win over Syracuse at the NFCA Leadoff Classic on Mar. 1 gave Mississippi State head coach Jay Miller his 900th career 5/3 *at Arkansas (DH) 1:00 p.m. victory. Miller becomes the 12th active Division I head coach to reach the milestone and just the third coach in the Southeastern 5/4 *at Arkansas 1:00 p.m. Conference to achieve the honor. 5/8-10 SEC Tournament TBA The sixth-year Bulldog head coach, who will be inducted into the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 5/16-18 NCAA Regionals TBA December, ranks 19th all-time among NCAA coaches at any level. Miller has compiled a 907-563 overall mark in 26 seasons as a 5/24-25 NCAA Super Regionals TBA head coach. 5/28- 6/4 Women’s College World Series TBA MILESTONE WIN Having reached the 900-win mark recently, Miller sits just two wins shy of another milestone — the 200-win plateau as the 1-Palm Spring Classic (Palm Springs, Calif.); 2-Bulldog Round-Robin (Starkville, Miss.); 3-Mercer Tournament Mississippi State head coach. Miller, in his sixth season as the Bulldogs' head coach, holds a 198-148 record at the school. He currently (Macon, Ga.); 4-NFCA Leadoff Classic (Columbus, Ga.) 5- stands 22 wins shy of matching the all-time winningest school mark which was set by previous head coach Kathy Arendsen. Bulldog Classic (Starkville, Miss.); 6-Bully Bash (Starkville, Miss.); 7-M&F Bank Fastpitch Classic (Ridgeland, TOP 20 DOGS Miss.); 8-at Ridgeland, Miss.; * Southeastern Conference Two weeks after earning its highest ranking in school history (No. 15), Mississippi State has kept itself in the top 20. (SEC) Game; Home games in CAPS; Start times central. With four consecutive weeks in the top 20 of the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 Poll, State has achieved its longest run ever in the top 20. The Bulldogs moved up in both polls Tuesday, jumping three places to 15th in the USA Softball rankings and one spot to No. 18 in the NFCA poll. WWW.MSTATEATHLETICS.COM 2008 MISSISSIPPI STATE SOFTBALL 6-TIME NCAA REGIONAL PARTICIPANT 2008 BULLDOGS ROSTER No. Name Pos. B-T Ht. Cl. Exp. Hometown/Previous School 1 Ali Bainbridge INF/OF R-R 5-4 Fr. HS Vestavia Hills, Ala./Vestavia Hills 3 Courtney Bures SS R-R 5-5 Sr. 3L Haymarket, Va./Stonewall Jackson 6 Jessie Bailey 3B/P R-R 5-7 So. 1L Lithonia, Ga./Mt. Vernon Christian 7 Nakita Boyce OF L-R 5-7 Sr. 3L Springfield, Mo./Glendale 8 Jessie Spain INF/OF R-R 5-8 Fr. HS Birmingham, Ala./Vestavia Hills 9 Kelsey Nurnberg P R-R 6-0 Jr. 1L Ankeny, Iowa/Daytona Beach JC 11 Megan Bateman C/OF R-R 5-5 Sr. 1L Brookhaven, Miss./Copiah-Lincoln JC 12 Elizabeth Woolven P L-L 5-7 Fr. HS Nettleton, Miss./Mooreville 13 Brittany Bell OF R-R 5-2 Fr. HS Brandon, Fla./Riverview 15 Lindsay Hunley INF R-R 5-9 Sr. 3L Aurora, Ill./West Aurora 16 Laurie Siebert INF R-R 5-2 So. 1L Sugar Grove, Ill./Kaneland 17 Misty Flesher P R-R 5-9 Fr. HS Lone Grove, Okla./Lone Grove 18 Chelsea Bramlett C/INF S-R 5-8 So. 1L Cordova, Tenn./First Christian 21 Hayle Guess OF R-R 5-8 R-Sr. 3L Moss Point, Miss./East Central 25 Courtney Nesbit 1B/OF R-R 5-6 Fr. HS Acworth, Ga./Harrison 34 Sammie Jo Bailey 1B R-R 5-8 Jr. 2L Lithonia, Ga./Mt. Vernon Christian 44 Gina McCloud 3B R-R 5-4 R-Jr. 2L Monticello, Miss./Lawrence County Head Coach: Jay Miller (Illinois State, 1978) Associate Head Coach: Annie Smith (Grinnell College, 1995) Assistant Coach: Bo Reid Student Assistants: Blair Hewett, Sara Hickerson, Laura Leigh Reese Managers: Scooter Kellum, Courtney Patridge, Katie Wood Trainer: Corey Lock, Certified Athletic Trainer ALPHABETICAL BY STATE PRONUNCIATION # Name Pos.