Bulldogs Topple Iowa in Eight Innings

Lincoln, Neb. ---  Keri McFarling scored in the bottom of the eighth inning after a Hawkeye throwing error to give Mississippi State a 2-1 victory in the third game of the NCAA Lincoln Regional Thursday at Bowlin Stadium.

With the win, the Bulldogs improved to 39-24 and advance to Friday's 3 p.m. game against the winner of the Cal-Maine contest tonight. The Hawkeyes, who played in the regional championship game in Lincoln last season, dropped into the loser's bracket with their fourth straight loss dating back to the regular season. Iowa is now 38-23 on the year and plays Friday at 10 a.m. against the loser of tonight's Cal-Maine contest.

Jennifer Waterman came to the plate with one out in the eighth and laced a pitch to the base of the fence at straight away center field for a stand-up double. McFarling came in to pinch run and cruised into third on Blaire Brown's bouncer to Iowa pitcher Lisa Birocci.  After looking toward third, Birocci fired to first to try to get Brown but the ball sailed wide of the bag and McFarling turned on the speed to beat a wild throw home for the decisive run.

Mississippi State opened the scoring in the bottom of the fourth as it strung together a pair of two-out hits. Lindsay Nelson started off the rally with a double down left field line with one out. After Tanelda McDonald flied to left for the seocnd out, Callye Williams singled to shortstop to advance Nelson to third. Nelson came home on Hayle Guess' single to center field for a 1-0 MSU lead.

The Bulldogs looked to threaten again later in the fourth as a wild pitch moved runners to second and third. But Iowa starting pitcher Ali Arnold struck out Brandi Watkins to end the threat. MSU looked to add an insurance run in the fifth as McMichael walked and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt with one out before Hawkeye reliever Lisa Birocci struck out two straight to end the inning.

Iowa finally pushed across a run in the sixth. Natalie Johnson opened the frame with a single and advanced on a sacrifice before taking third on Stacy May's single. Murray then laid down a bunt single to drive in Johnson and knot the score at 1-1. MSU pitcher Melissa Massey then struck out the final two batters to get the Bulldogs out of the frame.

The Hawkeyes had a chance to take the lead in the top of the eighth. Johnson doubled to lead off the inning and moved to third on a sacrifice. With one out, May reached on a fielder's choice that caught Johnson in a 6-2-5 run down. Massey then induced Murray to fly out to right to end the inning.

Mississippi State game notes: MSU improved to 4-0 in NCAA Regional first-round games...the Bulldogs are now 5-6 overall in their fourth NCAA Tournament appearance...the win was the first for MSU over Iowa in three meetings...Hayle Guess, who pushed across the first run for MSU, had just one RBI in the last 11 games dating to April 20 and only 13 on the season...Melissa Massey recorded four strikeouts after grabbing just three in her past three appearances...Massey had back-to-back strikeouts to end the sixth with runners on second and third...McFarling's run in the eighth was her first game-winning run of the season.

Iowa game notes: Iowa dropped its fourth straight contest dating to the regular season, its second-longest losing streak of the year...Kylie Murray's two hits (4 at-bats) increased her team lead to 14 multi-hit games this year...Murray's two hits put her in a tie with Stacy May for the team lead with 55 hits...Ali Arnold and Lisa Birocci each had five strikeouts apiece...Amanda Hentges had two sacrifices and now leads the team with 14 on the season.