Michigan State University
Utah
Utah Holds On To Top Spartan Softball, 2-1
3/10/2001 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 10, 2001
TAMPA, Fla. - The Michigan State softball team fell to Utah, 2-1, Saturday afternoon (March 10) in day three action of the Speedline Invitational in Tampa, Fla. MSU (4-15 overall) finishes pool play with a 2-3 record and will face Boston University Sunday (March 11) in the consolation bracket at 10 a.m.
The game went scoreless for the first three and a half innings until Utah (12-9 overall) put two runs on the board in the bottom of the fourth. After two Utes reached base on consecutive one-out singles, both scored on a lazy fly ball that dropped in front of left fielder Angel Merren (Fr., Wayland, Mich.) to give Utah a 2-0 lead.
In the fifth, Michigan State stranded pinch runner Natalie Furrow (Fr., San Diego, Calif.) on third after Lacy Hauxhurst (So., Westminster, Calif.) crushed a double to the left field fence to lead off the inning.
The Spartans tried to rally again in the sixth, scoring one run on two hits. Brittney Green (Fr., Simi Valley, Calif.) knocked in pinch runner Sandy Lewis (So., Empire, Mich.) on a ground-rule double over the center field fence to bring the Spartans with one run (2-1). However, MSU once again stranded a runner in scoring position after an inning-ending strikeout.
Kristin Arbogast held onto the lead for Utah in the seventh inning, relieving starter Heather Bowlin for the save. Bowlin allowed seven hits in 5.2 innings of work.
Becky Gray (Jr., Burr Oak, Mich.) pitched a six-inning complete game for MSU in the loss. Gray (3-6) scattered six hits and struck out three.
Tiffany Wallace (So., Wildomar, Calif.), Hauxhurst and Green each collected two hits for the Spartans.
Game Summary R H EMSU 000 001 0- 1 7 0UTAH 000 200 x- 2 6 0
WP: Bowlin-UTAHLP: Gray-MSU (3-6)
