Spartans Fall to UM in Series Finale

April 13, 2014

East Lansing, Mich. - - No. 5 Michigan (33-6, 12-0 Big Ten) blew open a tight game with a big seventh inning, which included three of its four home runs on the day in a 14-0 victory over Michigan State at Secchia Stadium to secure a series sweep.

Sierra Lawrence hit a three-run homer in the third inning and started the UM rally with an RBI double in the seventh to pace the Wolverines' offensive effort, while seven of Michigan's 10 runs in the final inning came via home run. Nine of Michigan's 15 hits came in that final frame.

UM starter Megan Betsa scattered five hits, while MSU (9-28, 2-12 B1G) started senior Kelly Smith, who put together three strong innings, but allowed the homer to Lawrence in the third and took the loss. Kaff relieved her in the fourth and worked an efficient first three innings, but was hit for a three of doubles and three home runs in the seventh. The Spartans committed an uncharacteristic four errors on the day.

"I thought the wheels came off in the seventh after, really, a pretty good first six innings for us," said head coach Jacquie Joseph. "We got beat by a really good team - they got rolling there in the seventh inning and we just couldn't stop the bleeding. I thought that our pitchers were really doing a nice job through the first six innings, and overall did a nice job on the weekend. We have to work on some selective amnesia - learn from what happened in the seventh and move on, but focus more on the progress we made in some areas and keep moving forward."

Carly Nielsen

The Spartans had mostly held UM's high-octane offense in check, as the team's played through two scoreless frames to start the game. In the top of the second, a well-timed leaping catch by Carly Nielsen robbed leadoff hitter Taylor Hasselbach of a home run at the right field wall. Smith walked Lauren Sweet, but then retired both Lindsay Montemarano and Abby Ramirez on infield pop-ups.

Lyndsay Doyle led off the third with a bloop single to left, a hit that just eluded the diving Ellie Stoffer. Sappingfield lined out to second, nearly doubling off Doyle, but she got back juts before the tag. Smith walked Sierra Romero to bring up Caitlin Blanchard; she reached on a fielder's choice as Doyle was thrown out at third. Sierra Lawrence came to the plate and hit a 1-2 pitch into left field and over the wall for a three-run shot to give the Wolverines their first lead of the day. Smith struck out Hasselbach swinging to end the inning.

MSU stranded three runners through the first three innings, unable to generate a clutch hit to push a run across. Sweet led off for UM in the top of the fourth, and drew a walk; that brought in Kaff from the bullpen to relieve Smith. Montemarano sacrificed Brandi Virgil (who entered as a pinch runner for Sweet) to second, but Kaff got the next two - Ramirez on a comebacker to the mound, and Doyle on a groundout to second - to end the inning. Betsa countered with a six-pitch effort in the bottom of the inning, getting all three MSU batters to pop out, and the teams headed to the fifth with UM holding a 3-0 lead.

Blanchard hit a two-out single into center, and was replaced by Kelly Christner as a pinch runner. Lawrence came to the plate and was hit with the first pitch, bringing Hasselbach to the plate with a chance to pad the Wolverine lead. Her offering to left was dropped for an error, allowing Christner to score to push UM's lead to 4-0. With runners on second and third, Kaff got Sweet to fly out to center to end the inning, leaving two on for the Wolverines.

Stoffer led off the bottom of the fifth with a single, and Luna sacrificed her over to second on a sac bunt back to the pitcher. Sarah Bowling pinch hit for Reiser and flied out to Lawrence in foul territory, but McBride drew a two-out walk to put runners at the corners for McKinzie Freimuth. The junior she flew out to shallow left to end the Spartan threat.

Kaff fought through a hit and an error by the Wolverines to strand two UM runners on base in the top of the sixth, keeping MSU within striking distance with the 3-4-5 hitters coming up in the bottom of the inning. Gutknecht reached first when she was hit by a pitch, and pinch runner Dana Briggs advanced to second on a sac bunt by Sanders. Lindsey Besson singled to short, putting a pair of runners on base, but Nielsen and Stoffer both popped out to end the MSU threat. That sent the teams to the seventh with 4-0 Michigan advantage.

The Wolverines blew open the game with nine hits in the top of the seventh, plating 10 runs. With just two available pitchers, Kaff stayed in and shouldered the load, as the Wolverine bats came alive and did not let up. Christner led off the top of the seventh with a double to right center, and Lawrence scored her with a double of her own to center. Two batters later, Sweet hit a two-run homer to right, and then Montemarano went the opposite way, homering to left for an 8-0 Wolverine lead. After Ramirez popped out for the second out of the inning, Sappingfield reached on an error, which kept the inning alive; UM responded to its new life by rattling off five straight hits, beginning with a two-run single for Romero, a back-to-back singles by Christner and Lawrence, and a grand slam for pinch hitter Sarah Driesinga. Sweet got on base with a double to left center, Kaff walked Connell to put two runners on. The freshman finally got out of the inning with a diving catch by Luna as Ramirez popped it up in the infield.

Michigan State returns to action on Wednesday when it hosts Eastern Michigan at 5 p.m. at Secchia Stadium to cap a three-game homestand. The Spartans return to Big Ten play next Friday at Iowa.

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Team Stats

McKinzie Freimuth

Sarah Gutknecht

Lindsey Besson

Ellie Stoffer

Players Mentioned

Lindsey Besson

Sarah Bowling

Dana Briggs

McKinzie Freimuth

Carly Nielsen

Kelly Smith

Ellie Stoffer