Michigan State University
12-31, 7-11
Nebraska
34-13, 12-4
Spartans fall to No. 19 Nebraska, 2-0
4/25/2014 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 25, 2014
East Lansing, Mich. - - Freshman pitcher Valerie Kaff scattered five hits in her10th complete game of the season, but the Spartans stranded eight runners in a 2-0 loss to No. 19 Nebraska on Friday afternoon at Secchia Stadium. The Huskers committed three errors on the day, and pitcher Tatum Edwards allowed five hits, but got a run in each the fifth and sixth innings to get the win.
"Valerie Kaff was outstanding - just absolutely lights out," raved head coach Jacquie Joseph. "She has been working on the mental aspect of her game - and she stayed tough and pitched so well. Hits are so hard to come by, and they capitalized on their opportunities and got a pair of runs. We created some chances, and Nebraska had three errors - but we did not capitalize. That's the difference today. I'm proud of our effort, but we aren't into moral victories. We're going to make some adjustments and come back at it tomorrow."
MSU's first threat came in the bottom of the third inning. Alyssa McBride legged out an infield single with two outs, and Sanders followed with a single to left. The left fielder, Kat Woolman, bobbled the ball, allowing the runners to advance; McBride rounded third and broke for home, but centerfielder Kiki Stokes gunned her down at the plate for the third out of the inning.
In the bottom of the fourth, Gutknecht led off with a single to left, and Kassidy Kujawa reached on a fielder's choice. Tatum Edwards hit Sarah Bowling (who was replaced by Carly Nielsen as a pinch runner) to put a pair of runners on base with just one out. Shortstop Alicia Armstrong booted Destinee Luna's grounder, loading the bases, but Ellie Stoffer popped out to short for the second out of the inning. Pinch hitter Shanin Thomas grounded to third to end the MSU threat.
The Huskers drew first blood in the top of the fifth. Stokes drew a two-out walk on a full count, and was driven in by a double to left by Taylor Edwards . Hailey Edwards sent a long fly ball into right, but Sanders corralled it for the third out of the inning to limit Nebraska to the single score.
The Huskers added a second run in the top of the sixth. Tatum Edwards walked to lead off the inning, and MJ Knighten singled to move her over to second. Kylee Muir singled through the right side to bring in Edwards from second. Kaff got Austen Urness to fly out to right, then Woolman to pop up to short to end the inning.
Kaff retired the side on seven pitches in the top of the seventh inning, and had a quality, efficient outing; she scattered five hits and struck out two, facing just 29 batters. Ellie Stoffer worked a full-count walk to lead off the inning; Reiser reached on a fielder's choice, and advanced to second on an overthrow by second baseman Hailey Decker in an attempt to turn a double play. Freimuth sacrificed Reiser to third, bringing McBride to the plate; she got ahead in the count 2-1, but got caught looking at a called third strike to end the game.
The teams will face off again on Saturday in a noon start.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Edwards, Tat (18-9)
L: Kaff, Valerie (5-15)
Batting:
2B: Edwards, Tay 1
RBI: Edwards, Tay 1 ; Muir 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Edwards, Tat 1 ; Stokes 1
SB: Edwards, Tat 1
Batting:
SH: Freimuth, McKinzie 1
Base Running:
CS: McBride, Alyssa 1 ; Stoffer, Ellie 1
HBP: Bowling, Sarah 1
