Michigan State University
12-32, 0
Nebraska
35-13, 0
No. 19 Nebraska's Late Rally Downs MSU, 6-0
4/26/2014 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 26, 2014
East Lansing, Mich. - - A four-run rally for the visiting Huskers in the sixth inning blew open a 1-0 game, and No. 19 Nebraska downed MSU 6-0 on Saturday afternoon at Secchia Stadium. Emily Lockman pitched a two-hitter for Nebraska (35-13, 13-4 Big Ten), while left fielder Tatum Edwards and Dawna Tyson each went 2-for-3 on the day. Sarah Gutknecht and McKinzie Freimuth had the two Spartan hits; Kelly Smith went the distance, scattering eight hits, five coming in the sixth inning during Nebraska's rally .
"We continue to struggle to generate offense, but credit has to go to their pitchers as well - they have a very strong staff," said head coach Jacquie Joseph. "I thought Kelly had a good outing too - she was lights-out for five innings - they got just one hit off of her. But, that's a tough lineup, and they made some adjustments. We'll come back at them tomorrow."
Nebraska got on the board in the top of the second. Alicia Armstrong fought through an 11-pitch at-bat before earning a free pass, and she was sacrificed to second by MJ Knighten. Kylee Muir doubled down the left field line - a ball that just kissed the line and stayed fair - to plate Armstrong for a 1-0 lead. Austen Urness hit a long fly ball to left field that Kassidy Kujawa caught at the wall; Muir broke for third on the throw, but Stoffer got the ball back to Sarah Gutknecht who tagged out Muir for the third out of the inning.
Gutknecht led off the fourth inning with a single up the middle, and pinch runner Dana Briggs was sacrificed over to second by Stephanie Sanders. Kujawa followed with a long fly ball to right, getting Briggs to third, but that was the furthest an MSU runner would get on the day, as Briggs was stranded at third.
Nebraska blew open the game in the sixth. Dawna Tyson led off the top of the sixth with a solo shot to left, he second homer of the season , to give the visitors a 2-0 lead. Smith got Taylor Edwards to line out to center, but Hailey Decker doubled to left center to put a runner on for Tatum Edwards; she sent a bloop single into shallow left to plate Decker, and then was brought home by Armstrong for a 4-0 lead. A single through the left side for MJ Knighten brought Armstrong across the plate, pushing the Husker lead to 5-0.
The Huskers manufactured one more in the seventh, turning a pair of singles and a wild pitch into their sixth run of the game.
The teams will play the final game of the series on Sunday at noon at Secchia Stadium. The game will air live on Big Ten Network. As the final home game of the 2014 season, the seniors will be honored in a brief pre-game ceremony.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Lockman (17-4)
L: Smith, Kelly (5-13)
Batting:
2B: Decker 1 ; Edwards, Tat 2 ; Muir 1
3B: Armstrong 1
HR: Tyson 1
RBI: Edwards, Tat 1 ; Armstrong 1 ; Knighten 1 ; Muir 1 ; Tyson 1
SH: Knighten 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Decker 1 ; Edwards, Tat 1 ; Armstrong 2 ; Stokes 1 ; Tyson 1
Batting:
SH: Sanders, Stephanie 1
