Michigan State University
8-23, 1-7
Penn State
9-22, 2-6
Late Rally Sends PSU Past Spartans
4/5/2014 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 5, 2014
East Lansing, Mich. - - Michigan State allowed a four-run rally by Penn State in the sixth inning, which allowed the Nittany Lions to overcome a 3-1 deficit and post a 7-3 win over the homestanding Spartans on Saturday at Secchia Stadium.
MSU had taken a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth on back -to-back home runs by freshman Sarah Gutknecht and junior Ellie Stoffer, but PSU got four runs on four hits in the sixth to take a 5-3 lead, then two insurance runs in the seventh sealed the win for the Nittany Lions, who improved to 9-22, 2-6 Big Ten. MSU fell to 8-23, 1-7 in conference games. Valerie Kaff took the loss in the complete game effort, scattering seven hits and allowing four earned runs.
"I thought that we competed much better today," said head coach Jacquie Joseph. "I thought that Val [Kaff] was lights out for five innings, and really bounced back well from yesterday. However, the story of the game is that we left 12 runners on base and committed one error when we could have gotten out of an inning. We didn't come up with timely hits, and Penn State did. "
Penn State used three pitchers - Christy von Pusch went four innings, surrendering the homers to Gutknecht and Stoffer. Marissa Diescher earned the win for her one inning of work, and Macy Jones pitched the final two innings. The PSU pitchers hit four MSU batters and walked an additional four, striking out five.
The first base hit of the day for either came in the bottom of the second, as Stephanie Sanders smacked a leadoff double down the left-field line, her second double in as many games. Lindsey Besson sacrificed her over to third, but Alyssa McBride grounded out to third for the second out. Destinee Luna was hit by a pitch and stole second to put a pair of runners in scoring position for pinch hitter Sarah Bowling, but Bowling lined out to short to allow the Nittany Lions to get out of the inning without any damage.
With two out, Alyssa Sovereign got Penn State's first hit of the day, singling through the left side. Lexi Kneif followed with a single up the middle, leaving two on for Reina Furuya; she sent a bloop single into right that just missed the glove of a diving Jacquie Reiser, which brought home Sovereign for a 1-0 PSU lead. Kaff got Hatfield to ground out to end the PSU threat.
After Freimuth grounded out to lead off the third, Kujawa got on base for the second straight plate appearance when she walked on four pitches, and Gutknecht also drew a free pass on a 3-1 pitch to leave runners at first and second for Shanin Thomas. The second baseman dropped the bloop hit into shallow right, allowing Thomas to reach base, but Kujawa was thrown out at third. Sanders struck out to end the inning.
MSU stranded two more in the bottom of the fourth; McBride drew a one-out walk, and after Luna struck out, Reiser was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second. However, VonPusch struck out Freimuth to end the inning, the second straight frame that she got a strikeout to end an MSU threat.
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Meanwhile, Kaff was having an efficient outing, and despite the two-out run generated by the Nittany Lions to take a 1-0 lead, she retired the side in three of the first four innings, including in the third where she needed just six pitches to do so. She got the side in the fifth on a groundout, a strikeout, and a fly out to second, bringing MSU up in the fifth with the meat of its order coming to the plate. `
Kujawa led off the bottom of the fifth with a single into center, extending her hitting streak to five games. Gutknecht fell behind in the count, but sent a 2-2 pitch over the wall in left just shy of the scoreboard to give MSU a 2-1 lead. Ellie Stoffer came in to pinch hit for Thomas, and sent a solo shot to dead center to increase MSU's lead to 3-1. That ended VonPusch's day in the circle, as Marissa Diescher came in to pitch to Sanders. She walked Sanders on a 3-2 count, but on a wild pitch to Lindsey Besson, Sanders was caught stealing second on a nice throw by catcher Kasie Hatfield.
Besson fought through a 10-pitch at-bat, but sent that 10th pitch just over the center fielder Knief's head for a stand-up double. McBride came to bat and slapped a single to third that she legged out, moving Besson to third for runners on the corners and just one out for Luna. She put the ball in play, and reached on a fielder's choice as Kristina Brackpool threw out Besson at home. Luna rounded first and got in a rundown to bait the fielder, but second basenan Shelby Miller threw home, getting McBride to end the inning.
The Nittany Lions rallied for four runs in the top of the sixth. Kneif led off with a single up the middle, and advanced to second on a sac bunt by Furuya. Hatfield singled to right to score Kneif, then was replaced by pinch runner Taylor Abeyta. Jones hit what might have been a double-play ball to short, but the ball was bobbled, and both she and Hatfield were safe at first and second, respectively.
With new life, the Nittany Lions capitalized right away to make the Spartans pay for the error. Abeyta came home on a double off the wall in right center by Habitz, which tied the score 3-3. Brackpool came to the plate and hit a long sacrifice fly to left center, which brought home the go-ahead run; Shelby Miller followed with Penn State's fourth hit of the inning as she singled up the middle and brought home Jones from third for a 5-3 Penn State lead. The Spartans got out of the inning when Liz Presto grounded out to short, but not before the visitors had rallied for four runs to take a two-run lead.
After Diescher hit Reiser to lead off the top of the sixth, Jones came in from right field to pitch for the Nittany Lions. She got Freimuth to fly out to right, and Kujawa to pop out into foul territory in left. Gutknecht got caught looking at a third strike to end the inning, sending the teams to the seventh.
The Nittany Lions plated two insurance runs in the top of the final inning. Sovereign walked to lead off the inning, and was sacrificed to second by Furuya. Hatfield walked, and Jones tapped a slow roller to short and legged out the throw to record an infield single to load the bases. Habitz came to the plate and popped a fly ball into shallow right, and despite a great attempt by Jacquie Reiser, it fell in for a two-run single to push the PSU lead to four.
Ellie Stoffer led off the bottom of the seventh for the Spartans and hit a high infield pop-up that the pitcher lost in the sun, allowing Stoffer not only to reach base, but get all the way to second. Sanders was hit by a pitch, but Besson flew out to center to hold the runners at first and second. A wild pitch by Jones moved the runners to second and third with one out for McBride, who flew out to left. Jones hit Luna to load the bases, but she got pinch hitter Nielsen to fly out to right to end the game.
The teams will wrap up the three-game series on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Diescher (2-4)
L: Kaff, Valerie (4-11)
Batting:
2B: Habitz 1
RBI: Furuya 1 ; Hatfield 1 ; Habitz 3 ; Brackpool 1 ; Miller 1
SH: Furuya 2
SF: Brackpool 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Knief 1 ; Hatfield 1 ; Abeyta 1 ; Jones 1 ; Tupinio 1 ; Sovereign 2
HBP: Sovereign 1
Batting:
2B: Sanders, Stephanie 1 ; Besson, Lindsey 1
HR: Gutknecht, Sarah 1 ; Stoffer, Ellie 1
RBI: Gutknecht, Sarah 2 ; Stoffer, Ellie 1
SH: Besson, Lindsey 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kujawa, Kassidy 1 ; Gutknecht, Sarah 1 ; Stoffer, Ellie 1
SB: McBride, Alyssa 1 ; Luna, Destinee 1
CS: Sanders, Stephanie 1
HBP: Kujawa, Kassidy 1 ; Sanders, Stephanie 1 ; Luna, Destinee 2 ; Reiser, Jacquie 2
