Huskers Outlast Spartans in Slugfest, 15-10

March 20, 2015

East Lansing, Michigan -- It was a wild night in Lincoln, Nebraska, as Michigan State and the Huskers battled through a 21-hit, six-error game that saw the home team emerge with a 15-10 victory in the Big Ten opener for both teams. A grand slam by catcher Steph Pasquale in the bottom of the sixth inning blew open a one-run game, as Nebraska improved to 13-12 and opened Big Ten play with a victory. MSU falls to 15-13.

"I have absolutely no issue with the way we competed tonight - our problem tonight was in execution, not in how we approached the game," said head coach Jacquie Joseph. "Scoring ten runs, there's not a lot of games you lose. They certainly made us pay for our errors and mistakes. We just have to clean it up and go out and be better tomorrow. We played in front of a great crowd tonight - and it's exciting to be back in these home-game atmospheres we get in the Big Ten."

Alyssa McBride went 2-for-2 with two walks, three runs scored, and an RBI. McKenzie Long knocked in three with her second home run of the season, and Thomas also had a pair of RBI with a 1-for-4 performance at the plate. Three players had two hits for the Huskers - MJ Knighten, Laura Barrow, and Kylee Muir, and Pasquale had the big hit that put away the game for the home team.

MSU drew first blood, taking a 4-0 lead in the top of the third. Alyssa McBride smacked a leadoff double to left, and moved on to third on a sacrifice by McKinzie Freimuth and a groundout by Lea Foerster. Shanin Thomas brought her home with an RBI single down the left field line, breaking a three-game scoreless streak for the Spartans against their hosts. Cassie McClure then walked Stephanie Sanders to put runners on first and second with two out for Long, who hit a 1-1 pitch to left center for her second home run of the season. McClure then allowed another hit - this one to Reiser, who then stole second - but got Luna to strike out to finally get the Huskers out of the inning.

The home team put a big dent in the Spartan lead in the bottom of the third, immediately answering after MSU's big inning. An error put Madi Unzicker on first with one out in the bottom of the third, and Zalewski walked Laura Barrow to put two on and one out for the dangerous Kiki Stokes. Unzicker and Barrow both advanced on a wild pitch, and then Stokes ripped a single down the left-field line to score Unzicker to get the Huskers on the board. Knighten singled through the left side to make it a 4-2 game, and a second Spartan error in the inning plated Stokes to pull Nebraska within a run, all with one out. Zalewski worked out of the Husker threat with a pair of ground outs of McClure and Muir, getting out of the inning with a 4-3 lead.

MSU kept the pressure on, plating two more to increase its lead to 6-3. McBride drew a one-out walk in the fourth inning, and moved to third on a single to left by Freimuth, who moved to second on the throw. That brought McClure's time in the circle to a close, as the Huskers went to the bullpen to bring in Emily Lockman. Lockman's first batter was Foerster, who delivered an RBI single that scored McBride, and Foerster moved to second on the throw as Freimuth took third. Thomas followed with a ground out to second to score Freimuth, to push it to a 6-3 lead for the Spartans. Sanders grounded out to end the inning.

Nebraska took its first lead in the bottom of the fourth, scoring a second straight big inning to pull ahead 9-6 . Zalewski put on the first two runners, walking both Dawna Tyson and Kat Woolman. Unzicker reached on a fielder's choice, as Luna nabbed pinch runner Gina Metzler at third for the first out of the inning. Barrow loaded the bases with an infield single to bring the heavy-hitting Stokes to the plate, as the Huskers looked to capitalize. Stokes worked a full count before hitting a sacrifice fly to left, as McBride corralled it in left center; Woolman scored from third, trimming the MSU lead to two and leaving two on base for Knighten. She dropped a single into left, but not deep enough to bring home a run - but Alicia Armstrong took care of it in the next NU at-bat, knocking the first pitch she saw into center field for a single, bringing home Unzicker and Barrow to knot the game at 6-6. McClure, who was spelled in the circle but stayed in the game in the top of the frame, hit a 2-0 pitch to deep left for her third home run of the season.

The Spartans opened the fifth by loading the bases with none out, setting the table for another big inning. Long worked a leadoff walk, followed by back-to-back singles by pinch hitter Sarah Gutknecht and Destinee Luna. Kassidy Kujawa came in as a pinch hitter for Ellie Stoffer and reached on a fielder's choice, plating Long to make it 9-7; Gutknecht tried to score as the ball was bobbled, but she was thrown out at the plate for the first out of the inning. Stoffer re-entered to run for Kujawa, who had moved to second on the action at the plate. With two runners in scoring position, McBride stepped into the box and produced an RBI single to left, plating Luna from third. McBride advanced to second on the throw home, once again leaving two runners in scoring position. Freimuth put a ball in play to first base, and reached on a fielder's choice as Tyson threw home; the ball got past catcher Unzicker as Stoffer scored, and McBride came home on the miscue as the Spartans regained the lead, 10-9. Foerster reached on a fielder's choice as Freimuth was thrown out at home, but Lockman got out of the inning on a strikeout of Thomas - but not before the visitors took the lead back.

In the bottom of the frame, the Huskers tied the game on back-to-back one-out hits by Wollman (double) and a single by Barrow. After getting Unzicker to ground out to Gutknecht for the second out of the inning, Zalewski issued a free pass to Stokes - the most dangerous hitter in the Husker lineup - to bring Knighten to the plate. She delivered a ground ball through the left side - charged as an error by Luna - o bring home Barrow to allow the Huskers to reclaim the lead. Luna snagged a laser by Armstrong to end the Husker half of the inning.

After Stokes robbed Sanders of a base hit to lead off the top of the sixth - she made a diving grab on a hard-hit ball to her left - Lockman retired Long and Gutknecht to retire the side in order, the first time for either team since the opening frame.

Kaff took over for Zalewski in the bottom of the sixth, and McClure led off with a single to right. Muir singled to center to move pinch runner Sjulin to second, and Tyson moved the runners into scoring position with a sac bunt. Wollman stepped in with two on and one out, worked a full count, and drew a walk to load the bases for pinch hitter Pasquale. Pasquale, the everyday catcher for the Huskers, delivered a long shot over the right-field wall to blow open the game, 15-10.

MSU sent four batters to the plate in the seventh, but Lockman closed out the win for the home team, allowing just a four-ball walk to McBride in the frame to secure the win for Nebraska.

The teams play again at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday afternoon in Lincoln.

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Team Stats

Alyssa McBride

McKinzie Freimuth

Lea Foerster

Shanin Thomas

Players Mentioned

Lea Foerster

McKinzie Freimuth

Sarah Gutknecht

Kassidy Kujawa

McKenzie Long

Destinee Luna

Alyssa McBride

Stephanie Sanders

Ellie Stoffer

Shanin Thomas