Michigan State University
15-16, 0-4
Penn State
16-15, 1-3
Spartans Fall 11-10 on Late Nittany Lion Home Run
3/28/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
East Lansing, Mich. -- Michigan State dropped the back end of a doubleheader to Penn State on Sunday, falling 11-10 after a Macy Jones two-run home run in the top of the seventh allowed the Nittany Lions to take the lead. Michigan State allowed critical hits in Penn State's final at-bat in both ends of the double header, and fall to 15-17 overall, 0-5 Big Ten."
"We're just not playing consistently enough to pull out a win," said head coach Jacquie Joseph. "No one is going to roll over in the Big Ten, and we sat back a bit, I thought, once we got that big lead. It's something that we're continuing to work on, but it is something we really need to get together pretty quickly now. We can't afford to give games away or let them slip away. We need to start finishing. "
Starter Valerie Kaff surrendered one run in the top of the first, walking leadoff batter Lexi Knief, who was brought home on a single by Macy Jones after Kaff got both Mollie Sorenson and Shelby Miller to ground out. Kaff got out of the inning by striking out VanDerveer, limiting the damage to a single run.
With one out in the bottom of the inning, Foerster laced a double to right center, and moved to third on a wild pitch. Marissa Diescher issued back-to-back walks to Kassidy Kujawa and Sarah Gutknecht to load the bases, but then struck out McKenzie Long for the second out of the inning. That brought up the DP Stephanie Sanders, who delivered a single to center that scored a pair of runs for a 2-1 MSU lead. Desinee Luna followed with a single to shallow right, plating Gutknecht from third and allowing Sanders and Luna to move to second and third, respectively. Ellie Stoffer walked to load the bases, which forced a pitching change for PSU - Macy Jones spelled starter Marissa Diescher. With McBride at the plate, she worked a full count and then took a ball high, bringing Sanders home for a 4-1 lead. McKenzie Freimuth sent the first pitch she saw into center field, bringing two more runs home for MSU. After a long foul, Jones got Foerster to strike out, ending the inning with two runners aboard - but the Spartans had staked a significant early lead.
The Spartans added one in the bottom of the second on an RBI single by Stephanie Sanders, and the Nittany Lions looked to close the margin in the top of the third, when Kaff started off the top of the third inning by giving up three straight hits to Reina Furuya (single), Knief (double) and Sorenson, which scored the first run of the frame. She got Miller to pop out for the first out of the inning, but Jones walked to load the bases. VanDerveer legged out a single to shallow center, scoring Knief and keeping the bases loaded. After Erin Pond walked to bring home a fourth run for Penn State, and a bloop in single by Megan Tupino just over the head of Long brought home another score, making it a 7-5 ballgame. Kaff walked Monopoli, hit Furuya, and then walked Knief to bring home the tying and go-ahead runs for the Nittany Lions, at which point Zalewski relieved Kaff in the circle. Zalewski got Sorenson on a groundout back to the circle to throw out Monopoli at home, and then enticed a groundout from Miller to get out of the inning.
Kujawa brought home two runs with a standup double in the bottom of the third, plating Freimuth (walk) and Lea Foerster (single). That brought Marlaina Laubach back to the circle to relieve Jones with one out in the inning. Kujawa moved to third on a fly out to right by Gutknecht, and McKenzie Long singled to bring home Kujawa to make it 10-8. Long stole second, but Sanders struck out to end the inning.
Zalewski worked out of a jam in the top of the fourth, as a one-out single led to two on, as Pond reached on an error to put a pair on base. Zalewski struck out Tupino and Pond was called out for leaving second early, getting MSU out of the frame. Laubach retired the side in order in the bottom of the frame, as the two starters from game one continued to battle it out.
The Nittany Lions manufactured a run to cut the lead to 10-9, all with two outs. Pond singled to left, and then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Tupino smacked an infield single to move Tupino to third, and she came home on a Monopoli single through the left side. Furuya grounded out to end the inning. The Spartans went down in order in the bottom of the frame, which brought PSU to its final at-bat.
Leadoff batter Knief reached on an error, and she moved o second on a sac bunt by Sorenson. Zalewski got Miller to strike out swinging for the second out, but Macy Jones launched a two-run shot over the right field wall to give the Nittany Lions a 11-10 lead. VanDerveer walked, but Zalewski got out of the inning by striking out Pond. The Spartans got one baserunner in the bottom of the seventh, but Laubach got a pair of strikeouts, including getting Kujawa for the final out of the game.
The teams will face off at 1 p.m. on Sunday to wrap up the three-game series.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: CUMMINGS (3-4)
L: Zalewski, Kristina (11-8)
Batting:
2B: KNIEF 1 ; POND 1 ; MONOPOLI 1
3B: SORENSON 1
HR: JONES 1
RBI: KNIEF 1 ; MILLER 1 ; JONES 3 ; MONOPOLI 2
SH: VANDERVEER 1 ; FURUYA 1
Base Running:
RUNS: SORENSON 2 ; MILLER 1 ; JONES 2 ; POND 1 ; WARD 1
HBP: MILLER 1
Batting:
2B: Kujawa, Kassidy 1
HR: Gutknecht, Sarah 1
RBI: Kujawa, Kassidy 1 ; Gutknecht, Sarah 2
SH: Freimuth, McKinzie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kujawa, Kassidy 1 ; Gutknecht, Sarah 1 ; Thomas, Shanin 1 ; McBride, Alyssa 1
CS: Luna, Destinee 1
HBP: Thomas, Shanin 1
