Spartans Hold Off Badger Rally, 5-4

March 26, 2016

SPARTAN SYNOPSIS

MSU bounced back from a Friday loss to visiting Wisconsin with a 5-4 win in the first of two games on Saturday. Ebonee Echols had two of MSU's hits, while the Spartans smacked three doubles on the afternoon.

The Spartans scored twice in each the first and third innings, and tacked on an insurance run in the fifth which would prove valuable - the visiting Badgers scored single runs in the sixth and seventh innings, but Kristina Zalewski got a huge strikeout of Kelly Welsh with two in scoring position to end the game. Zalewski scattered 12 hits, tossing her eighth complete game of the season. Counterpart Taylor-Paige Stewart threw six innings, limiting MSU to eight hits and four earned runs.

The teams complete the doubleheader with a 3:40 pm first pitch for game two.

TOP PERFORMERS

Ebonee Echols went 2-for4 with an RBI, and scored twice.

Sarah Gutknecht, McKenzie Long, and Celeste Wood each had a double. Gutknecht collected two RBI , Long and Wood one each.

Kristina Zalewski tossed a complete game, allowing four runs (all earned) on 12 hits, and struck out nine, tying her season best.

STATS AND STORYLINES

After Zalewski stranded a pair in scoring position in the top of the first, the Spartans put a pair of runs on the board in the home half of the inning. A leadoff walk to Foerster and an Echols single, followed by an error, scored Foerster and left Echols on third. Celeste Wood brought home Echols for the 2-0 lead.

MSU tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the third inning. Foerster reached on a hit by pitch and was moved to second when Echols legged out an infield single. Wood moved both of the runners over with a sac bunt, and Sarah Gutknecht delivered a double to left that brought home both runners and doubled the MSU advantage to 4-0.

The Badgers got on the board in the bottom of the fourth. A leadoff single by Samantha Arents led off the frame, and Melanie Cross homered to left to cut the Spartan lead to 4-2. Zalewski got a ground ball and a strikeout to get the first two outs, and after allowing a single to Macy Oswald, she got Ashley Van Zeeland to ground out to end the inning.

MSU added an important insurance run in the bottom of the fifth. Wood laced a one-out double to lft, and after a lineout by Gutknecht, McKenzie Long added her own double to bring home Wood for a 5-2 advantage.

Wisconsin plated a run to make it 5-3 in the top of the sixth. Three hits and an error loaded the bases for the Badgers with none out, and Zalewski got pinch hitter Brooke Mann swinging for the first out of the frame. Oswald flew out to left to bring home the run, but VanZeeland couldnt keep it going, grounding out back to the pitcher to allow Zalewski out of the inning.

The Spartans looked to pad their lead in the bottom of the sixth, but stranded a pair of runners to keep it a 5-3 ballgame. Zalewki went back to work in the top of the seventh, needing just three outs to get out of the game. She walked leadoff Kelsey Jenkins, and she moved to second on a groundout. Sara Novak singled up the middle to bring home Jenkins to cut MSU's lead to 5-4. Zalewski got a big strikeout of pinch hitter Taylor Berry for the second out, but Cross had her third hit of the game with a single to right. Cross went to second as Novak was held at third to leave two in scoring position, but Zalewski got her ninth K of the game when she got Welsh to go down swinging for the final out of the game.

Next Event

Team Stats

Ebonee Echols

Celeste Wood

Sarah Gutknecht

McKenzie Long

Players Mentioned

Ebonee Echols

Sarah Gutknecht

McKenzie Long

Celeste Wood

Kristina Zalewski