Spartans Fall at No. 2 Michigan, 8-0

Tuesday, April 19

Ann Arbor, Mich.

6:00 PM

Michigan State University

22-22, 4-10

Michigan

34-4, 12-2

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Michigan State	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
Michigan	2	0	1	0	5	8	8	1

4/19/2016 12:00:00 AM | Softball

Box Score

April 19, 2016

Box Score

SPARTAN SYNOPSIS

No. 2 Michigan exploded for five runs in the fifth inning and posted an 8-0 victory over Michigan State on Tuesday afternoon in Ann Arbor. The Wolverines, now 31-4 and 12-2 in Big Ten play, got a pair of home runs and two doubles in the game, a week after MSU didn't yield an extra-base hit in a 3-0 UM win in Ann Arbor.

The Spartans (22-22, 4-10 B1G) had two runners on with one out in the fourth and fifth innings, but couldn't move the runners home and fell in the shutout. The Spartans had three hits on the day, stranding four runners.

The Spartans are off to Chicago for a three-game series at Northwestern that begins Friday evening.

TOP PERFORMERS

Three different Spartans all had a base hit in the contest - McKenzie Long, Kassidy Kujawa, and Shanin Thomas.
Dani Goranson started the game and went three innings, allowing four hits and and three runs. .
Kristina Zalewski entered the game in the fourth inning, throwing 1.1 innings and surrendering three hits, and three runs, walking one. She was relieved by .

Quotable

"We were able to contain the explosiveness in their lineup when we played them last week, but today, we saw what that lineup is capable of. We shook up our lineup a bit to try to get something going offensively, because we only produced one run on Sunday - but we really need to get some healthy bodies and get some of our other players going to really start firing on all cylanders. A couple of days of practice at home before we head out to Chicago is hopefully going to help us get back on track."

-- Head coach Jacquie Joseph

STATS AND STORYLINES

Kelly Christner legged out a two-out single with a ground ball deep in the hole at short in the bottom of the first, and Kelsey Susalla followed with a home run over the bleachers in right field for a 2-0 lead. Goranson responded with a strikeout to end the inning.

Sierra Romero hit a two-out screamer up the left field line for a double in the bottom of the third, and came home on a double into the gap in right center by Kelly Christner, her second hit of the day. Goranson hit the next batter (Susalla), but she got Tara Blanco to ground out to second to strand two runners.

Michigan hurler Sara Driesenga had retired the first 10 Spartan batters on 10 consecutive ground-ball outs, but McKenzie Long broke up the shutout with a single through the left side in the top of the fourth, and Kassidy Kujawa followed with a single into right to put a pair of runners on with one out for Sarah Gutknecht. She hit into a fielder's choice to eliminate Long at third, and Foerster grounded out to first to end the Spartan threat.

Kristina Zalewski relieved Goranson in the bottom of the fourth, after four hits and three runs in Goranson's three-inning outing. Zalewski made quick work of the 7-8-9 batters for the Wolverines, coaxing a pair of ground-ball outs and getting a strikeout to end the home half of the inning.

MSU got another pair of runners on in the top of the fifth, as Shanin Thomas and Jordan Davis hit consecutive one-out singles. Destinee Luna's offering was chased down in shallow left by Christner for the second out of the inning, and Echols grounded out to short to strand both runners.

Zalewski issued a one-out walk to Sierra Lawrence in the bottom of the fifth, and Romero followed with a single up the left side for her second hit of the day. Christner stepped in with two on and one out and delivered a single up the middle that scored a fourth run, but Romero had to stop at third. A two-run single by Susalla pushed the UM lead to 6-0, at which point the Spartans made another pitching change, putting Hannah Shuler in the circle for her third appearance of the season. Tera Blanco greeted the freshman with a two-run homer over the wall in right, pushing the home team's lead to 8-0 and ending the game after five innings.