Friday, February 15
Atlanta, Ga.
3 PM ET
Michigan State University
3-4
2
vs
11
Georgia Tech
4-2
1
2
3
4
5
R
H
E
Michigan State
1
0
0
0
1
2
5
2
Georgia Tech
3
0
1
4
3
11
10
0
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: M. Bruce (1-0)
L: Shipp, Leah (1-2)
Batting:
2B: Ladd, Caitie 1
HR: Echols, Charla 1
RBI: Echols, Charla 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Echols, Charla 1 ; Ladd, Caitie 1
SB: Callahan, Summer 1
Batting:
2B: B. Zeitler 1 ; B. Roper 1 ; T. Awald 2 ; D. Puckett 1 ; C. Huckabay 1
HR: T. Awald 1 ; K. Krzus 1 ; C. Huckabay 1
RBI: B. Roper 2 ; T. Awald 3 ; K. Krzus 3 ; C. Huckabay 3
Base Running:
RUNS: B. Zeitler 1 ; B. Roper 1 ; T. Awald 3 ; K. Krzus 1 ; S. Stavro 1 ; S. Webb 2 ; C. Huckabay 2
Game Leaders
AB
2
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
ph/ss
AB
1
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
C/3B
/ Softball
3B
/ Softball
2B/UTL
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
Georgia Tech Jumps MSU Early for 11-2 Win
2/15/2019 7:42:00 PM | Softball
Charla Echols launches her first career homer
SPARTAN SYNOPSISÂ Â Â
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Georgia Tech struck early and scored multiple runs in three of five innings to score an 11-2 win over Michigan State in the second game of the day for MSU in the ACC/B1G Challenge in Atlanta.Â
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The Spartans (3-4) got a home run from freshman catcher Charla Echols in the top of the first inning, but the home team got a three-run shot from Tricia Awald in the bottom of the frame. Georgia Tech (4-2)  added one run in the third, four in the fourth (helped by a homer from Katie Krzus), and walked off on a home run by Crosby Huckabay in the bottom of the fifth.Â
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The Spartans had five hits off starter Morgan Bruce, with two coming from both Charla Echols and DP Lexi White. She struck out five and issued two walks. For MSU, starter Leah Shipp took the loss, scattering seven hits over 3.2 innings, striking out three and walking one. She was charged with seven earned runs before making way for Alli Walker, who gave up four runs on three hits and struck out two.Â
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Echols had two RBI, going 2-for-2 with a walk. In addition to White's two base hits, Caitie Ladd came on as a pinch hitter and delivered a double, coming around to score MSU's second run.Â
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Awald and Huckabay each had a double and a homer for the Eagles, and each contributed three RBI. Katie Krzus had three RBI in addition to going 2-for-3.Â
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Michigan State has two games on tap on Saturday, starting with a rematch against Boston College at 10 am followed by a 12:30 tilt vs. Georgia Tech to conclude the weekend's competition.Â
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  QUOTABLEÂ
"It was a tough day for us for sure. There's just not a lot of conceivable ways to win a game in which you give up 17 hits and commit seven errors. But yet, we  ended up in extra innings in that game vs. BC with a chance to win . We let Georgia Tech get on us in the first inning and never really gave ourselves a chance to recover. We're still learning, but there's ton of correctable errors that I really want us to address right away. We need to learn from our mistakes, but have some selective amnesia as well to put today's mistakes behind us and not let them hamper our efforts tomorrow." Â
 TOP PERFORMERSÂ
•  Charla Echols hit her first career home run, had an RBI single in the fifth, and had both of MSU's RBI.Â
•  Lexi White had a pair of base hits.
•  Caitie Ladd delivered a pinch hit double in the fifth inning, and came around to score MSU's second run.Â
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STATS AND STORYLINESÂ
•  Charla Echols hit her first career home run in the top of the first inning, clearing the wall in right field for a 1-0 Spartan lead. The home team countered in the bottom of the inning, getting a three-run homer from Katie Krzus to give Georgia Tech.Â
•  Georgia Tech tacked on a run in the third inning. Tricia Awald doubled to left center, and Krzus followed with a single to bring home Awald for a 4-1 lead.Â
•  The home team exploded for four runs in the bottom of the  fourth. A one-out walk to Skye Webb preceded a double by Crosby Huckabay to put a pair in scoring position. A groundout to short got the Spartans the second out of the inning, but a shot by Breanna Roper into the gap in right center brought home two runs on a standup double for a 6-1 lead. The Spartans made a pitching change, going to sophomore Alli Walker. Awald was the first batter that Walker faced, and she went opposite field to clear the fence in left for an 8-1 advantage.Â
•  Pinch hitter Caitie Ladd led off the top of the fifth with a double into the left-field corner, which MSU hoped would jump-start its offense. Charla Echols brought her home with a two-out single up the middle. Kaitlyn Eveland walked, but pitcher Morgan Bruce got a fly ball to center to end the inning.Â
• DH Drew Puckett doubled to lead off the bottom of the fifth, but Walker quickly got two outs to have MSU in good standing to get to the sixth. An MSU error allowed PH Bianca Mora to reach on an error, which set u  Huckabay's three-run homer to allow the Yellow Jackets to walk off with an 11-2 win. Â
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Georgia Tech struck early and scored multiple runs in three of five innings to score an 11-2 win over Michigan State in the second game of the day for MSU in the ACC/B1G Challenge in Atlanta.Â
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The Spartans (3-4) got a home run from freshman catcher Charla Echols in the top of the first inning, but the home team got a three-run shot from Tricia Awald in the bottom of the frame. Georgia Tech (4-2)  added one run in the third, four in the fourth (helped by a homer from Katie Krzus), and walked off on a home run by Crosby Huckabay in the bottom of the fifth.Â
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The Spartans had five hits off starter Morgan Bruce, with two coming from both Charla Echols and DP Lexi White. She struck out five and issued two walks. For MSU, starter Leah Shipp took the loss, scattering seven hits over 3.2 innings, striking out three and walking one. She was charged with seven earned runs before making way for Alli Walker, who gave up four runs on three hits and struck out two.Â
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Echols had two RBI, going 2-for-2 with a walk. In addition to White's two base hits, Caitie Ladd came on as a pinch hitter and delivered a double, coming around to score MSU's second run.Â
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Awald and Huckabay each had a double and a homer for the Eagles, and each contributed three RBI. Katie Krzus had three RBI in addition to going 2-for-3.Â
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Michigan State has two games on tap on Saturday, starting with a rematch against Boston College at 10 am followed by a 12:30 tilt vs. Georgia Tech to conclude the weekend's competition.Â
Â
Â
  QUOTABLEÂ
"It was a tough day for us for sure. There's just not a lot of conceivable ways to win a game in which you give up 17 hits and commit seven errors. But yet, we  ended up in extra innings in that game vs. BC with a chance to win . We let Georgia Tech get on us in the first inning and never really gave ourselves a chance to recover. We're still learning, but there's ton of correctable errors that I really want us to address right away. We need to learn from our mistakes, but have some selective amnesia as well to put today's mistakes behind us and not let them hamper our efforts tomorrow." Â
- Head Coach Jacquie Joseph
 TOP PERFORMERSÂ
•  Charla Echols hit her first career home run, had an RBI single in the fifth, and had both of MSU's RBI.Â
•  Lexi White had a pair of base hits.
•  Caitie Ladd delivered a pinch hit double in the fifth inning, and came around to score MSU's second run.Â
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STATS AND STORYLINESÂ
•  Charla Echols hit her first career home run in the top of the first inning, clearing the wall in right field for a 1-0 Spartan lead. The home team countered in the bottom of the inning, getting a three-run homer from Katie Krzus to give Georgia Tech.Â
•  Georgia Tech tacked on a run in the third inning. Tricia Awald doubled to left center, and Krzus followed with a single to bring home Awald for a 4-1 lead.Â
•  The home team exploded for four runs in the bottom of the  fourth. A one-out walk to Skye Webb preceded a double by Crosby Huckabay to put a pair in scoring position. A groundout to short got the Spartans the second out of the inning, but a shot by Breanna Roper into the gap in right center brought home two runs on a standup double for a 6-1 lead. The Spartans made a pitching change, going to sophomore Alli Walker. Awald was the first batter that Walker faced, and she went opposite field to clear the fence in left for an 8-1 advantage.Â
•  Pinch hitter Caitie Ladd led off the top of the fifth with a double into the left-field corner, which MSU hoped would jump-start its offense. Charla Echols brought her home with a two-out single up the middle. Kaitlyn Eveland walked, but pitcher Morgan Bruce got a fly ball to center to end the inning.Â
• DH Drew Puckett doubled to lead off the bottom of the fifth, but Walker quickly got two outs to have MSU in good standing to get to the sixth. An MSU error allowed PH Bianca Mora to reach on an error, which set u  Huckabay's three-run homer to allow the Yellow Jackets to walk off with an 11-2 win. Â
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A Road Less Traveled | Spartans All-Access
Thursday, April 17
A Higher Standard | Spartans All-Access
Tuesday, February 11
Spartans All-Access: Jenae Wash
Thursday, April 11
Spartans All-Access: Coach Sharonda McDonald-Kelley
Thursday, April 20