Friday, February 7
Miami, Fla.
2 pm
Michigan State University
0-1
6
vs
11
Cal
1-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Michigan State
1
0
4
1
0
0
0
6
9
2
Cal
6
4
1
0
0
0
X
11
11
0
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Romero, Chloe (1-0)
L: Ladd, Sarah (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Meech, Mackenzie 1 ; Callahan, Courtney 1
HR: Meech, Mackenzie 1
RBI: Quinlan, Katie 1 ; Meech, Mackenzie 5
SH: Quinlan, Katie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Ladd, Caitie 2 ; Quinlan, Katie 1 ; Meech, Mackenzie 1 ; Snyder, Brooke 1 ; Wyllie, Kennedy 1
SB: Quinlan, Katie 1
HBP: Wyllie, Kennedy 1
Batting:
2B: Sparacino, Karlee 1 ; Thomas, Kennedy 1
HR: Zobac, Kacey 1
RBI: Coelho, Mikayla 2 ; Sparacino, Karlee 1 ; Bradley, Amani 1 ; Thomas, Kennedy 3 ; Zobac, Kacey 4
Base Running:
RUNS: Smith, Makena 2 ; Espalin, Lauren 1 ; Coelho, Mikayla 1 ; Saiki, D'Asha 2 ; Sparacino, Karlee 1 ; Bradley, Amani 2 ; Thomas, Kennedy 1 ; Zobac, Kacey 1
SB: Smith, Makena 1 ; Saiki, D'Asha 1 ; Bradley, Amani 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
2
H
3
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
5
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
SS/UTL
/ Softball
LHP
/ Softball
1B/UTL
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
Big Early Innings Propel Cal to Win Over Spartans on Opening Day
2/7/2020 8:09:00 PM | Softball
SPARTAN SYNOPSIS
Michigan State dropped a 11-6 decision to Cal in the opener of the 2020 season. Cal improves to 1-1.
The Spartans surrendered 10 runs in the first two innings (and committed an error in each) as Cal rallied with two outs in both frames to take a significant lead. MSU righted the ship and rattled off nine base hits in the game, but had built too large a deficit to overcome.
Alli Walker came in with two out in the second inning and scattered just four hits in her 4.1 innings, allowing just one run and striking out two. Alexandra Perez entered for Cal in the third and allowed just one run and three base hits in 4.1 innings, striking out three. Sarah Ladd got her first collegiate start, going 1.2 innings and surrendering just one earned run – but those early errors for MSU led to two-out rallies by the Bears.
Mackenzie Meech got MSU back in the ballgame with a grand slam in the top of the third, and finished 2-for-4 at the plate with five RBI. Caitie Ladd went 3-for-3 with a walk, and Katie Quinlan was 2-for-3 with a stolen base.
Due to several weather delays, MSU's second game of the day against FIU was canceled. The Spartans play twice on Saturday, starting with a 12:30 pm game against Penn State.
QUOTABLE
"There is a lot of good things to take out of today's game but we made a couple of costly errors in the first two innings. Cal went on to score a lot of unearned runs in those innings and it let the game get out of hand. Its tough to be super critical because it was the early in the first game of the year, and we really did settle down after that and got great contributions offensively and defensively. Its an important lesson on staying sharp and getting out of innings. We're young and growing, and we will make mistakes – its just important to turn those things into lessons learned. For five players appearing in their first college game and some others growing into new roles, we have a lot to build on. We get two chances tomorrow to get back after it and put ourselves in a better position to win than we did early today."
TOP PERFORMERS
STATS AND STORYLINES
Michigan State dropped a 11-6 decision to Cal in the opener of the 2020 season. Cal improves to 1-1.
The Spartans surrendered 10 runs in the first two innings (and committed an error in each) as Cal rallied with two outs in both frames to take a significant lead. MSU righted the ship and rattled off nine base hits in the game, but had built too large a deficit to overcome.
Alli Walker came in with two out in the second inning and scattered just four hits in her 4.1 innings, allowing just one run and striking out two. Alexandra Perez entered for Cal in the third and allowed just one run and three base hits in 4.1 innings, striking out three. Sarah Ladd got her first collegiate start, going 1.2 innings and surrendering just one earned run – but those early errors for MSU led to two-out rallies by the Bears.
Mackenzie Meech got MSU back in the ballgame with a grand slam in the top of the third, and finished 2-for-4 at the plate with five RBI. Caitie Ladd went 3-for-3 with a walk, and Katie Quinlan was 2-for-3 with a stolen base.
Due to several weather delays, MSU's second game of the day against FIU was canceled. The Spartans play twice on Saturday, starting with a 12:30 pm game against Penn State.
QUOTABLE
"There is a lot of good things to take out of today's game but we made a couple of costly errors in the first two innings. Cal went on to score a lot of unearned runs in those innings and it let the game get out of hand. Its tough to be super critical because it was the early in the first game of the year, and we really did settle down after that and got great contributions offensively and defensively. Its an important lesson on staying sharp and getting out of innings. We're young and growing, and we will make mistakes – its just important to turn those things into lessons learned. For five players appearing in their first college game and some others growing into new roles, we have a lot to build on. We get two chances tomorrow to get back after it and put ourselves in a better position to win than we did early today."
- Head Coach Jacquie Joseph
TOP PERFORMERS
- Mackenzie Meech went 2-for-4, smacking a grand slam and finishing the day with five RBI.
- Katie Quinlan went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a stolen base.
- Caitie Ladd was 3-for-3 with a walk and a run scored.
- Alli Walker came on in relief to throw 4.1 innings, surrendering just four hits and one earned run, striking out two.
STATS AND STORYLINES
- Caitie Ladd drew a leadoff walk and went to second on a sac bunt by Katie Quinlan; she came around to score on a double into the left corner by Mackenzie Meech.
- Cal countered in the bottom of the first with a two-run rally. Lauren Espalin smacked a long double into center with one out, and Sarah Ladd got Mikayla Coelho to strike out for the second out of the inning. An error allowed D'Asha Saiki to reach first, and Karlee Sparacino (double) and Amani Bradley (single) followed with base hits to bring a pair of runs across the plate for a 2-1 lead. A double to left center by Kennedy Thomas plated two more scores, and freshman Kacey Zobak homered over the right field wall to extend the lead out to 6-1 before MSU could get out of the inning.
- A pair of singles led to another Cal run in the bottom of the 2nd, with Coelho knocking in the score on a one-out single. With two outs, another MSU error left the bases loaded, and Thomas walked to bring home another run. Alli Walker came out of the bullpen to replace Sarah Ladd, and worked a full count before Zobac singled up the middle to score two more runs. Walker got out of the inning with a ground ball to second.
- Shae Schreckengost led off the third with a base hit to shallow left, and Caitie Ladd threaded one through the left side to give MSU a pair of runners with an eye on a rally. A bloop single to right by Katie Quinlan loaded the bases with no outs, and Mackenzie Meech sent a 3-1 pitch over the wall in dead center for a grand slam, her first hit and home run of the season.
- A pair of singles sandwiched around a walk allowed Cal to extend its lead out to 11-5 in the bottom of the third. MSU got the run back in the top of the fourth, as Kennedy Wyllie was hit by a pitch, and she moved to second on a single by Caitie Ladd. Quinlan put an infield single between the first and second basemen to score Wyllie.
- In the middle of the fourth, the game turned from a slugfest to a pitcher's battle – neither team put another run on the board. The baserunners became rare, base hits rarer still, and the hurlers faced only three or four batters per frame as the game wore into the later innings. Caitie Ladd had a bloop single in the 3-4 hole in the sixth, making her a perfect 3-for-3 on the day.
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Tuesday, February 11
Spartans All-Access: Jenae Wash
Thursday, April 11
Spartans All-Access: Coach Sharonda McDonald-Kelley
Thursday, April 20