Spartans Fall on Opening Day to Northwestern

East Lansing, Mich. -- Michigan State dropped a pair of decisions to [RV] Northwestern on Friday morning, falling 5-0 in both ends a doubleheader in Leesburg, Florida. MSU got strong outings from its pitching staff in the circle, but struggled against the Wildcat pitching, which is among the best in the Big Ten.

Despite playing a conference-only schedule, head Coach Jacquie Joseph still wanted to see her young players, and went with a veteran lineup in game one around freshmen hurlers Jala Wright and Ashley Miller before flipping the script and starting some of her talented freshmen behind ace Sarah Ladd in game two.

In the first game, NU took an early lead, scoring all their runs in the first three innings before Miller came in to start the fourth and proceeded to shut down the Wildcat offense with six strikeouts in the final three frames. Danielle Williams tossed the one-hitter for Northwestern.

The second game was a 1-0 affair until the top of the seventh, when a bases-loaded triple blew open the game. MSU stranded runners in both the sixth and seventh innings as freshman pitcher Lauren Boyd picked up the two-hit shutout. Sarah Ladd took a 1-0 lead into the seventh, but was tagged for four earned runs in the frame. Alli Walker came on in relief and got the final three outs of the game.

Quotable:
"We opened today with a quality team that will be in the hunt for a Big Ten Championship and beyond. Their pitching was spot on - no walks or hit batters, and as a seasoned, veteran team does, they capitalized on the mistakes that we made and came up with a couple of clutch two-out hits. I think that we have some improvements to make in all three phases of the game, but I was very pleased with our day-one approach. We got to put our first-years in game situations, and we were able to see improvements from our veterans.

All in all, it was just a pleasure to be out there competing today. I want to thank Melissa Gentile and the entire staff at THE Spring Games for all their hard work, because its led to us having this opportunity. We're excited to get back out here tomorrow and play Nebraska."

- Head Coach Jacquie Joseph

GAME ONE:

Freshmen pitchers Jala Wright and Ashley Miller split the game, with Wright getting the start and going three innings, surrendering five runs on six hits. Miller came on in the fourth and gave up one hit and struck out six, facing 10 batters.
Catcher Kendall Kates had her first career base hit as a Spartan, doubling down the left field line in the top of the third inning.
Danielle Williams tossed the one-hitter for the Wildcats in game one, striking out eight in a full seven innings of work.

GAME TWO

Sarah Ladd got her first start of the 2021 season, going 6.0 innings and was charged with four earned runs, surrendering six base hits, striking out five and walking two.
After a hit batter, Morgan Newport tripled to bring home Northwestern's first run in the top of the fourth.
Ladd worked through a pair of jams with two on, but kept NU off the board in those innings.
Joanna Bartz led off the bottom of the sixth by legging out a single and Kendall Kates sacrificed her to second, but the inning ended on a deep fly ball to center.
A bases-loaded triple by Nelson with no outs led to three runs in the top of the seventh for Northwestern. Alli Walker came on in relief and brought home Nelson on a wild pitch to make it 5-0, but then retired the last three batters.
Kennedy Wyllie led off the bottom of the seventh with a base hit to left.

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Team Stats

Kendall Kates

Courtney Callahan

Zaquai Dumas

Caitie Ladd

Players Mentioned

Joanna Bartz

Kendall Kates

Sarah Ladd

Ashley Miller

Alli Walker

Jala Wright

Kennedy Wyllie