Softball Splits With Iowa In Opening-Weekend Finale

East Lansing, Mich. -- Michigan State earned a split with Iowa (1-6, 1-0) on Sunday to split the final doubleheader of opening weekend in Leesburg, Fla.

MSU freshman pitcher Ashley Miller out-dueled Iowa ace Allison Doocy in game two, a 1-0 Spartan victory. Miller allowed just two hits and struck out six without walking a batter in her first collegiate start, while the Spartans got an RBI single from Camryn Wincher in the second inning among the five hits they had off Doocy on the day. MSU drew three walks in the game as well, including two for Joanna Bartz.

In the opening game, Iowa plated four runs in the fourth inning to open up a 2-1 ballgame and earn a 6-1 victory. Jenae Wash had a solo homer in a 2-for-3 effort on the day.

Miller pitched a team-high 15 innings over the weekend, allowing just five hits and four walks while striking out 16 and posting a 0.93 ERA. Alli Walker made three relief appearances and tossed 6.2 innings, and has not allowed an earned run while walking one and striking out nine.

At the plate, senior Joanna Bartz hit a team-best .364, drawing a team-high three walks. Jenae Wash hit .313 with her first career homer and two RBI, while Mackenzie Meech hit .308.

MSU concludes the first weekend of the 2021 season with a 2-4 record, earning doubleheader splits with Nebraska and Iowa and falling twice to (RV) Northwestern. The Spartans return to Leesburg in two weeks for a pair of three-game series against Illinois and Minnesota.

GAME ONE – Iowa 6, MSU 1

Iowa got on the scoreboard with a pair of runs in the top of the second on a pair of base hits.
MSU left a pair of runners on in the first and one more in the third after Courtney Callahan reached on an error.
MSU scored its only run of the in the fourth when Jenae Wash led off the inning with a homer, the first of her collegiate career. Wash went 2-for-3 in the game.
Iowa blew open the 2-1 game with four runs in the top of the fifth, as the Hawkeyes got to Sarah Ladd for five base hits in the frame, including a double and two-run homer. Ladd went five innings, striking out six and surrendering the six Hawkeye runs.
Alli Walker pitched the final two innings in relief, scattering three base hits and striking out two, both coming in the sixth with a runner on third and two outs.

GAME TWO – MSU 1, Iowa 0

The lone run of the game came in the top of the second inning, when the Spartans put the first two runners on with a hit from Mackenzie Meech and a walk to Joanna Bartz, and Camryn Wincher's base hit brought Meech home. Doocy struck out the next two batters, stranding the runner at third.
Ashley Miller made her first collegiate start after eight innings of relief work in the first two days of action. She went toe-to-toe with the Hawkeye ace Allison Doocy, allowing single base hits in the second and sixth innings. She did not allow a walk and struck out six.
Meech went 2-for-3 at the plate and scored MSU's only run.

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Team Stats

Mackenzie Meech

Kendall Kates

Jenae Wash

Camryn Wincher

Players Mentioned

Joanna Bartz

Courtney Callahan

Sarah Ladd

Mackenzie Meech

Ashley Miller

Alli Walker

Jenae Wash

Camryn Wincher