Sunday, March 28
East Lansing, Mich.
1 pm
Michigan State University
6-10, 0
4
vs
1
Rutgers
3-13, 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Rutgers
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
5
0
Michigan State
1
0
0
1
2
0
X
4
6
0
Spartans Finish Strong Weekend With 4-1 Win Over Rutgers
3/28/2021 4:14:00 PM | Softball
GAME CAPSULE
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Michigan State closed out the Rutgers series with a third straight victory, a 4-1 win.Â
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On a blustery March day with the real-feel hovering in the low 30's, the Spartans struck first on a Caitie Ladd homer in the first, and got a pair of extra-base hits from both Marissa Trivelpiece (double) and Jenae Wash (triple) to add some cushion after the Scarlet Knights manufactured a run to knot the score in the top of the fourth.Â
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Ashley Miller started the game in the circle and went five innings, allowing five hits, striking out five and surrendering just one run. Sarah Ladd got her first save of the season with four strikeouts in the final six outs of the game, including entering with two on in the sixth inning and striking out the side..Â
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Ashley Hitchcock went the distance for Rutgers, striking out five and allowing six base hits.Â
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MSU now looks ahead to a four-game series with Michigan, which begins on Friday in Ann Arbor with a single game. After a Saturday doubleheader at Michigan, the Sunday contest shifts to East Lansing for the series finale.
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PLAYER HIGHS
STATS AND STORYLINES
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Michigan State closed out the Rutgers series with a third straight victory, a 4-1 win.Â
Â
On a blustery March day with the real-feel hovering in the low 30's, the Spartans struck first on a Caitie Ladd homer in the first, and got a pair of extra-base hits from both Marissa Trivelpiece (double) and Jenae Wash (triple) to add some cushion after the Scarlet Knights manufactured a run to knot the score in the top of the fourth.Â
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Ashley Miller started the game in the circle and went five innings, allowing five hits, striking out five and surrendering just one run. Sarah Ladd got her first save of the season with four strikeouts in the final six outs of the game, including entering with two on in the sixth inning and striking out the side..Â
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Ashley Hitchcock went the distance for Rutgers, striking out five and allowing six base hits.Â
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MSU now looks ahead to a four-game series with Michigan, which begins on Friday in Ann Arbor with a single game. After a Saturday doubleheader at Michigan, the Sunday contest shifts to East Lansing for the series finale.
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PLAYER HIGHS
- Kendall Kates went 2-for-3, and posted nine putouts.Â
- Caitie Ladd hit her first home run of the season, a solo shot in the bottom of the first.
- Ashley Miller got the start and went five innings, scattering five hits and striking out five. Sarah Ladd came on in relief and struck out four of the seven batters she faced to close out the sixth and seventh innings. She picked up her first save of the year.
STATS AND STORYLINES
- MSU turned a double play in the top of the first to erase an early Rutgers baserunner, and Caitie Ladd gave her team a 1-0 lead with a solo homer in the bottom of the first.Â
- Rutgers got the equalizer in the top of the fourth. Gabrielle Callaway singled to right, took second on a passed ball, and was able to come all the way around on a wild pitch. Miller got the next three batters in order – two by strikeout – to end the inning.Â
- Freshman Marissa Trivelpiece delivered an RBI double in the fourth inning to retake the lead. Kendall Kates had singled down the left field line to lead off the inning, and pinch runner Laney Joyner moved to second on a nice sac bunt by Abby Joseph. Trivelpiece's offering went into left center to score Joyner.
- MSU got some insurance in the bottom of the fifth. Hitchcock hit Barroso to put her on first, and Jenae Wash tripled to left center to bring around the freshman. A sac fly by Camryn Wincher brought home Wash for a 4-1 lead.Â
- 11 of MSU's 33 base hits in the weekend series were extra-base hits, including five homers, four doubles, an a pair of triples. MSU also drew 12 walks compared to just 17 strikeouts.Â
- Trivelpiece led MSU with a .667 average on the weekend, going 4-for-6 (two doubles and a homer) in the final three games. She also walked twice and had a stolen base, contributing four RBI. She improved her season average to .238.
- Kendall Kates led MSU with six hits on the weekend, which included the walkoff homer in game one as well as a team-best five RBI.Â
- Six players hit .333 or better, led by Trivelpiece, Kates (.500), Camryn Wincher (.455), Alexis Barroso (.400), Jenae Wash (.364) and Caitie Ladd (.333)
- Ashley Miller pitched a team-high 14 innings in the four weekend games, boasting a 0.50 ERA in three appearances, with two starts. She struck out 15, walked just three, and surrendered just one extra-base hit, holding Rutgers to a .180 batting average.
- Sarah Ladd had a rough start to the weekend, and didn't make it out of the first inning on Friday. She appeared in all four games rebounded with a pair of stellar relief appearances in games three and four, tossing 7.2 innings, striking out 12.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Miller, Ashley (3-2)
L: Hitchcock,Ashley (1-5)
S: Ladd, Sarah (1)
Base Running:
RUNS: Callaway,Gabrielle 1
SB: Iliopoulos,Anyssa 1
HBP: Bock,Kayla 1
Batting:
2B: Trivelpiece, Marissa 1
3B: Wash, Jenae 1
HR: Ladd, Caitie 1
RBI: Ladd, Caitie 1 ; Wash, Jenae 1 ; Wincher, Camryn 1 ; Trivelpiece, Marissa 1
SH: Joseph, Abby 1
SF: Wincher, Camryn 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Ladd, Caitie 1 ; Barroso, Alexis 1 ; Wash, Jenae 1 ; Joyner, Laney 1
SB: Joseph, Abby 1 ; Trivelpiece, Marissa 1
HBP: Barroso, Alexis 1 ; Wash, Jenae 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
1
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
1B
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
OF/UTL
/ SoftballC
/ Softball2B/SS
/ Softball
LHP
/ Softball
RHP
/ SoftballINF
/ SoftballSS
/ Softball
3B/SS
/ SoftballA 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