Sunday, February 20
Jacksonville, Fla.
10 am
Michigan State University
5-3
3
at
4
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North Florida
7-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Michigan State
3
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
3
2
North Florida
0
0
3
0
0
1
X
4
6
2
Softball Drops Pair of Nail-Biters to North Florida
2/20/2022 4:40:00 PM | Softball
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Playing in its final doubleheader of the weekend, the Michigan State softball team fell to North Florida twice on Sunday, Feb. 20 by final scores of 4-3 in each game.
Following Sunday's contests, the Spartans move to 5-4 on the season heading into a long weekend in Boca Raton, Fla in which the team will once again meet Kentucky and Jacksonville, along with games against LIU, Florida Atlantic and Columbia. It will be the opening weekend for Columbia, who hasn't played a game since March 1, 2020.
Michigan State got off to a fast start in game one of the double feature, taking a 3-0 lead in the first inning thanks to the hot bats of junior Camryn Wincher and freshman Macy Lee. Senior Jessica Mabrey drew a lead off walk before being driven home by Wincher's single down the left field line. In the very next at-bat, Lee plated Wincher and senior Courtney Callahan, who singled earlier in the inning.
North Florida got on the board and tied things up at 3-3 in the bottom of the third inning after a series of errors extended the frame. The game remained knotted up at 3-3 until the bottom of the sixth when the Ospreys scored the eventual game-winning run on a sacrifice bunt.
Sophomore Ashley Miller pitched five innings in game one, striking out five while allowing one earned run. Junior Sarah Ladd came in to relieve Miller and struck out one batter in one inning of work. The Spartans jumped on North Florida starter Morgan Clausen to the tune of three hits and two earned runs in one inning pitched, but Halle Arends was perfect in relief throwing six hitless innings.
In game two, Michigan State once again got out to an early lead thanks to the bat of Wincher, who's single to right center scored Mabrey. North Florida was quick to respond however, tying the game at 1-1 with a single through the left side.
The Ospreys would take a brief 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning before a Spartan rally in the top of the seventh tied things up at 2-2.
Down to its final out, Michigan State strung together singles from senior Caitie Ladd, junior Kennedy Wyllie and Mabrey to tie the game. A scoreless bottom half of the inning forced extras where Michigan State would take a 3-2 lead.
Using the international tie-breaker rule Callahan started the eighth inning on second base for MSU, advancing to third on a groundout by the leadoff hitter Wincher. Senior Mackenzie Meech grounded out for the second out of the inning, but it was enough to score Callahan and give Michigan State the lead.
An error in the bottom of the eighth tied the game at 3-3, before a single down the right field line scored the game-winning run for North Florida.
Freshman Faith Guidry had her best performance in the circle thus far, allowing one earned run over 4.1 innings pitched. Sarah Ladd came on in relief once again allowing no earned runs over three innings of work. Arends started the game for North Florida and was more susceptible to being hit, allowing six hits over 6.1 innings.
Mabrey, Callahan, Wincher, Ladd, Wyllie, senior Kendall Kates and sophomore Alexis Barroso each collected hits for the Spartans in game two.
Up Next: Michigan State will briefly return to East Lansing before heading back to Florida for a weekend in Boca Raton for the Florida Atlantic "Strikeout Cancer" tournament February 25-27. The Spartans will play five games in Boca Raton, meeting LIU, Kentucky, Jacksonville, FAU and Columbia.
Following Sunday's contests, the Spartans move to 5-4 on the season heading into a long weekend in Boca Raton, Fla in which the team will once again meet Kentucky and Jacksonville, along with games against LIU, Florida Atlantic and Columbia. It will be the opening weekend for Columbia, who hasn't played a game since March 1, 2020.
Michigan State got off to a fast start in game one of the double feature, taking a 3-0 lead in the first inning thanks to the hot bats of junior Camryn Wincher and freshman Macy Lee. Senior Jessica Mabrey drew a lead off walk before being driven home by Wincher's single down the left field line. In the very next at-bat, Lee plated Wincher and senior Courtney Callahan, who singled earlier in the inning.
North Florida got on the board and tied things up at 3-3 in the bottom of the third inning after a series of errors extended the frame. The game remained knotted up at 3-3 until the bottom of the sixth when the Ospreys scored the eventual game-winning run on a sacrifice bunt.
Sophomore Ashley Miller pitched five innings in game one, striking out five while allowing one earned run. Junior Sarah Ladd came in to relieve Miller and struck out one batter in one inning of work. The Spartans jumped on North Florida starter Morgan Clausen to the tune of three hits and two earned runs in one inning pitched, but Halle Arends was perfect in relief throwing six hitless innings.
In game two, Michigan State once again got out to an early lead thanks to the bat of Wincher, who's single to right center scored Mabrey. North Florida was quick to respond however, tying the game at 1-1 with a single through the left side.
The Ospreys would take a brief 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning before a Spartan rally in the top of the seventh tied things up at 2-2.
Down to its final out, Michigan State strung together singles from senior Caitie Ladd, junior Kennedy Wyllie and Mabrey to tie the game. A scoreless bottom half of the inning forced extras where Michigan State would take a 3-2 lead.
Using the international tie-breaker rule Callahan started the eighth inning on second base for MSU, advancing to third on a groundout by the leadoff hitter Wincher. Senior Mackenzie Meech grounded out for the second out of the inning, but it was enough to score Callahan and give Michigan State the lead.
An error in the bottom of the eighth tied the game at 3-3, before a single down the right field line scored the game-winning run for North Florida.
Freshman Faith Guidry had her best performance in the circle thus far, allowing one earned run over 4.1 innings pitched. Sarah Ladd came on in relief once again allowing no earned runs over three innings of work. Arends started the game for North Florida and was more susceptible to being hit, allowing six hits over 6.1 innings.
Mabrey, Callahan, Wincher, Ladd, Wyllie, senior Kendall Kates and sophomore Alexis Barroso each collected hits for the Spartans in game two.
Up Next: Michigan State will briefly return to East Lansing before heading back to Florida for a weekend in Boca Raton for the Florida Atlantic "Strikeout Cancer" tournament February 25-27. The Spartans will play five games in Boca Raton, meeting LIU, Kentucky, Jacksonville, FAU and Columbia.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: ARENDS, Halle (2-0)
L: Miller, Ashley (4-1)
Batting:
RBI: Wincher, Camryn 1 ; Lee , Macy 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Mabrey, Jessica 1 ; Callahan, Courtney 1 ; Wincher, Camryn 1
CS: Callahan, Courtney 1
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Batting:
RBI: GLOVER, Shannon 2 ; PFENT, Paige 1 ; BEJARANO, Hayley 1
SH: REICHERT, Hadlee 1 ; BEJARANO, Hayley 1
Base Running:
RUNS: HARPER, Kayla 1 ; McGORY, Kayla 1 ; LONDON, Takiya 1 ; AGUIGUI, Bailee 1
SB: LONDON, Takiya 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
2
R
1
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
1B
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
2B/SS
/ Softball
LHP
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
1B/UTL
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
3B/SS
/ Softball
C
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