Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State Events :: Official Athletic Site
May 6, 1997
Michigan State Softball Ends Regular Season with Win
Senior Pitcher Stacey Smith Strikes Out 10 to Pick Up Her 27th Win
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Michigan State softball team rallied to break a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the eighth inning to defeat Kent, 3-2, at Belknap Park in Grand Rapids Tuesday evening. MSU (45-18 overall) ended its regular season with a 6:00 p.m., nine-inning contest against the Golden Flashes (21-29 overall) before traveling to the Big Ten Tournament this weekend
Freshman first baseman Stacey Phillips (St. Clair Shores) brought in Stephanie Giroux (Davisburg) with a two-out double in the eighth to put the Spartans ahead, 3-2. Giroux had singled after senior shortstop Keri Lemasters (Canyon Country, Calif.) flied out to deep center field to start the inning. Senior pitcher Stacey Smith (Princeton Jct., N.J.) got all three batters out in the top of the ninth to preserve her 27th win and 30th complete game of the year. Smith tied her season high striking out 10 batters in her nine innings of pitching duty.
The Spartans fell behind in the first inning as Kent scored a run with two out. The Golden Flashes managed to maintain that lead until freshman Margaret Hollis (Anaheim, Calif.) drove in Stefanie Noffsinger (Huntington Beach, Calif.) with a pinch-hit double in the fifth. MSU went ahead in the seventh inning when Jill Danak (Dearborn) scored from third on a wild pitch, but Kent tied it in the eighth on a ground out. Phillips' double broke the tie in the bottom of the inning. Phillips, Lemasters and Noffsinger all went 2-for-4 in the game.
Michigan State will begin post-season play in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament against Michigan at noon Central Standard Time on Friday, May 9. The Spartans earned the No. 3 seed after finishing 14-9 in the conference.