Sixth-Inning Rally Gives Hoosiers Game One Win

April 24, 2015

East Lansing, Mich. - Four lead changes, a combined 28 hits and 25 runs was the backdrop for the first of Michigan State's two games against Indiana on Friday, but a nine-run Hoosier rally in the sixth inning was the biggest story of the afternoon as IU posted a 16-9 victory over the Spartans.

All four Spartan pitchers saw action in the contest. Bridgette Rainey both started and relieved in the sixth inning of the game; she pitched a total of 1.1 innings, allowing five runs and striking out one. Dani Goranson went four innings, scattering five hits and striking out one, charged with four earned runs and five overall. Valerie Kaff came in with two on and one out in the bottom of the sixth, but she lasted just three batters before making way for Zalewski, who met her own troubles; she finished out the inning, but allowed three hits and four runs.

All nine runs for the Spartans (16-32) were charged to starter Lora Olson, as Miranda Tamayo relieved her in the fourth and finished out the game, denying MSU any more runners crossing the plate by scattering three hits and walking two to pick up the victory; she left the bases loaded in the top of the seventh as MSU tried to stage a final rally. Indiana improved to 16-33 with the win.

The Spartans wasted little time in the opening frame, as Lea Foerster led off with a single and was brought home on a single by Sarah Gutknecht. McKenzie Long hit a two-out double to the wall in left, scoring Gutknecht. Ellie Stoffer then legged out an infield single to put runners at the corners for Jordan Davis, who was earning her first career start. Davis singled up the middle to score Long, but Stoffer was thrown out at third for the final out of the inning - but not before the Spartans took a 3-0 lead.

Despite Rainey getting a strikeout of Rebecca Blitz to lead off the bottom of the first, the Hoosiers cut into the lead right away, loading the bases with an Erin Lehman double, a single by Shannon Cawley, and a walk to Kelsey Dotson. Caramia Tsirigos reached on a fielder's choice, but the throw home was not in time as Lehman crossed the plate. Michelle Huber and Katelyn Conenna hit back-to-back singles to score two more, scoring Cawley and Dotson to knot the game, and after Taylor Uden flied out to center, Rachel O'Malley singled to left to bring Tsirigos across for a 4-3 Hoosier lead. Blitz, coming to bat for the second time in the inning, grounded out to second to end the Hoosier rally.

In the top of the second, Alyssa McBride's one-out bunt single left her on first with two outs, but Kassidy Kujawa's hit bounced off the top of the wall in center field, missing a home run by inches - but it gave her a stand-up double and brought the tying run across the plate to make it 4-4. It was the only run for the Spartans in the inning.

Rainey walked Lehman to lead off the second, which point Joseph went to the bullpen and brought in Dani Goranson. Cawley reached on a fielder's choice, but both runners were safe as the ball got past Luna and into left field. Goranson got some help from a double play, as Dotson grounded to third and Gutknecht stepped on the bag and fired across the infield to get two. Cawley stole third, and Tsirigos brought her home with a double up the middle. Huber popped up to end the inning, but not be

Lora Olson turned in a 1-2-3 effort in the top of the third, the first time in the game either team went down in order. In the home half of the frame, Conenna led with a single to left, but Goransoncame back to strike out Uden and get O'Malley to pop out to Stoffer for the first two outs of the inning. Blitz came up with a two-out single to put a pair of runners on base, and Lehman delivered a two-run single off of the foot of Destinee Luna to plate two more runs to extend the Hoosier lead to 7-4. Foerster made an impressive diving catch on a fly ball to center by Cawley to rob her of a hit and likely RBI to halt the IU rally.

MSU roared back into the lead in the fourth, as Davis drew a leadoff walk and Luna reached on an error, and a sacrifice bunt by McBride moved the runners into scoring position. Foerster delivered an RBI single right up the middle to leave runners at the corners for Kujawa; she grounded out to second, but that scored another run to pull MSU within a run. Stephnie Sanders hit her eighth home run of the season on the first pitch she saw, pulling the Spartans ahead, 8-7. Gutknecht was hit by a pitch, followed by a double to left center by McKenzie Long, which placed a pair of runners in scoring position for Ellie Stoffer; both were stranded as Stoffer grounded out.

The top of the fifth, the Spartans pushed their lead out to two, as Davis drew a leadoff walk, which led to an IU pitching change, as Miranda Tamayo replaced Olson. Davis moved to third on consecutive singles by McBride and Foerster, and came home on a sacrifice fly by Kujawa to make it a 9-7 game.

Goranson had put together back-to-back shutout innings, allowing just one baserunner in each to stifle the Hoosier offense. In the bottom of the sixth, the Hoosiers started a nine-run rally by getting a leadoff walk by Cawley, and she advanced to second on an illegal pitch by Goranson. Dotson singled to left field, moving Cawley to third; that spelled the end of Goranson's stint as Rainey re-entered the game. She walked Tsirigos to load the bases, and Huber then delivered a single to left field, bringing home Cawley; Conenna then hit a ball into left center that was corralled by Foerster - but Dotson scored to knot the score with runners on the corners and just one out. Mena Fulton came to the plate as a pinch hitter, and delivered an RBI single to left to plate Tsirigos, which allowed the Hoosiers to regain the lead at 10-9. Valerie Kaff came in to relieve Rainey and after a single to O'Malley to load the bases, she had a wild pitch and two more walks, pushing the lead to 12-9. Zalewski signaled MSU's third pitching change of the sixth, and she allowed three hits and a fielder's choice to add four to the Hoosier lead, making it 16-9 before the inning was finally retired as Conenna, the 14th batter of the inning, popped up to end the frame.

With MSU had some hope in its final at-bat, as Luna led off the seventh with a single, and McBride reached on a fielder's choice as Luna was nabbed at second. Tamayo hit Foerster to put a pair of runners on for Kujawa, who flew out to left for the second out of the inning, but did advance the runners. Tamayo walked Sanders, but Gutknecht popped out to the catcher to end the game.

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Team Stats

Lea Foerster

McKenzie Long

Alyssa McBride

Kassidy Kujawa

Players Mentioned

Jordan Davis

Lea Foerster

Dani Goranson

Sarah Gutknecht

Valerie Kaff

Kassidy Kujawa

McKenzie Long

Destinee Luna

Alyssa McBride

Bridgette Rainey

Ellie Stoffer