Michigan State University
16-18, 0
Rutgers
17-9, 0
Spartans Fall in Extras at Rutgers, 6-5 (11)
4/3/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
East Lansing, Mich. -- In a game that spanned two days after being halted due to impending darkness after nine innings, Rutgers (17-9, 5-2 B1G) came up with a pair of runs in the bottom of the 11th inning to defeat Michigan State, 6-5, in the first of three games between the two teams.
In a game which began at 4 p.m. on Friday, the umpires called play after nine innings with darkness progressing and the game tied 4-4. Michigan State (16-18, 1-6 B1G), had rallied from a 4-0 deficit, scoring three times in the fourth and getting the equalizer in the top of the seventh to knot the game at four. The game resumed at 1 p.m. on Saturday, and went an additional two innings. Valerie Kaff entered the game in the top of the third with no outs, and tossed 8.1 innings of five-hit ball, striking out four to become the hard-luck loser. Alyssa Landrith went the distance, throwing a complete game 11 innings, scattering 11 hits and striking out 11. She overcame four Scarlet Knoght errors on the day.
At the plate, Stephanie Sanders went 3-for-5, including an RBI single that scored McKenzie Long in the top of the 11th inning for a go-ahead run. Sarah Gutknecht had a pair of RBI in MSU's three-run rally in the fifth inning, and went 3-for-6 at the plate.
MSU stranded two runners in the top of the first, after Lea Foerster reached on an error and Kassidy Kujawa was hit by a pitch. Rutgers took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the frame, putting together three hits and using one walk to generate the first offense of the game.
Chandler Howard led off the top of the third with a home run to left, which was the end of the day for starter Kristina Zalewski. Valerie Kaff came in to face Jackie Bates, and after the center fielder doubled, Kaff regouped and retired the side.
MSU looked to get something going in the fourth, as pinch hitter Sydney Heath led off and was hit by a pitch, and Alyssa McBride came up with an infield single to move Heath to second. McKinzie Freimuth laid down a sac bunt to move the runners, and then Alyssa Landrith hit her second batter of the inning, sending Foerster to first to load the bases with one out. That brought Kassidy Kujawa to the plate, and after making Landrith work for a full count, Kujawa reached on an error by the shortstop, as her throw to second was high; Heath crossed the plate and the bases remained loaded. Sarah Gutknecht then delivered a single to right that plated both McBride and Foerster, pulling the Spartans to within a run at 4-3. Landrith struck out pinch hitter Shanin Thomas for the second out of the inning, but then walked Stephanie Sanders in a eight-pitch at bat to once again load the bases. Destinee Luna stepped in to try to bring home a tying run, but Landrith got her to ground back to the circle to end the inning.
In the top of the seventh, the Spartans sent some of their top hitters to the plate in an effort to score an equalizer. Scarlet Knight shortstop Slowinski robbed Foerster of a leadoff single , as she ran all the way into shallow center to snare a ball that seemed destined to drop. After Landrith walked Kujawa, Reiser came in as a pinch runner. Landrith got Gutknecht looking, and while Long was at the plate, Reiser moved to second on a passed ball, stole third three pitches later, and then came home on a throwing error, plating the tying run. Landrith got out of the inning, but the Spartans had pulled the game even.
After Kaff got the leadoff hitter Huang to ground out to lead off the bottom of the seventh, she walked Howard to give the home team a potential tying run on the basepaths. Kaff erased that threat by getting Bates to ground into a 6-4-3 double play.
Gutknecht singled in the top of the ninth, but she was stranded; in the bottom of the inning, Kaff walked the leadoff batter but got some help as Elizabeth Adams grounded into a double play, and then struck out Bridget Carr to send the game to the tenth - at which point the game was halted.
When the game resumed on Saturday afternoon, Sanders startd off the 10th with a single to left, followed by Luna reaching on a fielder's choice and Stoffer legging out a bunt single, putting two runners on with just one out. She walked Alyssa McBride to get to the top of the order, but Landrith got both Freimuth and Foerster to ground into forceouts, and the teams headed to the bottom of the frame. In the home half of the 10th, Kaff walked leadoff batter Stephanie Huang, but Howard followed with a fielder's choice to extinguish Huang at second. Bates was hit by a pitch, and a groundout by Whitley moved the runners to second and third with two outs for Slowinski. Kaff fell behind in the count, but got the shortstop to fly out to center to end the inning.
MSU scored the go-ahead run in the 11th, giving MSU its first lead of the day. Long smacked a two-out double and then was brought home on a Sanders single to center, her third hit of the day. In the bottom of the frame, Kaff battled Hall through nine pitches, but lost her for a leadoff walk; Todd singled to put a pair of runners on the basepaths, and Adams sacrificed the runners into scoring position for designated player Carr, who delivered the game-winning single to play the role of hero.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Landrith, A (9-5)
L: Kaff, Valerie (2-5)
Batting:
2B: Long, McKenzie 1
RBI: Gutknecht, Sarah 2 ; Sanders, Stephanie 1
SH: Freimuth, McKinzie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Foerster, Lea 1 ; Reiser, Jacquie 1 ; Long, McKenzie 1 ; Heath, Sydney 1 ; McBride, Alyssa 1
SB: Reiser, Jacquie 2
HBP: Foerster, Lea 1 ; Kujawa, Kassidy 1 ; Heath, Sydney 1
Batting:
2B: Bates, J 1 ; Whitley, J 1
HR: Howard, C 1
RBI: Howard, C 1 ; Whitley, J 1 ; Slowinski, M 1 ; Carr, B 2
SH: Adams, E 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Huang, S 1 ; Howard, C 2 ; Whitley, J 1 ; Kott, J 1 ; Todd, C 1
SB: Whitley, J 1 ; Slowinski, M 1
CS: Huang, S 1
HBP: Bates, J 1
