Saturday, February 24
Durham, N.C.
2:30 PM
Michigan State University
5-8
1
vs
2
Villanova
4-8
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Villanova
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
2
5
0
Michigan State
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
5
0
Photo by: Andy Mead/YCJ
Softball Falls to No. 6/8 Duke, Villanova in Durham
2/24/2024 11:04:00 PM | Softball
DURHAM, N.C. – Michigan State softball was defeated twice on day two of the Duke Invitational on Saturday, falling in a closely contested battle with Villanova (2-1) and to No. 6/8-ranked Duke (22-0) in the nightcap.
MSU moves to 5-9 overall for the 2024 campaign and is 1-3 this weekend with one game remaining in Durham.
Game One – Villanova 2, Michigan State 1
Senior Liv Grey (3-4) tied her season-high in strikeouts with nine on Saturday, pitching five innings and allowing two earned runs on four hits. Grey was relieved by freshman Makayla Huddleston who struck out one in two shutout innings of work.
Michigan State got hits from senior Alexis Ross, senior AJ Militello, freshman Jaeya Butler, sophomore Britain Beshears and junior Macy Lee. Butler and Beshears each doubled, while Lee drove in the lone runner of the game for the Spartans in the seventh.
Villanova scored a pair of runs in the fourth following a lead-off triple. After a wild pitch scored the runner from third, a solo home run extended the Wildcat advantage to 2-0.
Down to their final three outs in the seventh, Michigan State got a lead-off double from Beshears who later advanced to third on a wild pitch. Beshears was driven home by Lee on a sac fly to center, cutting the Villanova lead in half. After a long flyout to the warning track, junior Mik Anthony worked a two-out walk to keep MSU alive with two outs.
Game Two – #6/8 Duke 22, Michigan State 0
Freshman Makayla Huddleston (0-1) made her first career start in Green & White for the nightcap, recording a strikeout. Junior Faith Guidry came on in relief during the first inning and pitched 1.2 innings with one strikeout. Senior Ashlyn Roberts, freshman Ava Mullen and junior Madison Taylor also pitched. Taylor pitched the longest out of all Spartans with three strikeouts in 2.0 innings of work.
Sophomore Hannah Hawley led-off the game with a single to center as the Spartans put two runners on to start the night strong. Freshman Jaeya Butler followed Hawley's single with a walk. Junior Macy Lee later reached base on a walk in the fourth inning.
Duke scored 22 runs on 19 hits, breaking the game open with a 14-run third inning.
Up Next
Michigan State concludes the Duke Invitational with one final game, taking on Elon for a second time on Sunday, Feb. 25 at 10:30 a.m. The Spartans defeated Elon by a final score of 4-1 on Friday afternoon.
MSU moves to 5-9 overall for the 2024 campaign and is 1-3 this weekend with one game remaining in Durham.
Game One – Villanova 2, Michigan State 1
Senior Liv Grey (3-4) tied her season-high in strikeouts with nine on Saturday, pitching five innings and allowing two earned runs on four hits. Grey was relieved by freshman Makayla Huddleston who struck out one in two shutout innings of work.
Michigan State got hits from senior Alexis Ross, senior AJ Militello, freshman Jaeya Butler, sophomore Britain Beshears and junior Macy Lee. Butler and Beshears each doubled, while Lee drove in the lone runner of the game for the Spartans in the seventh.
Villanova scored a pair of runs in the fourth following a lead-off triple. After a wild pitch scored the runner from third, a solo home run extended the Wildcat advantage to 2-0.
Down to their final three outs in the seventh, Michigan State got a lead-off double from Beshears who later advanced to third on a wild pitch. Beshears was driven home by Lee on a sac fly to center, cutting the Villanova lead in half. After a long flyout to the warning track, junior Mik Anthony worked a two-out walk to keep MSU alive with two outs.
Game Two – #6/8 Duke 22, Michigan State 0
Freshman Makayla Huddleston (0-1) made her first career start in Green & White for the nightcap, recording a strikeout. Junior Faith Guidry came on in relief during the first inning and pitched 1.2 innings with one strikeout. Senior Ashlyn Roberts, freshman Ava Mullen and junior Madison Taylor also pitched. Taylor pitched the longest out of all Spartans with three strikeouts in 2.0 innings of work.
Sophomore Hannah Hawley led-off the game with a single to center as the Spartans put two runners on to start the night strong. Freshman Jaeya Butler followed Hawley's single with a walk. Junior Macy Lee later reached base on a walk in the fourth inning.
Duke scored 22 runs on 19 hits, breaking the game open with a 14-run third inning.
Up Next
Michigan State concludes the Duke Invitational with one final game, taking on Elon for a second time on Sunday, Feb. 25 at 10:30 a.m. The Spartans defeated Elon by a final score of 4-1 on Friday afternoon.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: SEIDLER, A. (1-1)
L: Grey, Liv (3-4)
Batting:
3B: OSTROWSKI, B 1
HR: REED, G. 1
RBI: REED, G. 1
Base Running:
RUNS: OSTROWSKI, B 1 ; REED, G. 1
HBP: ORR, E. 1
Batting:
2B: Butler, Jaeya 1 ; Beshears, Britain 1
RBI: Lee , Macy 1
SF: Lee , Macy 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Beshears, Britain 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
1
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
3B
/ Softball1B
/ Softball2B
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
3B/C
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
LHP
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
LHP
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