Spartans Drop 6-1 Decision to Host Kentucky

Saturday, February 28

Lexington, KY

3 PM

Michigan State University

9-9

Kentucky

15-4

Michigan State

Kentucky

2/28/2026 5:50:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

East Lansing, Mich. – Host Kentucky put together a four-run third inning and took a 6-1 victory over the Spartans on Saturday. The host Wildcats, receiving votes in this week's national polls, recorded their second win of the weekend over MSU and improved to 15-4 overall. MSU is now 9-9, and has one game remaining in the John Cropp Invitational – on Sunday vs. Dayton.

MSU threatened early but did not get a run across until the sixth inning, when Kentucky held a 6-0 lead. MSU had six hits on the day to Kentucky's seven, but committed a pair of errors and walked seven batters. The Spartans did force Kentucky to strand nine runners in the game.

Kendall Smiley had an RBI single to get MSU's run home in the sixth. Zoie Bernard was 2-for-3 with a double, and Sophia Grillo and Payton Conroy also contributed doubles to MSU's offensive effort.

Alex Starr got the start and went two innings for MSU, and Autumn Behlke came in to throw four innings in relief. McKenzie Oslanzi was the winning pitcher, going 5.1 innings and scattering six hits.

TOP PERFORMANCES

Zoie Bernard went 2-for-3 with a double
Kendall Smiley had an RBI single in the sixth.
Sophia Grillo and Payton Conroy each had a double and Hannah Hawley contributed a single.
Autumn Behlke threw four relief innings and allowed two runs on three hits. Alex Starr started the game and was charged with four runs on four hits.

NOTABLES

Zoie Bernard had a pair of hits (one double) to extend her team-best active hitting streak to 11 games.
Kendall Smiley's hitting streak has reached seven games – the second-longest of the season for any member of the team.
Autumn Behlke threw four innings in relief, her longest stint since her season-high 6.1 innings against Pitt (2/7).
Sophia Grillo's double gave her a combined three extra-base hits on Saturday. She had two homers in the opener vs. Murray State.
Hannah Hawley also had three base hits over the two Saturday games.

SCORING NUGGETS

MSU looked to get things started right away with a leadoff double by Zoie Bernard, but a double play and a fly ball to center ended the inning for MSU. Kentucky put one on the board in the home half, producing a one-out single and a walk before a double to left by Karissa Hamilton brought home a run. Starr worked out of it with a popup and a strikeout to get out of the inning without further damage.
Both teams went down in order in the second, and Kentucky rallied for four runs in the third. After a leadoff walk, Peyton Plotts homered to push the lead to 3-0; Carly Sleeman followed with an RBI double. MSU went to Autumn Behlke in the circle, and she got a fielder's choice to eliminate the lead runner, but three consecutive walks brought home a run for a 5-0 lead.
The Wildcats added a run in the bottom of the fifth to make it 6-0, and MSU put forth some offense in its ensuing at-bat. Payton Conroy laced a double to left center, and Bernard followed with a single to advance Conroy and put runners at the corners. An RBI single by Smiley brought home Conroy for the first Spartan run of the game.