TUESDAY'S SCORES
Murray State 7, Michigan State 6 (9)
@Georgia State 6,
UT Martin 5
MURRAY STATE 7, MICHIGAN STATE 6
NORMAL, Ill. - The Murray State softball team scored seven unanswered runs to come from behind and beat Michigan State, 7-6 in nine innings, Tuesday in its first game of the 2017 National Invitational Softball Championship Normal Regional at Marian Kneer Stadium in Normal, Illinois.
The Spartans (31-23) got on the board first in the second with a home run by Lexi White. The long ball was compounded by a Murray State error in the previous at bat that allowed Ebonee Echols to reach base, making to 2-0 Michigan State.
In the third, Kelcey Carrasco made it 3-0 with a two-out home run, Michigan State’s second of the game. After the home run, the Spartans loaded the bases on back-to-back singles from Kaitlyn Eveland and Echols and a walk by White. Still with two outs, Sarah Gutknecht made it 5-0 with a single through the right side that scored Eveland and Echols. Two batters later, Michigan State extended its lead to 6-0 after Gutknecht scored on a wild pitch.
Murray State (36-18) finally found its way on to the scoreboard in the bottom of the third when Brenna Fick belted her third home run of the season. In the fourth, the Racers scratched out another run when Madison Culver scored pinch runner Maddy Feeney from third with a single to center field.
In the fifth, Jessica Twaddle made it 6-4 when she homered for the 14th time this season on a play that also scored Kaylee Ranburger, who reached in the previous at bat on a double. Neither team scored in the sixth and the Racers were able to hold the Spartans in the top of the seventh, leaving the door open for the comeback win.
Finck led off the seventh with a double and was brought home two batters later on a single by Twaddle, pulling the Racers within one at 6-5. With two outs and Twaddle on second, Taylor Odom reached on an error by Michigan State that also allowed Twaddle to score and tie the game at six.
Cayla Levins would draw a walk after the error to give Murray State two runners, but the Racers were unable to capitalize, sending the game to extras. Each team had a base runner in the eighth, but neither was able to score the runner, sending the game to the decisive ninth inning.
In the top of the ninth, Michigan State put its first two batters on base on a single by Carrasco and a Murray State error that allowed Eveland to reach. However, despite the first two runners reaching, the Racer defense clamped down and retired the next three batters to get to the bottom half of the inning.
Twaddle led off the bottom of the inning by reaching on an error and was then moved to second on sacrifice bunt from Jocelynn Rodgers. In the next at bat, Taylor Odom was out on a long fly ball to right field that allowed Twaddle to tag up and advance to third. In the next at bat, a wild pitch from the Michigan State pitcher went to the back stop and allowed Twaddle to score from third to complete the comeback win.
Finck led Murray State by going a career-best 4-for-5 on the day with two runs and a RBI, while Twaddle was 2-for-5 with three runs and three RBIs. Haven Campbell picked up the relief win to move to 12-9 on the season by allowing no runs on just four hits with two strikeouts and a walk over 6.1 innings.
Murray State will continue play in the Normal regional Wednesday when it takes on host Illinois State in a winner’s bracket matchup at 4 p.m.
GEORGIA STATE 6, UT MARTIN 5
ATLANTA, Ga. - The University of Tennessee at Martin softball team would fall just short to regional host Georgia State 6-5 in an offensive battle in the opening round of the Postseason National Invitational Softball Championship on Tuesday evening.
The Skyhawks (39-19) would outhit the Panthers on the evening with nine hits while hitting a pair of home runs. Three different players would tally multi-hit performances led by Gracyn McBride, Lauren Myers and Renate Meckl while Carly Gonzales, Jodie Duncan and Rachel Williams also recorded base knocks.
In the pitching circle it was Brooke Kennedy (23-8) who suffered the loss after issuing five walks and allowing six earned runs in 4.1 innings of work. Freshman Seeley Layne would also appear, allowing just one base runner in 1.2 innings of scoreless relief.
Georgia State would jump out to an early advantage in the bottom of the first behind a big two-run blast. A two-out walk would continue the inning for the Panthers before the team’s top slugger in Megan Litumbe who turned on a 3-2 pitch and drove the ball over the left field wall and off the roof of the hitting facility to make it a 2-0 lead.
UT Martin would begin to fight back in the top of the third. Meckl would lead off the inning with a single to shortstop before advancing to second on a well-placed sacrifice bunt by Savannah Dodson. With a runner in scoring position, Gonzales would push her school-record on-base streak to 34 games with a two-run home run down the left field line to tie it up. A pair of singles by McBride would continue the frame before being pulled for pinch runner Gabby Zizzi. With the speedster off the bench, Zizzi would scamper home to score on a RBI single up the middle by Duncan to give the squad a 3-2 lead.
The lead for the Skyhawks would be short lived however as the Panthers answered back in the bottom half of the inning. Georgia State would load the bases in the third before a two-run single over the leaping glove of Duncan at third base gave the home squad a 4-3 advantage.
The score would continue to fluctuate in the top of the fourth as Williams led off the inning with a single to right. The single would prove costly after a sac bunt by Aeron Smith moved the runner into scoring position for Meckl who laced a single up the middle to tie the game at 4-4.
The contest would remain tied until the bottom of the fifth inning when a familiar bat found her stroke. Following a leadoff walk much like the first inning, Litumbe would tally her second two-run blast of the game, sending the eventual game-winning blast right over the left field foul pole to make it a 6-4 score.
The Skyhawks would look for a final rally in the top of the seventh inning. Down to her last strike, McBride would battle tough, stringing together a double-figure pitch count before stroking a solo home run over the left center wall. Despite the home run the Skyhawks would get no closer than the final margin of 6-5.
UT Martin will now look to find some magic out of the consolation bracket with a matchup against Alabama State on Wednesday, May 17. First pitch from Bob Heck Field is scheduled for 1 p.m.