A combination of plenty of offense and solid pitching from senior Lesley Noel led the MSU softball team to a 2-1 showing at the Best Western Miami Invitational in Oxford, Ohio, to improve its record to 14-13.
MSU capped off the tournament with an 11-2 victory in five innings over Toledo on Sunday.
Junior second baseman Gina Mondo continued her hot hitting, opening up the game with a three-run home run — her fourth of the year — to give the Spartans an early lead.
Junior outfielder Kara Weigle had a grand slam and an RBI triple to lead the Spartans with three hits and five RBIs, while senior catcher Caitlin Mahoney had two RBIs.
Noel pitched all five innings, allowing six hits while giving up two runs.
The Spartans dropped Sunday morning’s game to Youngstown State, which came into the game with a record of 1-9, by the score of 6-2.
Starting pitcher junior Megan Hair gave up four runs in the first inning, and was later pulled for sophomore Kelly Confer, who gave up two runs over four and one-third innings.
The MSU bats only managed one more run, which came off a home run by freshman first baseman Heidi Purtzer in the fourth inning.
The MSU offense gave Noel plenty of support in Saturday afternoon’s game against Miami (Ohio), putting up six runs in the bottom of the first inning, and Noel held the Redhawks to one run on three hits in a 9-1 win.
Freshman shortstop Bianca Mejia led the Spartans with two hits and three RBIs — including her third home run of the season — while Purtzer added a two-run single.
The Spartans are scheduled to make their home opener at 3 p.m. Tuesday against Bowling Green at Old College Field.
Gymnastics
The women’s gymnastics team dropped its regular season finale to No. 11 Arkansas 196.075-194.725 on Friday.
In a losing effort, sophomore Rochelle Robinson won the vault for the seventh time this season, scoring a 9.850.
Robinson also finished second in the all-around and on the bars for the No. 15 Spartans.
Freshman Kelsey Morley finished in the top three on the beam with a 9.825, while sophomore Emily Lopatofsky tied for fifth on the bars.
The Spartans will compete at the Big Ten Championships in Ann Arbor on Saturday.
Baseball
MSU’s three-game weekend series against Oakland was postponed due to weather. The Spartans and Grizzlies will attempt to make up the games at a later date.
The Spartans host Illinois in their Big Ten opener at 3:05 p.m. Friday at Oldsmobile Park.
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The two teams will play a double header on Saturday and end the series at 1:05 p.m. Sunday.
