The Spartans won two of their first three games on their weekend road trip to Wisconsin and Minnesota.
MSU (17-28 overall, 4-5) stole the series opener 1-0 from the Gophers on Saturday with a first-inning run by senior Shealee Dunavan that stood up for the whole game, according to MSU sports information.
Dunavan scored on a two-out single by sophomore Tiffany Wallace, who finished 3-for-4 on the game.
Freshman Jessica Beech retired the first 11 batters she faced and pitched 5 2/3 shutout innings for the win. Beech got out of a one-out bases loaded jam in the fifth inning.
MSU split a pair of games at Wisconsin earlier in the weekend, highlighted by a complete game shutout by junior Becky Gray in the second game in Madison, Wisc.
The Spartans host Central Michigan at 4 p.m. Wednesday.
Women’s track
The women’s track team finished last in the three-team Michigan Triangular meet in Ann Arbor on Saturday, but the Spartans still had some highlights.
Junior Nadia Ricketts and freshman Sarah Adelaine both made the MSU top five outdoor performance list with their efforts on Saturday.
Ricketts placed second in the meet and fourth on MSU’s all-time list with a triple jump of 37 feet, 2/5 inches. She also finished third in the meet in the long jump with a mark of 17 feet, 7/5 inches.
Adelaine actually stamped her name on the all-time list twice, placing fifth in MSU history in both the discus and the javelin.
Her discus throw of 133 feet, 8 inches and javelin throw of 113 feet, 11 inches were both good for third at the Triangular meet with U-M and Central Michigan.
Adelaine’s impressive day also included a third-place finish in the shot put (43 feet, 3 1/4 inches) and a fourth-place finish in the hammer throw (133 feet, 6 inches).
The Spartans scored 71 team points in their first team-scoring meet of the outdoor season on Saturday.
Other MSU highlights included senior Shannon Houseman finishing second in the 1,500-meter run (4:46.27) and sophomore Marisa Ryan placing second in the 3,000-meter run (10:49.34)
The team next competes on Saturday in the Western Michigan Invitational in Kalamazoo.
Women’s crew
MSU raced against some of the premier teams in the country at Saturday’s Buckeye Invitational in Columbus, Ohio, but failed to pull out any wins.
The first Varsity Eight boat placed fourth in the first session (6:50.98) and third in the second session (6:49.11), while the second Varsity Eight boat finished in last place in both sessions.
The first Varsity Four boat had a much stronger showing, placing second in both sessions (7:41.70 in the first session and 7:32.99 in the second session). The second Varsity Four boat finished last out of three in both sessions.
The Spartans also placed second two other times on the Scioto River - the first Novice Eight boat (7:06.04) and the second Novice Eight boat (7:30.80).
The crew will next compete at the Big Ten Championship in Ann Arbor on April 28.
Women’s Tennis
No. 28-ranked Iowa swept MSU 7-0 in the Spartans’ final home match of the season on Saturday.
MSU (6-13, 0-8) mustered a win at No. 2 doubles when senior Natasha Skogerboe and sophomore Mollie Hood claimed an 8-1 victory over Hawkeye duo Megan Kearney and Jody Scheldt.
But the Hawkeyes (9-8, 3-4) won the No. 1 and No. 3 doubles matched to take the team doubles point.
Iowa also breezed through the six singles matches, including Deni Alexandrova’s 6-2, 6-0 win over MSU freshman Caroline Lay at No. 1 singles.
The Spartans still have road matches at Purdue on Saturday and at Indiana on Sunday before the Big Ten Championships in Columbus, Ohio from April 26-29.
Men’s Golf
Senior Dennis Riedel shot a season-low 68 in the first round Saturday and withstood a 77 in the second round to finish in third place on the first day with a 145 at the Kepler Intercollegiate in Columbus.
The team sat in eighth place out of 17 teams after the first two rounds of tournament play. The Spartans’ score of 600 was 11 shots behind tournament leader U-M.
Sophomore Eric Jorgensen turned in the second best score of the opening day for MSU, with a 149 (77-72).
