After losing its first game of the day by a score of 5-3, Michigan State softball put up eight runs in their second game of the day to earn a 8-3 win and split their conference opening series doubleheader against the Wisconsin Badgers.
In the first game, junior infielder Skylar Sirdashney led the way for the Badgers as she went 2-3 with a home-run and two runs batted in. Freshman infielder Rylie Crane also had a solid performance at the plate in their first matchup of the day against the Spartans, going 2-3 with two RBIs as well.
The bats weren’t as loud for the Spartans in game one even though sophomore catcher Macy Lee did go 2-4 with two RBIs and senior third baseman Jessica Mabrey also went 2-4 with two doubles and a run batted in.
Runs were not as hard to come by in the second game for the Spartans as three players finished with two RBIs each.
Freshman outfielder Mandy Esman had a very good day at the plate in the second game for the green and white, being one of the three players on her team to notch two RBIs, as well as adding two doubles.
“I just try to go up there with a relaxed approach and then see the pitches I was seeing and then attack early and just stay on top of the ball,” Esman said.
After losing the first game of the day, head coach Sharonda McDonald-Kelley knew that her team had it in them to flip the script and come out on top in game two.
“I thought we played hard the first game,” McDonald-Kelley said. “I thought we made a couple of mistakes that kind of put us in a hole. But I felt like we were a team that could beat the other team, you know. So that's why I told our team between games. It's like I feel like we're the better team. So let's come out and prove it.”
Now with the first conference victory under their belt, McDonald-Kelley believes they can ride this momentum they created into Sunday and beyond into Big Ten play.
“It's huge because I think we get to prove to ourselves what we're capable of,” McDonald-Kelley said. “And I think throughout the season, that's the best I've seen our offense have a really good plan and executed. I loved our fight. I talked to them before the game. Look, you saw what our basketball team did. You saw how they fought all the way and now our fight starts for the postseason. So every inning, every pitch, everything matters and I thought they did a really good job today at fighting.”
With the split, the Spartans move to 10-13 on the season with a chance to win the series against the Badgers on Sunday at 1 p.m.
