Junior pitcher Ashley Miller took the mound for the Spartans and served to be a defensive specialist throughout. On the other side of the diamond, the Gophers brought out fifth-year pitcher Autumn Pease, who also kept the Spartans scoreless in the first.

The Gophers didn’t hesitate to get the wheel spinning, scoring two runs in the first inning as the Spartans tried to find a way to respond. With exceptional defense by the Gophers, the Spartans failed to find a gap in the softball diamond, leaving the two opposing runs on the board with no response.

In the top of the second, the Spartans turned up their defense to prevent any lengthening of a Gopher lead. After walking Gopher graduate student outfielder Amani Bradley, Spartan senior catcher Kendall Kates popped upward from behind the plate and threw a missile over to second in hopes of putting a stop to Bradley’s attempt at a stolen base. She was first called out, then the call was overturned.

Still with Bradley on base, the Spartans left the inning with no opposing runs scored, and a new chance of putting up a few of their own.

Spartan senior outfielder Brooke Snyder put an end to the offensive drought with a double to right field. Synder was then abruptly thrown out at third at the next Spartan at-bat.

However, freshman outfielder Hailey Bila stood on third and senior catcher Kennedy Wylie  on second, waiting to be hit home, but were left on base. No runs scored going into the top of the fifth.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Gophers saw three of their baserunners cross home plate to extend their lead 5-0. This offensive charge was accompanied by yet another scoreless at-bat by the Spartans going into the top of the sixth.

Gopher freshman infielder Kayla Chavez led off the inning with a double down third base line. Chavez added to the Gopher’s hit count, bringing it to on the day. Still, no runs scored despite the base hit.

In the last inning of play, the Spartans tried played catchup on the scoreboard, but were unsuccessful, falling to the Gophers 5-0.

Game two

The Spartans came into game two looking to bounce back from the loss earlier in the day and snap a seven-game losing streak. 

The Golden Gophers started off hot when freshman infielder Kayla Chavez launched the softball out of Secchia Stadium for a home run on just the second pitch of the game from starting Spartan pitcher sophomore Faith Guidry.

Later in the top of the first, Minnesota found another run off a ground pitch that had Michigan State scrambling. 

After the two quick runs from the Gophers, the game was fairly quiet until the bottom of the third.

Freshman second baseman Mandy Esman hit a single to land herself on first base, and the freshman was able to make it third when an error sent junior third baseman Alexis Barroso to first. 

Tensions were high in the bottom of the third with two MSU outs and two strikes on senior outfielder Brooke Snyder. Instead of striking out, a huge hit from Snyder sent both Esman and Barroso to home plate to tie the game 2-2.

Guidry had a great night on the mound, and at the top of the sixth, the sophomore tied her season-high four strikeouts after sending yet another Gopher back to the dugout. 

Guidry’s strikeout was the only out for the Gophers, and Minnesota had one player on third base and freshman infielder Addison Leschber up to bat. 

Leschber hit the ball straight forward where it bounced and landed directly back in the hands of Guidry. Guidry threw it back to senior catcher Kendall Kates to log an out on home plate and then Kates sent the ball over to senior catcher Kennedy Wyllie for Minnesota’s third out on first base. 

The game move on to the bottom of the six, but the teams did not get to play for long. The sunny East Lansing day suddenly turned into a spring rainstorm, and the tarps had to be pulled over the field. 

Play was delayed for about an hour as players and fans sought shelter from the torrential downpour, and the game picked up right where they left off. 

Head coach Sharonda McDonald-Kelley said that coming back after a delay is a difficult task for a pitcher, but Guidry did not let the delay slow her down. 

“She was awesome," McDonald-Kelley said. "She was so good. She did a great job of cleaning the zone. She really just she she read the umpire really well, understood the zone and really threw to it. She did a great job. It's tough, especially having a break there in the middle of the game and having to come back warm herself back up but she picked up right where she left off." 

The remainder of the sixth and top of the seventh saw no runs from either team, and at the bottom of the seventh it was down to the wire. 

Esman was on third after a hit from Barroso sent her running, and Barroso herself made her way over the steal second. With second and third base housing runners, senior short stop Anna Fox drilled the ball to send Esman home for a walk-off 3-2 win to snap the team’s seven-game losing streak. 

The team will be back in action on Thursday, April 18 at 6 p.m. on the road against Michigan.