Each game showcased different strengths from MSU — dominant pitching in game one and relentless offense in game two.

Game One: MSU 2, UDM 1

Game one was a pitching duel from start to finish, with freshmen starting on both sides.

MSU sent freshman right-hander Carsyn Cassady to the circle for her fourth career start, and she showed no signs of inexperience. Cassady threw five scoreless innings, striking out six while allowing just five hits to earn her second career win.

"(Cassady) did a really nice job," MSU softball head coach Sharonda McDonald-Kelley said postgame. "I mean, she's had a couple of good outings, so it was nice to see his still be strong on the mound."

Detroit Mercy countered with freshman right-hander Erin Flynn, who went the distance, allowing two runs on six hits and two walks while striking out two over six innings on 82 pitches.

Neither team scored until the bottom of the third, when senior first baseman Kaelin Cash ripped a double down the third base line to score Brooke Breshears from second, giving MSU a 1-0 lead.

Detroit Mercy answered in the fourth, as freshman third baseman Natalie Babcock scored on a sacrifice fly to center from senior designated player Jordan Kavanaugh. The tie didn’t last long — junior center fielder Sydney Doloszycki blasted a solo home run down the left field line in the bottom half to put MSU back in front 2-1.

Senior right-hander Faith Guidry took over in the sixth and threw two perfect innings with three strikeouts to earn her first save of the season.

MSU took game one by a narrow margin, but a win, nonetheless.

Game Two: MSU 20, UDM 0

Unlike game one, the second outing of the doubleheader went straight to action, which continued until the five-inning mercy rule was called.

Freshman Jacey Schuler got the start in game two, tossing 3.1 dominant innings. She allowed just one hit and struck out five.

Junior third baseman Hannah Hawley opened a six-run first inning with a deep double off the center field wall, scoring sophomore left fielder Kendall Smiley. Back-to-back doubles from sophomore second baseman Hannah Greer and senior catcher Macy Lee extended the lead to 4-0.

The highlight of the first inning came from sophomore shortstop Payton Conroy, who launched a two-run homer to deep center to make it 6-0. It marked both her first home run and first hit of the season after a slow start.

“I think it feels nice to touch them all for sure, but it was just a nice swing, a good ball,” McDonald-Kelley said. “I was happy to see her get that good feel swing in for sure.”

MSU kept its foot on the gas in the second, putting up another five runs. Doloszycki ripped a two-run double down the left field line to score Hawley and Smiley, then later came around to score alongside Kaelin Cash and senior right fielder Jenae Walsh.

While Detroit Mercy struggled to get through its batting order, MSU had already batted through its lineup twice by the third inning. Though the scoring slowed, the Spartans added more — including a steal of home by Hawley on a double-steal play. MSU ended the third up 13-0.

Just as the scoring seemed to settle, MSU posted its biggest inning yet with a seven-run outburst in the fourth to trigger the mercy rule.

The Spartans cycled through nearly their entire roster in the fourth, using 17 different batters. Fittingly, it was Schuler — the starting pitcher — who sparked the rally with a triple to right field.

Out of all of the scoring, McDonald-Kelley noted how big it was to give so many players some quality reps.

“It’s huge,” McDonald-Kelley said. “It’s a really big deal, I mean some even got a couple at bats, batting around in that inning. It’s a really big deal to get people at bats and for them to see live pitching in game.”

The Spartans capped off a dominant performance with a 20-0 win, enforcing the five-inning mercy rule after posting their highest scoring total of the season. MSU will look to carry the momentum into its next non-conference matchup against Toledo on Friday, April 4, at Secchia Stadium.