May 8, 2005

Box Score

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State (25-27-1) duplicated its scoring from the first game to complete a doubleheader sweep, 4-0, of the Miami softball team (30-24) on Sunday afternoon at Old College Field in East Lansing, Mich., to complete the regular season for both teams.

The Spartans pushed a run across in each of the first four innings while Miami put a runner on third in the third, fourth and fifth innings without breaking the shutout. A sacrifice fly by Elizabeth Peterson put MSU up 1-0 in the first, and Nicole Mercado had an RBI single in the second for a 2-0 Spartan advantage. After Peterson notched her second RBI of the game with a single in the third inning and Dayna Feenstra knocked her third home run of the year in the fourth, MSU was up 4-0 before Miami starter Courtney Salmon (Auburn, Wash./Auburn) (12-10) kept the Spartans off the board for the remainder of the contest.

Two of Miami's runners reached third base with two out, giving the RedHawks little room for error as they tried to cut into MSU's lead. The fifth inning proved to be Miami's last good scoring chance, as the RedHawks were kept out of scoring position in each of the last two frames. Freshman Christine Bills (Canal Fulton, Ohio/Northwest) and junior Bianca Paz (Mesilla, N.M./Las Cruces) were Miami's leading hitters in the second game, each with 2-for-3 efforts.

Salmon allowed 11 hits and was accountable for all four Spartan runs while striking out five with a walk in six innings of work. MSU starter Lesley Noel (8-5) scattered eight hits with three strikeouts and two walks in her complete-game effort.

The RedHawks learned during their doubleheader that they face sixth-seeded Bowling Green in the first game of the Mid-American Conference Tournament on Wednesday at 11 a.m. at Firestone Stadium in Akron, Ohio.