The Michigan State softball team opened up their 2024 season on the road for the Paradise Classic in Boca Raton, Florida. The team faced Ohio, Marshall, No. 12 Arkansas, and Florida Atlantic over the weekend.
The Spartans opened the weekend with a 9-0 loss against Ohio, where junior Faith Guidry was credited with the loss,as the team couldn’t get anything going on Friday morning. The game got out of hand fast as Ohio’s Yasmine Logan smacked a grand slam in the second inning to go up 5-0. The Spartans recorded three hits, all coming from Britain Beshears, Alexis Ross, and Payton Conroy.
The Spartans were unable to get the bats going later on Friday afternoon, as they fell to Marshall 1-0 despite a six strikeout performance from senior Liv Grey. A single up the middle from Marshall’s Rielly Lucas was all it took to secure the win.. MSU freshman Jaeya Butler nearly smacked a dead-center game-tying home run in the seventh inning, but was caught at the warning track.
The Spartans faced off against No. 12 Arkansas on Saturday morning as it looked to bounce back after a forgettable first day of the Paradise Classic. The Spartans scored their first run on the weekend on a sacrifice fly from the junior catcher Macy Lee in the first. Arkansas answered quickly as Cylie Halvorson tied the game up with a solo home run in the second inning.
MSU found themselves down 6-2 in the sixth, where back-to-back base hits from sophomore third baseman Hannah Hawley and catcher Macy Lee set up sophomore first baseman Britain Beshears for a three-run bomb to bring the deficit within one. That’s all that the Spartans could do, as they fell to No. 12 Arkansas, 6-5.
MSU softball looked for redemption against Marshall on Saturday afternoon after their 1-0 loss on Friday. The Spartans found themselves down seven after two innings. Marshall defeated the Spartans 10-1 in five innings as junior pitcher Madison Taylor took the loss for MSU.
The final game took place on Sunday morning as the Spartans took on the host, Florida Atlantic. MSU threatened early with two base hits in the top of the first frame, but were unable to capitalize. MSU freshman Jaeya Butler started off the fourth inning with a double. Sophomore Britain Beshears singled up the middle to put the Spartans up 1-0. Jaeya Butler extended the Spartan lead with a home run in the sixth inning to go up 2-0.
Florida Atlantic did answer in the bottom of the frame as the first two batters reached base, putting the go-ahead run at the plate. FAU’s Jesiana Mora singled to right field, bringing in the first run to cut the lead in half. With one out, FAU senior Zoey Jones hit a three-run home run to go up 4-2 in the bottom of the sixth.
The Spartans went 1-2-3 in the seventh as they fell to the host team by a heartbreaker leaving Boca Raton losing all five games over the course of the weekend.
MSU will travel to Arlington, Texas for the Maverick Invitational on Feb. 16-18.
