EAST LANSING— Following an extremely underwhelming series against Ohio State, Michigan State softball looked towards redemption at Secchia Stadium, this time against Central Michigan.
MSU went on to lose their fourth straight game by a final score of 4-0; the Green and White failed to register any extra base hits or innings with more than one hit.
“I thought their pitcher did a nice job,” MSU head coach Sharonda McDonald-Kelley said. “She [Compau] attacked us and had us swinging out of the zone. Do I think we could have attacked better? Yeah.”
The Spartans came into the matchup in a rough patch in their season, going 4-6 in their last ten games, with all six losses coming against Big Ten opponents. For the Chippewas they are on a slightly better run of form compared to MSU. They came into the game 5-5 in their last ten, going 3-2 against MAC opponents in that period.
MSU chose freshman Jacey Schuler to start in the circle. This marked her 15th start of the season and her third straight. She came in with a 3.87 ERA and a 5-8 record.
For Central Michigan, it was sophomore Brooklyn Compau opening in the circle. This was her 10th start of the season and second consecutive. Coming into the game, her ERA stood at 6.70, and her record sat at 3-4.
Schuler started the game in the first inning with shades of her last start in the 24-2 thrashing against Ohio State on Sunday. An early walk combined with a single allowed for senior Allyssa Hollo to drive into the first two runs of the game on a double.
Sophomore Grace Koenig then drove in Hollo with a single to extend the early lead to 3-0. That would be all the damage done after a diving catch in center field by junior Sydney Doloszycki got the Spartans off the field and into the batter’s box.
In the batter’s box, MSU didn’t waste any time getting their first hit when sophomore Kendall Smiley sent the ball back up the middle after two pitches for a single. It would all be for naught as she was caught stealing during the next at-bat. The only other production from the Green and White would come via a one-out walk, but no runs.
Schuler’s bad start became even worse after three singles left the bases loaded, a walk brought in the first run of the inning, and was the last pitcher Schuler saw as her day was done. The freshman finished with six hits allowed, two walks and four runs in 1 1/3 innings of work.
Freshman Carsyn Cassady came in for MSU, making her 10th appearance of the season, eighth in relief. She notched MSU’s first two strikeouts of the game, stranding the bases loaded and keeping the Chippewa advantage at 4-0. The Green and White only notched a single in the bottom half of the second inning, but nothing would succumb as they remained scoreless.
Three outs on full counts for Central Michigan led to their first scoreless inning in the top half of the third. In the bottom half, it was the third straight inning for MSU with one hit, one runner left on base, and zero runs.
A fourth-straight full count for Cassady started the fourth inning; this time, however, it amounted to a Chippewa single for freshman Maddison Diekman as Doloszycki’s second attempt at a diving catch went awry. Redemption would come soon as Diekman was called out for leaving first base too early on a stealing attempt.
Sophomore Carly Sleeman replaced the baserunner with a walk of her own, but Cassady registered her third strikeout in the subsequent at-bat to hold Central Michigan scoreless for the second straight inning. A 1-2-3 inning from Compau kept MSU with a goose egg in the runs column.
The Chippewas would follow in MSU’s fashion with an inning including a single with no runs, marking Cassady’s third straight scoreless inning. Compau got her sixth straight out with two straight strikeouts to conclude the fifth against the Spartans in another 1-2-3 frame.
Cassady remained in the circle for the sixth. It started on the wrong side of success as a leadoff double off the wall for sophomore Emma Lotus. Despite the early hit, she got straight back on track with a foul popout, strikeout and groundout to leave Lotus stranded on second.
MSU ended Compau’s six-out run with Smiley’s second single of the game to open up the sixth. In an almost near copy of the first frame, Smiley was caught stealing, this time at the end of the inning, with yet again no runs.
Cassady again remained in the circle for the seventh frame. She continued a very strong outing, with a 1-2-3 inning including her fifth strikeout. Compau also continued to toe the rubber in the bottom half in an attempt for a complete game shutout.
The Spartans started their comeback attempt with just their second walk of the game via senior Kaelin Cash. A fielder’s choice moved pinch runner junior Hailey Bila to second, the first time a Spartan was on a base other than first base since the first inning, but it would amount to nothing as Compau completed the game shutout.
Cassady’s final line was three hits, one walk, and five strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings. Schuler took the loss, while Compau earned the win. She pitched seven innings of four-hit ball, striking out five and walking two.
“We know what we’re up against, and we know what we need to bring,” McDonald-Kelley said. “The continual message to our team is we just have to do us, and we have to be the best version of us. I think we can compete with anyone.”
The Spartans will hope to end the four-game skid as they next make the short trip south to face their in-state rival, Michigan for a three-game road weekend series, starting March 28 at 5 p.m.
