MSU softball: Spartans sweep Loyola-Marymount

Michigan State completed the sweep of homestanding Loyola-Marymount on Sunday, scoring a 7-5 victory over the Lions. MSU has extended its winning streak to five games and improves to 10-2 overall.

Lea Foerster continued her torrid hitting pace with a pair of doubles and four RBI, and was twice hit by a pitch. Senior Sarah Gutknecht also had a pair of hits.

Bridgette Rainey (5-1) started the game and picked up her fifth win of the season, which is her career high. She struck out five and walked two, scattering six hits. Kristina Zalewski entered in the bottom of the fifth and tossed three innings in relief, earning her second save of the weekend by allowing one earned run on a pair of hits and striking out two.

The Spartans took an early lead with two-out rallies in each of the first three innings - MSU scored single runs in the first and second frames, then exploded for five runs in the third to build a 7-2 lead. The Lions got two in the fourth on an RBI double by Irma Sanchez, and tacked on a fifth in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI single by Alicia Brown, but Zalewski buttoned it down and got a big strikeout to end the game.

MSU heads out on its Spring Break next week, starting thing off at the Georgia Bulldog Invitational in Athens. MSU will take on Eastern Tennessee and Central Connectiut in addition to playing two games against the host Bulldogs.

With two out and two on, Sarah Gutknecht delivered an RBI single for MSU to take a 1-0 lead. The inning featured a hit batter (Lea Foerster), a fielder's choice and stolen base (Celeste Wood), and a walk (Kaitlyn Eveland) before Gutknecht drove in Wood with the only base hit of the inning.

·  The Spartans came up with another two-out RBI base hit in the second inning, when Lea Foerster ripped a double to right center, scoring Lexi White from second for a 2-0 lead. In the bottom of the frame, Rainey hit leadoff batter Alex Finie, and Aria Pogni followed with a two-run homer to knot the score at 2-2. Rainey got a fly out before she walked a batter, but retired the side on back-to-back strikeouts.

·  MSU had a pair on in the top of the third - relief pitcher Andy Wellins got the first two outs of the inning before hitting Ebonee Echols and walking three straight- Kelcey Carrasco, Lexi White, and Melanie Baccay - which plated a run and kept the bases loaded. The Lions changed pitchers, but Foerster smacked her second double of the day, emptying the bases and making it a 6-3 ballgame. The Lions couldn't get out of the inning, as McKenzie Long reached on an error that allowed Foerster to score from second - which forced another change in the circle, the third of the inning. Freshman Megan Thorp entered and walked Celeste Wood, and Long stole third. LMU finally got out of the inning when Eveland flew out to right - the ninth batter of the inning.

·  Loyola Marymount cut into the lead in the bottom of the fourth. Rainey allowed a pair of hits around a pair of strikeouts, and an RBI double by Irma Sanchez scored both runners to make it a 7-4 game.

·  The homestanding Lions rallied in the bottom of the seventh. After two straight innings of retiring the side, Zalewski walked the leadoff batter before surrendering singles to Dirks and Brown, plating the leadoff Sanchez to make it a two-run contest . Zalewski got Finie to lineout to left, enticed Aria Pogni into a groundout, and then struck out Mackenzie Kutzke swinging to end the game.

·  Sarah Gutknecht's RBI single was the 144th hit in her career, which ranks 24th all-time in the MSU career annals. On Friday, she hit her 20th career home run, which ranks in a tie for sixth place among MSU's career leaders.

·  Foerster's two doubles moved her into sole possession of eighth place in the Spartan career record book, as she now has 35. Her 56 extra-base hits is ninth all-time at MSU. She hit .625 on the weekend vs. the Lions, (5-for-8) with two doubles, a triple, a home run, and five RBI. In the series, she was hit by a pitch four times (twice on Sunday), and walked once.

·  With two wins over the weekend, Rainey improved to 5-1, the most victories in a season for the southpaw. She also has 49 strikeouts, surpassing her sophomore year total.

·  Kristina Zalewski picked up two saves over the weekend, which gives her 10 in her career - that is now tied for third place with Jessica Beech Bograkos, a two-time All-American and currently the director of operations for the softball program.

Michigan State Athletics communication department.