Late Michigan State rally downs Redbirds

Posted on February 21, 2016
A late rally from the Spartans downed the 'Birds. (goredbirds.com)
A late rally from the Spartans downed the ‘Birds. (goredbirds.com)

By ISU Sports Information.

TEMPE, Ariz. – The Illinois State softball team led 4-1 after four and a half innings, but a late Michigan State rally handed ISU its second-straight loss of the season as ISU fell, 7-4, Sunday morning at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona.

Illinois State finishes the weekend with a 2-3 record and is now 3-7 overall.

Riley Hale started things off right for the Redbirds in the top of the first when she hit her third home run of the weekend to give ISU a 1-0 lead. Michigan State answered with a run of its own in the bottom of the inning off of ISU starter Sarah Finck. The Redbirds made one error in the inning, which led to the Spartan run.

ISU retook the lead in the third inning after Annie Heineman laid down a bunt single and later came around to score on an RBI single from Regan Romshek. The run was the start of a streak of three-straight innings with one run for ISU.

In the fourth, Alex Caliva picked up her first hit of the season and was driven in three batters later by an RBI single from Hale. An inning later, Allison Spence hit a sacrifice fly to center field that scored Riley Strandgard.

ISU led 4-1 heading to the bottom of the fifth, but the Spartan offense rallied for four runs to take a 5-4 lead. Michigan State used a pair of singles, an error and a pair of walks to tie the game before Lindsey Besson hit a double into the gap to drive in the go-ahead run.

The Redbird offense went quietly in the final two innings, going down in order both times, while Michigan State tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the sixth to secure the 7-4 victory.

Finck took the loss for the Redbirds after pitching four innings and surrendering five runs on eight hits. The sophomore struck out one and walked two. Hale led the offense with a 2-for-3 effort that included a home run and two RBIs. Jordan de los Reyes finished 3-for-4 with three singles.

Illinois State will travel to LSU for four games this coming weekend. A live audio broadcast for all games will be available on wjbc.com

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