Wolverines Rally for Midweek Triumph against MSU

Tuesday, April 21

Ann Arbor, Mich.

7:00 PM

Michigan

42-6, 15-2

Michigan State

16-30, 1-16

Michigan State

Michigan

4/21/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball

Box Score Photo Gallery

April 21, 2015

• Box Score | Quotes | Notes | Photo Gallery

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Wilpon Complex)
Score: #4 Michigan 4, Michigan State 3
Records: U-M (42-6, 15-2 Big Ten), MSU (16-30, 1-16 Big Ten)
Next U-M Event: Wednesday, April 22 -- vs. Central Michigan (Wilpon Complex), 6 p.m.

• Kornacki Postgame Feature: Wagner's Pitching, Two Long Homers Lift Softball

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Battling through cold temperatures and several rain delays, the No. 4-ranked University of Michigan softball team rallied from an early three-run deficit to defeat in-state rival Michigan State, 4-3, on Tuesday evening (April 21) at the Wilpon Complex, home of Alumni Field. The victory pushed U-M's win streak to 11 straight games.

Junior rightfielder Kelsey Susalla and senior catcher Lauren Sweet knocked out back-to-back solo home runs to propel the Wolverines into the lead in the bottom of the fifth. Junior second baseman Sierra Romero tallied U-M's only other hits, going 2-for-4 with a run scored and a run batted in. Michigan took eight walks and two hit-by-pitches and stranded nine runners on base, including bases loaded in the third and sixth innings.

Senior LHP Haylie Wagner (18-2) was superb in relief, tossing five shutout innings with four strikeouts and five hits allowed. She got better as the game wore on, allowing just one base runner in the final three frames.

After trailing since the first inning, Michigan stole the lead in the home half of the fifth on Susalla and Sweet's solo home runs. Susalla evened the score with a bomb to the top row of the rightfield grandstand -- her 11th long ball of the season. Sweet one-upped her in the next at-bat, however, connecting with the 2-1 pitch and soaring a tape-measure blast over the rightfield grandstand to give her team its first lead of the game. It is Sweet's ninth homer of the year.

Rain again disrupted play in the sixth with the Wolverines coming to the plate. Michigan loaded the bases with no outs but stranded all of them on a fielder's choice, strikeout and lineout to second base.

The Wolverines ended the game with three great fielding plays in the seventh -- a diving Romero grab on a grounder headed toward the gap, a one-hopper to sophomore shortstop Abby Ramirez and a foulout to sophomore third baseman Lindsay Montemarano near the MSU dugout.

Michigan State took the early lead -- and chased sophomore RHP Megan Betsa from the circle -- with home runs of its own in the first and second frames. After Betsa hit the leadoff batter, leftfielder Kassidy Kujawa knocked a two-run shot deep to centerfield. The Wolverine ace struck out four in a row -- two apiece in the first and second -- before Spartan centerfielder Lea Foerster went long herself, driving a solo bomb into the grandstand beyond rightfield.

The Wolverines chipped away with a pair of runs in the third to pull within one on the scoreboard. Sierra Lawrence drew a one-out full-count walk and stole second before coming home when Romero drove a hard, bouncing grounder through the left side. With two runners on, MSU pitcher Bridgette Rainey threw eight consecutive balls to walk in a run. Montemarano earned the RBI on the bases-loaded walk.

The second and lengthiest rain delay came with the Wolverines' still trailing in the top of the fourth. Upon resuming, Wagner got out of a two-out jam with runners on second and third with an inning-ending strikeout before U-M completed its rally an inning later.

Betsa struck out five batters and allowed three hits and no walks through two innings.

The Wolverines will return to competition tomorrow (Wednesday, April 22), hosting in-state foe Central Michigan at 6 p.m. at Alumni Field inside the Wilpon Complex. [ Tickets ]

Communications Contact: Leah Howard (734) 763-4423