Central Michigan University Athletics
Softball Holds Off Michigan State
4/18/2001 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 18, 2001
EAST LANSING--Central Michigan held off a late rally by Michigan State to post a 6-5 victory over the Spartans on Wednesday afternoon.
The Spartans came back from a 6-1 deficit to score four unanswered runs to slice the Chippewas' lead to 6-5.
MSU scored a run in the fifth inning to make it 6-2 and scored three in the sixth to close the gap to 6-5. Shealee Dunavan had the big blow in the sixth when she crushed a bases loaded double down the leftfield line that scored three.
Reliever Jenni Rasmussen held the Spartans hitless in the last 1 1/3 to pick up her second save of the season.
The Chippewas got on the scoreboard first with a run in the first inning. Becky Manson singled and eventually scored on a wild pitch to give CMU a 1-0 advantage.
Central upped the lead to 2-0 in the second when Karly McCormack had a ground out RBI that scored Kim Burke who had reached base on a walk.
The Spartans scored an unearned run in the third to make it 2-1.
CMU added a pair of runs in the fourth inning on a two-out single by Lindsay Horvath that scored Hope Robertshaw and Burke.
Jen Skuta gave the Chippewas a five-run lead with a double to right that scored a pair in the fifth inning. Her team-best 12 double of the year put CMU up by a 6-1 margin.
Starter Amber Puchalski picked up the win for the Chippewas. She gave up three hits and one unearned run in improving her record to 15-7.
The Spartans outhit the Chippewas by a 9-5 count.
CMU (23-17) is back in action on Friday in a key Mid-American Conference game against Ball State. First pitch at the CMU Softball Complex is set for 4 p.m.
