SHOP
MSU
  No. 11 Michigan Shuts Out Spartan Softball, 1-0
 
Spartans finish season with 24-35 record.
 
 
Becky Gray closed out her career Sunday afternoon (May 5) against No. 11 Michigan. She leaves Michigan State with 407 career strikeouts, which is second all-time at MSU.
 
Becky Gray closed out her career Sunday afternoon (May 5) against No. 11 Michigan. She leaves Michigan State with 407 career strikeouts, which is second all-time at MSU.
 
 

May 5, 2002

Box Score

EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State softball team closed out its regular season with a 1-0 loss to No. 11 Michigan Sunday afternoon (May 5) at Old College Field on the MSU campus. MSU completes the 2002 campaign with a 24-35 mark (4-15 Big Ten), while Michigan improves to 43-19 (15-3). With the win, Michigan clinched the regular season Big Ten Championship and will host the conference tournament next weekend.

Michigan scored the game's lone run in the top of the fifth. With two outs and runners on second and third, UM's Marissa Young hit a single up the middle, scoring Meghan Doe. Stefanie Volpe, who was at second base, was then thrown out at home by center fielder Sandy Lewis (Jr., Empire/Glen Lake) to end the inning.

Nicole Motycka threw 5 1/3 innings on the mound for Michigan and didn't allow a hit until the fifth en route to her 19th win of the season.

Motycka was pulled in the sixth with runners on first and second for Young. Young came in and walked Brittney Green (So., Simi Valley, Calif./Simi Valley) her first batter to load the bases with only out. The next batter, Natalie Furrow (So., San Diego, Calif./Mills E. Godwin), hit a shallow fly to center field that was caught on a diving play by Meghan Doe to preserve the shutout. An MSU flyout closed the scoring rally and the inning.

Young retired the side in order in the seventh to pick up her third save of the season.

Becky Gray's (Sr., Burr Oak/Burr Oak) quest to become MSU's all-time leader in strikeouts fell short in the last game of the season. Heading into the final contest, Gray (13-18) needed four strikeouts to pass the career record of 408, but she only recorded two in six innings of work Sunday to end her career with 407.

Three seniors were honored at the beginning of the game for Michigan State: Gray, Keri DeJong (Portage, Mich./Kalamazoo Christian) and Amanda Melton (Saugus, Calif./Saugus). All three players were four-year letterwinners and graduated this weekend.

 

 
 

Game Summary
				R	H	E
MICH	000	010	0-	1	8	1
MSU	000	000	0-	0	2	0


WP: Motycka-MICH (19-2)
LP: Gray-MSU (13-18)