Michigan State University Athletics
Spartan Softball Inks Stephanie Christner
6/21/2002 12:00:00 AM | Softball
June 21, 2002
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State head softball coach Jacquie Joseph announced the signing of pitcher Stephanie Christner (Sigourney, Iowa) to join the Spartan softball squad for the 2002-03 school year. Christner comes to MSU after a stellar career at Sigourney High School and an impressive year at Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa, Iowa.
Christner, who will be a sophomore at MSU this fall, earned All-Region XI honors during her lone season at Indian Hills, posting a 10-3 record with a 0.61 earned run average. She allowed only six earned runs during the season while striking out 88 hitters in 69 1/3 innings pitched, and also added two saves.
Christner was a Class 1A first-team All-State selection her senior year at Sigourney, was second-team All-State as a junior and a fifth-team selection as a sophomore. Her senior year she owned a 32-4 record and a 0.30 ERA, striking out 390 batters while walking just 60 in 234 innings of work. She also hit .395 with 19 doubles, three home runs and had a .659 slugging percentage. For her efforts, the Ottumwa Courier named Christner the 2001 Softball Player of the Year.
Christner also earned first-team All-Southeast District and All-South Iowa Cedar Conference accolades her junior and senior seasons, and was named to the all-state tournament team after guiding her school to the state tournament as a senior. Her career high school record as a pitcher was 72-25.
Christner rounds out a recruiting class that already includes Elizabeth Peterson, a catcher from Riverside, Calif., and Kathleen Joosten, a pitcher from Anaheim, Calif.
