Michigan State University Athletics
Jacquie Joseph Named Big Ten Softball Coach Of The Year
5/8/2003 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 8, 2003
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State softball head coach Jacquie Joseph has been named Big Ten Coach of the Year in a vote of the league's coaches, the Big Ten announced tonight. Joseph becomes just the second MSU coach to win the award, joining Gloria Becksford in 1986.
In addition, a school-record six Spartans were named to the All-Big Ten teams that were released tonight. Senior outfielders Sandy Lewis (Empire, Mich.) and Tiffany Wallace (Wildomar, Calif.) were named to the All-Big Ten First Team, junior pitcher Jessica Beech (Okemos, Mich.), junior firstbaseman Natalie Furrow (San Diego, Calif.) and freshman designated player Elizabeth Peterson (Riverside, Calif.) were all second-team selections, and senior shortstop Margaret Schick (Grass Lake, Mich.) was named to the third team.
Joseph led Michigan State to a dramatic turnaround this season, as the Spartans improved on last year's 24-35 record by finishing the regular season 35-15. Michigan State finished in ninth place in the Big Ten in 2002 with a 4-15 mark, but this season the Spartans placed third in the conference with a 13-6 mark. MSU's .684 winning percentage in league games was the best in Spartan history. Joseph, who is the school's all-time winningest coach with a 312-261 record in 10 years at Michigan State, guided MSU to its first Big Ten Tournament appearance since 1999. The Spartans are also expected to contend for a bid in the NCAA Tournament for the third time under Joseph and the first time since 1999.
By placing six players on the All-Big Ten teams, MSU had more all-conference player than ever before, eclipsing the previous high of five in the 1999 season. MSU had two first-teamers for the first time since 2000 and the fifth time ever
Lewis led MSU in batting average (.367), runs (34) and on-base percentage (.469), while ranking second in hits (54), runs batted in (31) and steals (19) during the regular season. Her batting average ranked fourth in the Big Ten, and she ranked second in the conference in on-base percentage, tied for sixth in runs, seventh in walks (23) and tied for seventh in steals. Lewis, who was a third-team All-Big Ten selection last year, was twice named Big Ten Co-Player of the Week this season, and ranked fourth in the league with a .400 batting average in conference games. She was also named to the Academic All-District First Team earlier today.
Wallace, who earned second-team all-conference honors last year, entered the postseason ranked seventh in MSU history with 177 career hits. Wallace ranked ninth in the league with a .361 average in conference games, and played errorless defense all season in right field while starting all 50 games. Wallace, who hit .298 during the season with eight doubles, three home runs and 25 RBIs, had a team-best 14-game hitting streak from March 30-April 20. Wallace ranks sixth in MSU history with 79 RBIs and 31 doubles, and is seventh with 41 extra base hits.
Beech rewrote the MSU record books this season. She established single-season records for strikeouts (195) and shutouts (12), and set a single-game record with 15 strikeouts vs. Virginia Feb. 28. Beech led the Big Ten and ranked 16th nationally in earned run average (0.99), and her 24-7 record ranked her 13th in the nation in pitching victories. Beech, who threw a no-hitter in the season opener vs. East Carolina Feb. 14 and had two one-hitters, has twice been named Big Ten Pitcher of the Week this season. She completed all 24 games in which she started, and her 10 victories in league games led the Big Ten. Beech was named to the Academic All-District Second Team earlier today.
Furrow, who was also named to the second team last season, led MSU during the regular season with 56 hits, 32 RBIs, 14 doubles and 14 sacrifices, and ranked second with a .359 batting average. Furrow tied for third in the Big Ten in doubles and was seventh in batting average. Her 14 doubles are third best in a single-season in MSU history, and she ranks seventh in school history in career doubles (27) and ninth in career RbIs (74). Furrow led the team with 19 multi-hit games and nine multi-RBI games this season, and had an 11-game hitting streak from April 16-27.
Peterson earned second-team honors despite missing nearly half the season with a knee injury. She was having a sensational rookie campaign prior to the injury, leading MSU with six home runs while hitting .308 with seven doubles and 23 RBIs in just 32 games and 78 at bats. Peterson slugged .679 and had a .421 on-base percentage. In eight Big Ten games, she hit .316 with four home runs, 10 RBI and an amazing .947 slugging percentage. She was named Co-Big Ten Player of the Week March 31 after hitting three home runs including a grand slam during the week.
Schick set MSU's career stolen bases record earlier this season and has 81 during her career. Schick ranked second in the Big Ten and 20th nationally in stolen bases this year, with 27. Schick, who set the MSU single-season record of 28 stolen bases last year, hit .286 this season with 31 runs scored while starting all 50 games at shortstop. She hit .351 in 19 conference games with 10 runs scored. Schick was named to the Academic All-District First Team for a second-straight year earlier today.
The complete listing of the All-Big Ten teams and specialty awards follows.
2003 ALL-BIG TEN SOFTBALL TEAMS
FIRST TEAMJenna Hall, FR, Illinois 1BAndrea Hillsey, SO, Purdue 2BStacy May, FR, Iowa 3B*Kristin Johnson, SR, Iowa SSMonica Schock, JR, Michigan C*Marissa Young, SR, Michigan UTSandy Lewis, SR, Michigan State OFErin Mobley, SO, Northwestern OFTiffany Wallace, SR, Michigan State OFJessica Bashor, SR, Iowa DPLisa Birocci, SO, Iowa PPiper Marten, JR, Minnesota P
SECOND TEAMNatalie Furrow, JR, Michigan State 1BCarri Leto, JR, Northwestern 2BJordanne Nygren, SR, Minnesota 3BJessica Merchant, SO, Michigan SSJ.C. Kira, JR, Northwestern CLauren Schwendimann, SR, Northwestern UTBrett Nakabayashi, SR, Northwestern OFLindsey Bashor, SO, Iowa OFKatie Boney, SR, Iowa OFElizabeth Peterson, FR, Michigan State DPJessica Beech, JR, Michigan State PCourtnay Foster, FR, Northwestern P
THIRD TEAMHeidi Foster, SR, Purdue 1BJennifer Link, SR, Ohio State 2BCindy Muran, SR, Northwestern 3BMargaret Schick, SR, Michigan State SSBoo Gillette, SO, Wisconsin CJesse Jones, SR, Purdue UTMeghan Doe, JR, Michigan OFErin Barnharst, SR, Wisconsin OFErin Montgomery, JR, Illinois OFJackie Dabrowski, JR, Penn State DP^Lauren Hines, FR, Indiana DP^Anastasia Miller, SO, Wisconsin DP^Robyn Pettinger, SR, Northwestern DP^Nicole Motycka, SO, Michigan PAndrea Kirchberg, SR, Wisconsin P
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Marissa Young, MichiganPITCHER OF THE YEAR: Lisa Birocci, IowaFRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Stacy May, IowaCOACH OF THE YEAR: Jacquie Joseph, Michigan State
* - Unanimous Selection^ - Multiple Honorees Due to Ties
