Michigan State University Athletics
Spartan Softball Continues Southern Swing
2/23/2006 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 23, 2006
EAST LANSING, Mich. -
NFCA Leadoff Classic Tournament Notes
Download Free Acrobat Reader
The Michigan State softball team will travel to Columbus, Ga. this weekend to take part in the annual NFCA Leadoff Classic Feb. 24-26. The Spartans opened the season at the Holiday Inn Express Pirate Classic last weekend hosted by East Carolina, where the Green and White kicked off the season with a stellar 4-0 start. At the Leadoff Classic, MSU opens play vs. No. 12/13 Georgia, Friday at noon, and continues action vs. Southern Illinois at 2:30 p.m.
WHAT A WAY TO START! The Spartans opened the 2006 campaign competing at the Holiday Inn Express Pirate Classic hosted by East Carolina University last weekend where behind four complete games by the Spartan pitching staff, the Green and White tallied a 4-0 record and the tournament championship. The trio of Rachel Turney, Megan Hair and Lesley Noel allowed just one earned run for the tournament, holding opponents to a .103 batting average.
MVP IN STYLE Spartan pitching ace Rachel Turney went 2-0 at the Pirate classic with wins vs. Army and host ECU in the championship game of the weekend. She allowed just four hits, walking just one batter with no earned runs from the mound. For her play, Turney was named the Holiday Inn Express Pirate Classic Tournament MVP. Congrats!
SEASON OPENING MARKS All-time, MSU is 25-10 in season openers, including a 9-4 mark under the direction of 13-year head coach Jacquie Joseph after the victory vs. Army on Feb. 17.
IN THE POLLS THIS WEEK MSU is not ranked in either the ESPN.com/USA Softball or USA Today/NFCA Top 25 Polls for this week; however Leadoff Classic opponent Georgia ranks 12/13 while SIU received votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Poll. MSU has not been ranked in the national standings since the 2004 Top 25 Preseason Poll.
FIRE AT THE PLATE State's Nikki Nicosia began the season on a tear at the plate. Nicosia went 9-12 for the weekend, including a 2-2 effort vs. Army and a 3-3 tally vs. Seton Hall on Friday. Saturday vs. the Bucknell Bison, Nicosia went 2-4, while in the championship game vs. the Pirates, her 2-3 effort proved best in the Spartan lineup.
AGAINST THE FIELD Against scheduled opponents at the NFCA Leadoff Classic this weekend, MSU faced only Southern Illinois in 2005, where SIU took the 4-3 victory at the UNLV Rebel Tournament. The Spartans have faced Seton Hall already in 2006, where freshman pitcher Megan Hair recorded a no hitter, 8-1 victory in her first collegiate start. The all-time series with Georgia is tied at 1-1.
EAST LANSING? SEE YOU IN MARCH State will spend a solid month on the road before returning home to Old College Field to host Eastern Michigan on March 28. After the Leadoff Classic, MSU travels to the Plant City Florida Tournament, to the USF-Adidas Spring Break Invitational in Clearwater, Fla. and finishes its southern swing at the Florida Atlantic Tournament in Boca Raton March 17-19.
S-S-S-S-S-WING! Although the Spartans lost two starters from the 2005 squad, look for MSU's starting rotation to be very strong this season. The 2006 MSU lineup boasts seven juniors and six sophomores, all returning from a season ago with more experience and collegiate action behind them. The combined batting averages for the returning starters from `05 (Peterson, Szawara, Darhower, Feenstra, Mercado, Mahoney, N. Nicosia, and T. Nicosia) is a solid .230 - while the sophomore starting class alone (Mahoney, N. Nicosia and T. Nicosia) averaged .260 during their freshman campaign.
CAREER BEST PERFORMANCES Rachel Turney, Nikki Nicosia and Catilin Mahoney all set new career marks competing at the Pirate Classic last weekend. Mahoney's game tying homerun vs. Bucknell was the first of her career, while Turney's 11 strikeouts vs. ECU and Nicosia's three hits and three runs vs. Seton Hall were new career-bests.
MONEY AT THE PLATE In its first action of the 2006 campaign, the Spartans hit a solid .311 at the plate competing at the Holiday Inn Express Pirate Classic last weekend in Greenville, N.C. State tallied 32 hits, 15 runs and 39 total bases enroute to its best start at 4-0 since the 1997 season when MSU began the year 7-0.
the NUMBERS GAME When the Spartans scored first in games play in 2005, they posted a 17-3 mark in the win/loss column, while in night games alone, State posted a 5-2 record. After posting a 2-10 record against ranked opponents in 2005, MSU will look to improve the mark as it could possibly face 20 different opponents ranked or receiving votes in either the preseason USA Today/NFCA Top 25 or ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 polls.
TWIN-BILL - the NICOSIA SISTERS Twins sisters Nikki and Traci Nicosia posted great numbers during the opening week of play in 2006. Nikki led the Spartan offense with a .750 average at the plate, going a perfect 3-3 in stolen base attempts. Traci hit .214, with three hits including one double in the 8-1 victory vs. Seton Hall. Both made marks on the all-time single-season records charts a season ago - Traci ranks tied for fourth all-time with five triples, while Nikki's 18 stolen bases in 2005 ranks her tied for seventh.
(AAA) ABOVE-AVERAGE AVERAGES Sophomore's Caitlin Mahoney, Nikki Nicosia and Traci Nicosia recorded three of the top four batting average performances for the Spartans a year ago. Mahoney's .288 was second to then-senior Victoria Morache's record-setting .316, while Traci edged Nikki .253 to .240. In Big Ten play, the trio hit a combined .239 - Nikki at .308, Mahoney at .256 and Traci with a .152 mark. So far in 2006, the story remains the same... NNicosia leads the pack with a .750 average, Mahoney holds a .333 mark while TNicosia adds a .214 tally heading into the Leadoff Classic.
H - B - P (HIT BY PITCH) Only one Spartan got hit by a pitch during opening weekend play - freshman catcher Kara Weigle took not only ONE, but TWO hits for the team... welcome to the big leagues!
GOING, GOING, GONE! Senior Elizabeth Peterson can gain another spot on the all-time home run charts with just one home run during the 2006 campaign. Her three homers in 2005 tied for a team high with junior Dayna Feenstra, while her career mark of 14 ranks her fourth all-time.
FIELD 101 South Commons Stadium and Complex in Columbus, Ga. will be one of the top facilities MSU will compete at throughout the 2006 season. Field dimensions - down the line 190 feet, centerfield 220 feet.
BEST IN A WHILE State's 4-0 start at the Holiday Inn Express Pirate Classic is the best start by a Spartan squad since the 1997 season when Jacquie Joseph led MSU to a 7-0 mark to begin the year.
YOUNG BUT EXPERIENCED A year ago the Spartans ranked as the ninth-youngest team among 269 Division I softball programs in the nation. Although this year's team yields only two seniors, MSU's youth is outweighed by its experience. With seven juniors and six sophomores who saw significant time in 2005, look for State to utilize the experience and growth from last season.
GREEN AND WHITE WATCH LIST State made 19 marks on the career and single-season record charts in 2005. A trio of freshmen led the way for MSU a year ago at the plate - Caitlin Mahoney with a .288 mark, the Nicosia twins - Nikki and Traci - added .240 and .253 averages respectively for the Spartan offense. All three look to be starters in the 2006 season-opening lineup.
ONE AT A TIME State has posted 11 consecutive seasons with at least 21 victories - MSU's best season in the win/loss column came in 1997 under the tutelage of Jacquie Joseph, when State competed in the NCAA Regionals and finishing the season with an impressive 47-22 mark.
