Softball To Host Minnesota In Big Ten Opener

Minnesota Series Game Notes
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March 30, 2006

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State enters Big Ten Conference play this weekend when Minnesota visits Old College Field for a two-game series. Friday's contest is scheduled for a 4 p.m. start time, and will follow with a 1 p.m. match-up on Saturday. Most recently the Spartans swept IPFW in a doubleheader on March 28, improving its non-conference record to 20-10. The Gophers hold the all-time series advantage, 50-28, and have taken eight wins in the last nine meetings between the schools.

WRAP-UP, ROUND-UP! Michigan State swept IPFW on Wednesday, 13-2 and 7-0, in a non-conference doubleheader at the Mastodon Softball Complex in Fort Wayne, Ind. Pitchers Megan Hair and Lesley Noel combined for 14 strikeouts, allowing just seven hits for the day. Kara Weigle tallied four hits and four RBI for the Spartan offense, while Meghan Darhower added three hits and three runs at the plate.

DOUBLEHEADER SUCCESS The Spartans have played two doubleheader dates in 2006: March 7 vs. Toledo in Plant City, Fla., and March 29 vs. IPFW. In the four games, Michigan State holds a 4-0 record, and has scored a combined 33 runs against just eight by its opponents.

THE UM SERIES Minnesota leads the all-time series 50-28 after sweeping MSU, 2-0, during the 2005 regular season. In the 10 most recent match-ups, the Gophers hold a 6-4 advantage. The last time MSU hosted Minnesota in East Lansing was during the Big Ten Tournament Championship year of 2004, where State fell 2-1 in the opening game of the series, but rebounded with a 5-2 win in game two.

NUMBERS WATCH Head coach Jacquie Joseph is in her 13th season at the helm of the Michigan State softball program. Four NCAA tournament appearances, one Big Ten title and numerous individual honorees later - Joseph is just two wins shy of 400 career victories at State. She will have the opportunity to reach the mark this weekend in two games vs. Minnesota (3/31, 4/1).

OFFENSIVE RALLY! Against IPFW, State recorded 11 hits in both games of the doubleheader. MSU had not recorded back-to-back games with 10 hits since the ECU Holiday Inn Express Pirate Classic when it recorded 13 hits vs. Seton Hall and 10 hits vs. Bucknell. The Spartans have recorded eight games with double-digit hit totals in 2006.

CAREER DAY Traci Nicosia tied the fourth-highest single-game RBI mark in MSU history with a career-high four RBI in the 13-2 win vs. IPFW on Wednesday. The feat had been reached 21 previous times in school history. The most recent was by Meghan Darhower vs. Wright State on March 25.

STREAKING SPARTANS Gina Mondo has a team-best eight-game hit streak after Wednesday's doubleheader vs. IPFW. Meghan Darhower, Dayna Feenstra, Traci Nicosia and Kara Weigle have each posted eight-game hit streaks in 2006.

AROUND THE BIG TEN State sits in the third spot among league competitors with a 20-10 overall record as the 2006 conference season begins. The Green and White ranks second in the Big Ten in team batting with a .294 average, while Nikki Nicosia ranks as MSU's top individual at the plate, hitting .354 through 30 games. After a strong past two weeks of play, Dayna Feenstra ranks among the league's best with 11 doubles and a team-high 27 RBI. Pitchers Megan Hair and Lesley Noel are tied for first place in the league with three saves each, while Noel's 1.02 ERA ranks fifth in current standings (Big Ten statistics based on games played through March 29).

A LOOK AT MINNESOTA:

• With an 11-14 record heading into the conference season, Minnesota is led by freshman pitcher Briana Hassett, and junior Megan Higginbotham, a first-team All-Big Ten catcher in 2005.

• Minnesota is led by Co-head coaches Lisa Bernstein and Julie Standering. Bernstein needs just one win to reach 500 for her career.

• The Gophers have faced just one ranked team in 2006. Against then-no. 17 Auburn at the Tiger Invitational, Minnesota posted just two hits in a 7-0 loss.

• Minnesota defeated Michigan State on April 17, 2005 to snap a seven-game Big Ten losing streak last year. The Gophers have won eight of the last nine meetings between the two schools.

• UM will play its 26th game away from its home field when it travels to face the Spartans on Friday.

LAST TIME VS. MINNESOTA The Spartans traveled to Jane Sage Cowles Stadium in Minneapolis in 2005, where Minnesota's Lyn Peyer tossed her fifth shutout of the year as the Golden Gophers defeated Michigan State, 8-0, in six innings in the first game of a doubleheader. The UM win was only its second in the conference.

Michigan State lost the second game, 9-2, to the Gophers. The loss dropped the defending Big Ten Tournament Champions back to .500 in the Big Ten. The Spartans had plenty of chances in the game with nine total hits but left 10 runners on base.

IPFW SERIES RECAP: Michigan State improved its record to 20-10 after sweeping IPFW in a non-conference doubleheader Wednesday afternoon in Fort Wayne, Ind. Megan Hair took the mound for the Spartans in game one, allowing just five hits and two earned runs in the 13-2 victory. Lesley Noel posted her fifth win of the year, allowing two hits and striking out nine, in a 7-0 game two shutout. Offensively, Traci Nicosia and Kara Weigle each tallied four hits on the day, while Meghan Darhower posted three hits, three runs and one RBI.

In game one, Hair (5-2) allowed five hits and two runs in her fourth win of the year, while Darhower drew a season-high three walks. Traci Nicosia recorded two hits and a career-best four RBI, while Weigle added two hits, two RBI and one run for the Spartan offense.

The star of game two was Spartan pitcher Lesley Noel (5-3). She pitched her fourth complete game of the season, allowing two hits in MSU's sixth shutout of the year. At the plate, Darhower and Weigle each added two hits and one run, while Mercado scored a game-high two runs.

IPFW SERIES NOTES:

* Traci Nicosia posted a career-best four RBI in game one vs. IPFW. The feat had been reached 21 previous times in Spartan history, and ranks as the fourth-highest single-game total.

* Meghan Darhower drew three walks in game one. The mark set a new career-high, and ties the second-highest total in the single-game record books. She had previously walked one time on 12 occasions this season.

* Dayna Feenstra has 11 doubles in 2006, just one shy of tying for eighth place on the single-season charts.

* Kara Weigle recorded her fifth multi-hit and fourth multi-RBI games of the season vs. the Mastodons.

* Gina Mondo has a team-best eight-game hitting streak after Wednesday's doubleheader vs. IPFW. Meghan Darhower, Dayna Feenstra, Traci Nicosia and Kara Weigle have each posted eight-game hit streaks in 2006.

COMMON OPPONENT The Spartans and Gophers have had just two common opponents in 2006. MSU swept Toledo in a March 7 doubleheader, while UM holds a 1-1 mark vs. the Rockets this season. Eastern Michigan managed a 2-0 win vs. MSU in the home opener on March 28, while the Gophers hold a 2-0 record vs. the Eagles this year.

SLIM MARGINS State has played in 13 games decided by fewer than two runs in 2006. The Spartans are 3-4 in one-run games, and hold a 3-3 mark in games decided by two runs.

DID YOU KNOW? Head coach Jacquie Joseph likes to keep a consistent defense line-up. Five Spartans have started all 30 games at the same position: Dayna Feenstra (first base), Gina Mondo (second base), Meghan Darhower (third base), Traci Nicosia (shortstop) and Nikki Nicosia (center field).

COMING ON STRONG Lesley Noel hasn't allowed an earned run since the March 17th loss to Chattanooga. The streak spans 22.3 innings pitched, where her record stands at 3-0 with two shutouts and two complete games.

ACE ON THE MOUND Rachel Turney leads the Spartan pitching staff with 16 appearances, including 15 starts and 11 complete games. Turney leads a strong Green and White arsenal that ranks third (1.68 ERA) in the conference standings. Individually, Lesley Noel ranks fifth with a 1.02 ERA, while the duo of Megan Hair and Noel leads the Big Ten with three saves each.

ALMOST BROKEN Spartan third baseman Meghan Darhower went 4-5 at the plate, recording three doubles in the Spartan victory vs. Wright State on March 25. The performance tied the MSU single-game record for doubles in a game that was previously set during the 1999 season when Shealee Dunavan tallied three doubles vs. Mississippi State.

DOUBLED UP Spartan first baseman Dayna Feenstra is having a phenomenal year, both at the plate and in the field. Her 11 doubles and 27 RBI are both team-bests, while she has just one error in 30 starts at first base.

WHEN THE OPPOSITION IS RANKED... Thus far in 2006, MSU is 1-1 when facing a ranked opponent. MSU fell, 5-4, in extra innings vs. then No. 12 Georgia, and most recently defeated No. 25 North Carolina, 5-3, at the FAU Parents' Weekend Tournament on March 18. In the current rankings, State is not scheduled to face another ranked opponent until May 6-7 vs. Michigan (No. 13/12).

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE NUMBERS State is dominant at the plate, and on the mound, hitting .294 compared to a .198 average by its 2006 opponents. The Spartans are better in nearly every offensive statistical category - hits (238-147), runs (143-68), RBI (128-62), doubles (38-26), home runs (16-5) and total bases (330-196). MSU has hit three triples this season, including two by Nicole Mercado and one by Nikki Nicosia.

HOME OPENER WOES Michigan State fell 2-0 in the home opener vs. Eastern Michigan on March 28. The Spartans had not lost a season opener at Old College Field since the 2002 season when Ohio State took an extra-inning victory (2-1).

INNING BREAKDOWN The Spartans have scored 36 runs in the sixth inning as the conference season begins. After the sixth, State has scored the majority of its runs in the fourth (29) and the second and fifth innings (18).

OUT OF THE PARK Michigan State has posted 16 home runs through the first 30 games of the season. In 2005, the Spartans managed just 11 home runs in 54 games played. Dayna Feenstra ranks tied for fourth in the Big Ten with a team-high six home runs.

THE 15-WIN MARK Michigan State reached the 15-win mark in just 23 games in 2006. The feat is the fastest the Spartans have reached 15 wins since the 2003 season when it was done in just the 18th game of the year. State's 4-0 start at the Holiday Inn Express Pirate Classic marked 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.

H - B - P (HIT BY PITCH) Only a select few Spartans have been hit by a pitch thus far in 2006. Traci Nicosia, Meghan Darhower, Dayna Feenstra and Caitlin Mahoney have all been hit by one pitch, but freshman catcher Kara Weigle has been hit five times in 2006! In 2005, Feenstra led the squad with seven free trips to the bases after being hit by a pitch.

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 finishing the season with an impressive 47-22 mark. The Spartans need just six wins to reach the 21-win plateau again in 2006.

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. For her play, Turney was named the Holiday Inn Express Pirate Classic Tournament MVP, and also Big Ten pitcher of the week. Turney garnered her second MVP honor when she was selected, along with teammate Dayna Feenstra, as the FAU Parents' Weekend tournament co-MVP on March 19.