2006 Spartan Softball Season Recap

May 18, 2006

EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State softball team finished the 2006 season with a 34-25 overall record, a 9-11 mark against Big Ten opponents and advanced to its fourth consecutive Big Ten Tournament. The Spartans recorded their 12th consecutive season with at least 21 victories against a schedule featuring 13 NCAA Tournament-qualifying teams in 2006. State captured two tournament titles and defeated two ranked teams, while setting numerous individual season and career records.

The Spartans enjoyed their best start since 1997, winning their first four games en route to their first tournament title of the year at the Holiday Inn Express Pirate Classic on Feb. 19. State defeated Army, Seton Hall, Bucknell and East Carolina behind the pitching of Rachel Turney, Megan Hair and Lesley Noel. The trio allowed just one earned run for the tournament and held opponents to a .103 batting average.

The next weekend MSU traveled to the NFCA Leadoff Classic, an annual event featuring 24 of the nation's elite softball programs. The Spartans played two contests of the six-game schedule due to inclement weather, falling in consecutive contests to No. 12 Georgia and Southern Illinois, both eventual NCAA Tournament qualifiers. State embarked on its spring break stretch playing 12 games in seven days while competing at the Plant City and USF-Adidas Spring Break Invitational tournaments. MSU claimed second place in Plant City, defeating Temple, Harvard and Buffalo at the two-day event. State began the USF-Adidas Invite with a win over defending ACC champion Georgia Tech and followed that with a record-setting offensive performance against Wright State. Dayna Feenstra exploded for a single-game record seven RBI against the Raiders, while Nikki Nicosia tied the single-game hit record going 5-for-5 in the contest. The Spartans posted a season-high seven game winning streak during the stretch.

Michigan State returned to Florida the following weekend to compete at the Florida Atlantic University Parents Weekend Tournament and defeated No. 25 North Carolina and Chattanooga to earn its second tournament title of the year. On March 25-26, the Spartans participated in the IU Softball Classic hosted by conference foe Indiana. MSU defeated Wright State twice and split a two-game series against Western Kentucky at the event.

After 27 games on the road to start the 2006 campaign, Michigan State hosted in-state rival Eastern Michigan in its home opener at Old College Field on March 28. The Spartan offense was shut out for just the second time in a 2-0 setback to the Eagles. State swept IPFW on the road before returning home to begin the Big Ten season; the Spartans hosted Minnesota in the conference opener on March 31 and swept the Gophers.

Head Coach Jacquie Joseph

The Spartans split a mid-week series with Oakland before the first full weekend of league play against Purdue and Indiana. MSU allowed just two runs and tallied three consecutive shutout victories to sweep the Boilermakers and Hoosiers for a league-best 6-0 record. State headed to Madison, Wis., April 14-15, to face the Badgers for the first of four consecutive conference series on the road. Wisconsin handed MSU its first conference loss of the season in game one of the series, but State battled back with a victory in game two. The Green and White continued weekend travels with a doubleheader against Iowa on Easter Sunday. Despite rainy conditions, the Spartans earned another series split and returned to East Lansing with an 8-2 Big Ten mark.

Although MSU enjoyed its best conference start since the 1997 season, State fell to 8-6 in the Big Ten race suffering consecutive series sweeps to Penn State and Ohio State in April. The offensive performance of the Green and White lineup suffered during the second half of the league season. The Spartans posted 28 hits and a .193 average at the plate in the final six games of the year compared to 93 hits and a .263 batting average through the first 14 games of the Big Ten campaign.

State went just 4-10 in its final 14 games of the regular season including a 1-5 mark against league opponents. The Spartans suffered series sweeps to No. 13 Northwestern and No. 12 Michigan and split a two-game set against Illinois to finish the Big Ten campaign. Despite the disappointing streak to end the season, MSU made its fourth consecutive Big Ten Tournament appearance, earning the No. 7 seed.

For the third season in a row, Michigan State opened postseason play against Michigan. Just as they did in the previous series, the Wolverines dominated in the circle and at the plate, winning 13-0.

The Spartans ranked seventh in the final Big Ten standings in both team batting (.243) and pitching (3.39 ERA). Individually, Nicole Mercado led the conference with three triples, Caitlin Mahoney tied for fifth with four home runs in league play and ranked seventh with a .364 batting average.

Dayna Feenstra started all 59 games at first base for the Spartan infield.

A number of Spartans recorded career seasons in 2006. Dayna Feenstra paced the Green and White offense with 15 doubles, nine home runs, 41 RBI and 91 total bases. The junior started all 59 games at first base and committed just four errors against 417 putouts for a .996 fielding percentage. Feenstra ranks third in the Spartan record book with 17 home runs, fifth with 97 RBI, sixth with 54 extra-base hits and 10th all-time with a .295 batting average. Feenstra ended the year with a team-best 14 multi-hit and 11 multi-RBI games.

Caitlin Mahoney earned First Team All-Big Ten honors for her dominating presence at the plate throughout the conference season. The sophomore split time at the third base and designated player positions, making 55 appearances with 48 starts. Against league opponents, Mahoney posted a .364 average at the plate, and tallied 20 hits including five doubles, four home runs and 15 RBI. Each category was a team best in conference play.

Nicole Mercado and Nikki Nicosia split time as the lead-off batter in the Spartan lineup. Mercado led the offense with 54 hits, including a career-best five triples and 26 runs scored. The junior anchored the Spartan outfield, making 47 starts in right field, nine in center field and one in left. Nicosia ended the year with an overall team-best .299 batting average, adding 17 stolen bases, 47 hits and 15 RBI.

Traci Nicosia started the season in the infield as the everyday shortstop, but to due injury, made a move to left field for the second half of the year. Nicosia tallied 39 hits, including 11 doubles and one home run. Meghan Darhower was a mainstay in the Spartan lineup during her junior campaign, starting all 59 games. Splitting time at third base and shortstop throughout the year, Darhower tied a single-game record with three doubles against Wright State on March 25, and finished the year with career-bests in batting average (.262), hits (44), runs (24), doubles (8) and RBI (20).

The freshman class made an immediate impact in the circle, at the plate and in the field. Kara Weigle led the class with a .289 average, 44 hits, 17 runs and 14 RBI. Weigle split time at the designated player and catcher positions, starting all 20 games of the Big Ten season behind the plate. Gina Mondo made 58 starts at second base, including all 20 during the conference season. Mondo posted a team-best nine-game hitting streak and tallied 34 hits, 24 runs and 18 RBI.

Michigan State used three pitchers in its 2006 rotation. Junior hurler Rachel Turney led the staff with a 17-13 record, garnered two tournament MVP honors and was named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 21 for her shutout victory against East Carolina in the championship game at the Holiday Inn Express Pirate Classic. Turney led MSU from the circle with 177.1 innings pitched, 136 strikeouts and 18 complete games. Sophomore Lesley Noel began the conference season with 3-0 record and a league-best 0.00 ERA. Noel ranked as high as 16th (April 11) in the national standings with a 0.82 overall earned run average. Freshman Megan Hair set expectations high from the start, tossing a complete game no-hitter in her first collegiate start against Seton Hall on Feb. 18. In 27 appearances, Hair pitched 87.1 innings, tallied 55 strikeouts and held opponents to a .225 average at the plate.

Jessica LeFevre, Erin Harvey, Amy Szawara, and Dana Rosenblatt made significant impact on the Spartan lineup. The only senior on the 2006 squad, Szawara made 42 appearances posting eight hits and four runs. LeFevre's season was cut short due to injury, but in 33 appearances the sophomore tallied 15 hits, 13 runs and four RBI. Having just four previous hits to her credit, Rosenblatt enjoyed a breakout season with 23 hits, six home runs and 18 RBI. Harvey made 11 starts and 16 appearances in the Spartan outfield. The junior posted seven hits including her first career double and one RBI.