Softball Closes Out Tournament Schedule At Miami Invitational

March 21, 2008

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State softball travels to the Best Western Miami Invitational on March 22-23 in Oxford, Ohio, at the Miami Softball Diamond. The tournament, which is the last regular season tournament for the Spartans, features host Miami (OH), Penn State, Youngstown State and Toledo.

MSU will face conference rival Penn State at 12 p.m. and Miami at 2 p.m. on Saturday, then take on Youngstown State at 10 a.m. and Toledo at 12 p.m. on Sunday. Live stats for all games will be provided at www.msuspartans.com.

LAST TIME OUT
The Spartans went 2-2 last weekend at the Stetson Classic in DeLand, Fla. MSU defeated Stetson, 2-0, and Bowling Green, 6-2, but dropped both games against Elon, 5-4 (9 innings) and 7-6.

Gina Mondo continued to shine at the plate, as the junior blasted home runs over the left-field fence in back-to-back plate appearances against Bowling Green. The dingers were her second and third of the year and eighth and ninth of her career. Redshirt freshman Bianca Mejia also went yard, sending a long ball over the right-field wall in the first game against Elon; the home run is the second of her career.

JOSEPH INCHES CLOSER TO 600-WIN MARK
Head coach Jacquie Joseph earned her 450 and 451st wins at the helm of MSU's softball program Wednesday, March 5 when the Spartans defeated Saint Joseph's twice (7-5, 4-3) in a neutral doubleheader meeting in Clearwater, Fla.

Joseph is now seven wins shy of claiming her 600th career win. With combined records from her years at Bowling Green (five years, 136-133) and Michigan State (15 years, 457-384-1), Joseph is 593-517-1 as a head coach.

JOSEPH'S FLOCK
Head coach Jacquie Joseph has mentored a number of former players who have gone on to further their careers in softball as coaches, including Jessica Beech, Keri Lemasters, and Patti Raduenz.

This year, MSU faced Raduenz's Elon Phoenix twice at the Stetson Invitational, dropping both contests in tight battles. Elon came from behind in the first game to force nine innings before defeating MSU 5-4; the next day, the Phoenix outscored the Spartans 7-6 in an 18-hit slugfest.

Raduenz played for Joseph at Michigan State from 1992-1996, where she was a three-year starting shortstop. As a senior, was named to the Second-Team All-America after leading the Spartans in hitting (.422) and hits (65).

Beech currently works for Joseph as Michigan State's assistant coach, while Keri Lemasters is the head coach at Suffolk.

MONDO's MARCH MADNESS
Through 15 games in March, junior second baseman Gina Mondo is batting .442 with 23 hits on 25 at bats, including four doubles and three home runs. Mondo has twice been named the Big Ten Player of the Week (3/3, 3/10) with her consistent appearances at the plate, as well as flawless play in the field. Mondo is errorless on defense in March with 30 putouts and 30 assists. Of her 14 RBI this season, 13 were tallied in March, and while on base, Mondo has successfully stolen seven bases on eight attempts.

Overall, Mondo leads the Spartans in doubles (6), slugging percentage (.610) and on base percentage (.434), while she is tied with Caitlin Mahoney for most home runs this year (3). Additionally, Mondo is second in batting average (.393), runs scored (18), hits (30), triples (1), walks (6) and RBI (14).

N2
A member of the captain trio, senior outfielder Nikki Nicosia continues to lead the Spartans on and off the field. Nicosia currently paces her teammates batting .393, and leads MSU in runs scored (20), hits (33), triples (5) and stolen bases (8).

NOEL's Ks
Senior pitcher Lesley Noel tallied her 200th career strikeout against Florida State on Feb. 17. Noel began the year with 190 strikeouts and has since added 73 for a career total of 263, good for eighth in MSU's pitching record books.

Against Saint Joseph's on March 5, Noel tied her season high of eight strikeouts, just one shy of tying her career high (nine - vs. IPFW, 3/29.2006).

OH CAPTAIN, MY THREE CAPTAINS
This year's squad is led by a trio of captains, senior Nikki Nicosia, senior Lesley Noel and redshirt freshman Bianca Mejia.

BASS PITCHING
Freshman hurler Shae Bass opened her collegiate career with a perfect 3-0 mark at the Seminole Classic on Feb. 15-17, but has since dropped to 3-2 after losing to No. 23 Cal State Fullerton and No. 14 Hawai'i on Feb. 22 and 24, respectively, in the Palm Springs Classic. At the Seminole Classic, Bass tallied her first career win on Feb. 16 with a 14-2 victory over Bethune-Cookman, then factored as the pitcher of record against Jacksonville, a 6-5 tally, later that afternoon. On Feb. 17, Bass closed out Michigan State's 6-5 win over Florida State en route to her hat trick weekend.

CATCHING KARA
Catcher Kara Weigle kicked off her junior year with an outstanding performance at the Seminole Classic. Over the four-game stretch, Weigle threw out three opponents attempting to steal second for a solid defensive effort behind the plate.

On the other side of the plate, Weigle hit .400 (3H, 3RBI) and scored three times in the Spartans' opening weekend. And while covering the bases offensively, Weigle got the better of her opposing counterparts, arriving safely at second base on both stealing attempts.

HALTING A SLIDE
The Spartans halted a nine-game losting streak with two wins (7-5, 4-3) on March 5 over Saint Joseph's. Since, Michigan State is 8-3, improving its overall record to 12-12.

SUCCESS IN THE SUNSHINE STATE
Michigan State went 12-3 this year in games played in Florida. The Spartans swept the four-game Seminole Classic in Tallahasse, Fla., and also their March 5 doubleheader against Saint Joseph's in Clearwater, Fla.

At the USF/Under Armour Invitational, MSU won its first four games before falling in a 2-0 loss to Hofstra in the Pool C's championship game. And in their final Sunshine State tournament, the Spartans went 2-2 at the Stetson Classic.

THE GRASS IS ALWAYS GREENER
For Michigan State, the grass is certainly greener on the other side of the fence, as five Spartans have gone yard this season, cranking out a combined 10 home runs in 24 games.

Senior Caitlin Mahoney and junior Gina Mondo pace the Spartans will three HR apiece, while redshirt freshman Bianca Mejia has a pair. Additionally, twins Traci and Nikki Nicosia each have one.

Among the 10, Nikki Nicosia's home run and one of Gina Mondo's were grand slams.

IMMEDIATE IMPACT
Michigan State debuted six of its seven freshmen at the Seminole Classic for opening weekend. Kristen Aidem, Shae Bass, Jessica Bracamonte and Heidi Purtzer started their first collegiate games while in Tallahassee, Fla., on Feb. 15-17, while Lindsey Hansen made her first career start at the Palm Springs Classic at left field against Oregon on Feb. 23. Keely Gruner made her collegiate debut in game one of the Saint Joseph's series, pinch running for Bianca Mejia on March 4. (The first two innings of the doublehearder's first game were played on Tuesday until rain suspended the game. The doubleheader was completed on March 5.)

OPENING SUCCESS
The Spartans' 5-1 opening-game win over UAB was the sixth straight, dating back to the 2003 season, and marks head coach Jacquie Joseph's 11th season-opening win while at MSU. In program history, Michigan State is 27-10 in season openers, including Joseph's 11-4 mark.

SPARTAN SOFTBALL ON TV
The Big Ten Network will nationally televise 25 regular-season softball games and the Big Ten Tournament championship game. Michigan State is slotted to appear three times this spring, twice live and once on tape delay. The Spartans' May 3-4 series at Northwestern will be televised live, while MSU's BTN premier will be a tape-delayed airing of April 12's game at Iowa. The game will be played at 1 p.m. and will be televised at 8 p.m. that same Saturday evening.

NEXT TIME FOR THE SPARTANS
Michigan State will travel to its final regular season tournament on March 22-23 for the Best Western Miami Invitational in Oxford, Ohio. MSU will face host Miami (OH), Youngstown State, Toledo and Big Ten rival Penn State in the two-day, four-game event.