Softball Opens Big Ten Schedule At Home In Weekend Action

March 27, 2008

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State softball kicks off its Big Ten Conference action this weekend, March 28-30, hosting series against the Minnesota Golden Gophers and Wisconsin Badgers at Old College Field. The weekend games also mark the Spartans' first home contests of the season.

The Spartans will play Minnesota at 4 p.m. on Friday and 12 p.m. on Saturday, before hosting a doubleheader with Wisconsin beginning at 12 p.m. on Sunday.

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MIDWEEK HOME OPENER POSTPONED
The Spartans originally were scheduled to open at home on Tuesday, March 25, but winter weather postponed the doubleheader. A make-up date will be announced soon.

LAST TIME OUT
Michigan State softball finished action at the Best Western Miami Invitational in Oxford, Ohio, going 2-1 in the tournament. In day one, MSU easily defeated Miami, 9-1, in five innings, while on Sunday, the Spartans defeated Toledo 11-2 in five innings, after dropping their morning game against Youngstown State, 6-2. Kara Weigle highlighted MSU's offense with a grand slam in the top of the fifth against the Rockets, giving the Spartans their final runs to clinch their second run-rule win of the weekend.

Junior Gina Mondo and freshman Heidi Purtzer also tallied a home run each through the weekend. Purtzer's long ball, the first of her career, was in the top of the fourth against Youngstown State, while Mondo's three-run shot helped spark the Spartans' lead against Toledo; the homer is Mondo's fourth of the year.

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 five 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, 459-385-1), Joseph is 595-518-1 as a head coach.

MONDO's MARCH MADNESS
Through 18 games in March, junior second baseman Gina Mondo is batting .441 on 26 hits on 59 at bats, with five doubles and four 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 36 putouts and 35 assists.

Of her 18 RBI this season, 17 were tallied in March, and while on base, Mondo has successfully stolen nine bases on 10 attempts.

Batting a team-high .393 this season, Mondo also leads the Spartans in home runs (4), doubles (7), slugging percentage (.643) and on base percentage (.446). Additionally, Mondo is second in runs scored (20), hits (33), triples (1) and RBIs (18).

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.

N2
A member of the captain tio, senior outfielder Nikki Nicosia continues to lead the Spartans on the field as well as off the field. Nicosia currently paces her teammates in runs scored (24), hits (36), triples (5) and stolen bases (9).

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 78 for a career total of 268, 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).

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.

WEIGLE'S WEEKLY AWARD
Junior Kara Weigle was named softball's Big Ten Player of the Week on March 24, as announced by the Big Ten Office. Weigle exploded on offense with six hits, including her second career grand slam, in the three-game, two-day Best Western Miami Invitational on March 22-23. Additionally, Weigle stole three bases over the weekend, moving into 10th place on MSU's all-time stolen bases records list. She has stolen eight bases this year, for a career total of 32

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, including a 6-1 extra-inning upset over then-ranked No. 13 Baylor, 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 six Spartans have gone yard this season, cranking out 14 home runs in 27 games.

Junior Gina Mondo paces the Spartans with four home runs, while senior Caitlin Mahoney and redshirt freshman Bianca Mejia have three a piece. Additionally, the Nicosia twins and Kara Weigle each have one.

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

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.

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 revisit a familiar non-conference opponent on Wednesday, April 2, when Eastern Michigan comes to Old College Field for a 4 p.m. contest. MSU leads the series 24-14.