Spartans Ready for USF/Under Armour Invitational

March 6, 2008

THIS WEEK FOR MSU SOFTBALL
After sweeping Saint Joseph's in Wednesday's doubleheader, the Spartans stay in Clearwater for the remainder of the week as they play in the USF-Under Armour Invitational hosted by South Florida at the Eddie C. Moore Sports Complex on March 6-9. MSU tangles with East Tennessee State, Hofstra, Illinois-Chicago, No. 13 Baylor and Coastal Carolina in scheduled games, while the Spartans could face a number of other programs in the playoffs.

The Spartans are 2-4 so far over their spring break tour through Georgia and Florida. MSU struggled at the Georgia Classic, going 0-4 in the two-day event in Athens, Ga., before rebounding to sweep the doubleheader against the Hawks in Clearwater, Fla.

JOSEPH TACKLES MILESTONE, INCHES CLOSER TO ANOTHER
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. The wins also extend Joseph's is the winningest softball coach in MSU history.

Joseph is now 13 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 year, 451-381-1).

BIG TEN HONORS MONDO
Gina Mondo was named Big Ten Player of the Week on March 3 for her outstanding play in four games at the Georgia Classic on March 1-2, as announced Monday by the conference office.

"I'm really happy for Gina," said head coach Jacquie Joseph. "It's really nice to see her coming into her own. She's a great player, and I hope she continues to have success."

Over the weekend, Mondo led the Spartans with a .615 batting average and racked up eight hits in the tournament's four games. The junior hit her third and fourth doubles of the season, both against Butler. One double drove in the Spartans' only run against the Bulldogs, a rocket to left center that sent Abby Lincoln across the plate.

In the field, Mondo accounted for eight putouts as the starting second baseman, with no errors.

Overall, Mondo is second among teammates hitting .395, and defensively has contributed 24 putouts with only three errors in MSU's 13 games.

The last Spartan to earn the weekly award was Caitlin Mahoney on April 23, 2007.

HALTING A SLIDE
The Spartans halted a nine-game losting streak with March 5's two wins (7-5, 4-3) over Saint Joseph's, improving their record to 6-9.

FLAWLESS IN FLORIDA
Michigan State is perfect this year in the Sunshine State, 6-0, having swept the four-game Seminole Classic in Tallahasse, Fla., and most recently the March 5 doubleheader against Saint Joseph's in Clearwater, Fla. MSU has 9 games left in Florida this season.

FEBRUARY HIGHS AND LOWS
The Spartans won their first four games of the season, Feb. 15-17, before dropping the next five to finish the month 4-5.

NOEL's Ks
Senior pitcher Lesley Noel tallied her 200th career strikeout against Florida State on Feb. 17, 2008. Noel began the year with 190 strikeouts and has since added 51 for a career total of 241, good for ninth in MSU's pitching record books.

Against Saint Joseph's in March 5's doubleheader, Noel tied her season high of eight strikeouts in game two, 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 #23 Cal State Fullerton and #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.

CHASING NUMBERS
Head coach Jacquie Joseph needs just 13 victories to total 600 career wins. Joseph recently recorded her 450th and 451st MSU victories on March 5 with the doubleheader wins against Saint Joseph's (7-5, 4-3).

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
The Spartans will return to Florida for their final tournament in the Sunshine State, with four games at Stetson's tournament. MSU will face Elon on March 15 and 16, while also seeing Stetson on the 15th and Bowling Green on the 16th.