Softball Hosts Western Michigan In Home Opener

March 23, 2009

Michigan State opens its home season with a game against in-state rival Western Michigan on Tuesday, March 24. The game also marks the debut of the recently renovated Old College Field.

Series History
The Spartans and Broncos have previously met 84 times, with Western Michigan leading the all-time series, 45-38-1. The two teams met last season, with the Spartans posting a 5-4 win in East Lansing. Jessica Bracamonte drove in Gina Mondo with one out in the bottom of the seventh for the winning run. Kara Weigle went 3-for-3 as she sparked the Green and White offense, plating MSU's first three runs, before Lindsey Hansen belted her first career home run in the bottom of the fourth.

Spartans' Last Game
Michigan State traveled to Columbus, Ohio to open the Big Ten season, and were swept by the 17th-ranked Buckeyes, 8-0 and 9-1. On Sunday, sophomore Jessica Bracamonte batted in the Spartans only run, and freshman Lauren Kramer struck out two through five innings. Sophomore Lindsey Hansen was 2-for-3 at the plate, with a double and a triple in the game.

Western Michigan Scouting Report
The Broncos have been idle since March 8, when they wrapped up play at the Under Armour Invitational. Western Michigan went 2-3 at the invitational, recording a 3-1 win over Robert Morris and a 5-0 victory over St. Bonaventure. Meredith Whitney leads the team with a .400 batting average and has started all 15 games for the Broncos. She has posted a team-high 18 hits, 11 RBI and .622 slugging percentage. Lexi Jager registers a .354 batting average through 15 games, notching 17 hits and seven RBI. Whitney also leads the pitching staff with a 5-4 record and 2.25 ERA. She has recorded 59 strikeouts in 59 innings pitched.

Spartans' Scouting Report
Senior Gina Mondo (Orange, Conn.) leads the team with a .403 batting average. She also leads the team in runs (18), hits (31), RBI (18), total bases (52) and slugging percentage (.675) ... Senior Kara Weigle (Naples, Fla.) is second overall with 30 hits, along with a team-best nine doubles and 10 sacrifice hits ... Senior Megan Hair (Torrance, Calif.) leads the pitching staff with 28 strikeouts and has a team-best three saves ... MSU is 32-36 in stolen bases, with Mondo leading the team (eight) ... The Spartans have hit 24 home runs in 25 games, with sophomore Lindsey Hansen (Valparaiso, Fla.) notching a team-leading six, while Mondo and Kramer each have four homers. Mondo ranks fifth on MSU's all-time home runs list with 17 ... Hair recorded her 150th career strikeout on March 21 at Ohio State ... Sophomore Karen Fox (Flushing, Mich.) and freshman Ali Grant (Lutz, Fla.) lead the team in fielding percentage. None of the three have committed an error in the 25 games ... Four Spartans have started all 25 games. Senior Kara Weigle has started behind the plate, sophomore Lindsey Hansen has played at shortstop and classmate Jessica Bracamonte holds down center field while freshman Ali Grant patrols right field ... The Spartans rank fifth in the Big Ten in batting average. Weigle is tied for first in the conference with nine doubles and is second in sacrifice bunts with 10. Hansen is tied for first in the Big Ten in triples with three, is tied for fourth with six home runs and Kramer ranks sixth in on-base percentage with .494. Mondo is tied for third in batting average (.403), tied for fifth in slugging percentage (.675) and tied for seventh in hits (31).

Next Up
The Spartans host Detroit in a doubleheader on Wednesday, March 25 with the first game starting at 3 p.m.