Michigan State University Athletics
Spartans Begin Spring Break at FGCU Invitational
2/28/2014 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 28, 2014
| MSU at the Florida Gulf Coast Spring Break Invitational | |
| Dates | Sat.-Sun., March 1-2, 2014 |
| Location | Fort Myers, Fla.; FGCU Softball Complex (Cap. 361) |
| Video Webstream | None |
| Radio | none |
| Live Statistics | |
| Download Game Notes | MSU |
| Social Media | @MSU_Softball  | Facebook  |
| Tournament Central Website | http://fgcuathletics.com/ |
SERIES NOTES
• Michigan State starts an nine-day spring break trip to Florida with four games at the Florida Gulf Coast Spring Break Invitational. MSU will play two games on each Saturday and Sunday to kick off its nine days in the Sunshine State.
• MSU trails in the all-time series against three of its four opponents at this tournament, but Hofstra is the only team that MSU has played more than five times. MSU trails the Hofstra series by a 3-7 margin, leads the all-time series against Bethune-Cookman 4-0-1. MSU will meet LIU-Brooklyn for the third time (0-2), and FGCU the fifth (1-3).
• MSU will meet Hofstra again next weekend in the Florida Atlantic Tournament. Hofstra was a late add to that tournament after having all of its week two games cancelled due to inclement weather.
TEN FOR TWITTER
Spartan Softball in 140 characters
• .@MSU_Softball at @FGCU_Softball Spring Break Invite this weekend; will play host team, @BCUAthletics, @LIUSoftball, and @HofstraSoftball.
• .@FGCU_Softball Tournament Central: links to Live Stats: http://tinyurl.com/FGCUSBTourney
• .@MSU_Softball plays @HofstraSoftball in single game each of next 2 weekends. Play next week at @fauowlssoftball tourney.
• .@MSU_Softball went 2-2 at @GamecockSoftbll Invite last weekend; beat @UNCWsoftball (5-2) & @HoyaSoftball (8-2)
• .@ellnanner10 is 5-for-13 at the plate with a HR, 3 RBI over last 2 weekends.
• 2B @JacquieReiser set MSU single-game record w/4 SAC bunts vs. @UNCWsoftball; most by a @B1Gsoftball player in a game this season.
• .@yacky9312 started the last 5 gms in RF; hit .385 (5-for-13 with 3 RBI) in South Carolina.
• 1B @McKinzie_Mae hit team-best .400 in South Carolina, w/3B, 2 RBI, 2 HBP, 1 BB.
• Fr. pitcher P @Valerielynn was 2-1 with a 3.06 ERA last weekend. 16 IP, 7K, 1st career CG vs. Georgetown. She is 3-1 with a 2.45 ERA as a starter.
• Junior @SLSanders20 is 2-of-3 with 3 RBI as a pinch hitter in 2014; hit .400 as a pinch hitter as a sophomore.
TEAM NOTES
• MSU is coming off a 2-2 week at the South Carolina Invitational. MSU won its first and final games, 5-2 over UNC-Wilmington, and 8-2 over Georgetown.
• The Spartans have had schedule changes due to weather in each of the first two weekends. At Stetson in the season opening tournament, MSU lost one game to the host Hatters due to a washout. In Arizona, one of the teams could not travel to Tempe due to snowstorms on the east coast, so after a re-working of the schedule, MSU got in four games instead of the scheduled five.
• The Spartan pitching staff fell sits at 10th in the Big Ten with a 4.49 team ERA. Over four games at the South Carolina Invitational, MSU's team ERA was 5.32, allowing 33 hits and 19 earned runs.
• One particular area in which head coach Jacquie Joseph has been pleased is team defense. MSU ranks fourth in the Big Ten with a .969 fielding percentage, with just nine errors on 288 chances, the second-fewest errors in the league behind Michigan's four. The Spartans have turned the second-most double plays in the league (6); Illinois has 11.
• MSU has more hit batsmen (16) than any other team in the league. Illinois batters have been hit by pitches 14 times.
• MSU is tied for seventh in strikeouts with 57, as Iowa leads the league with 77. Twelve of MSU's 57 strikeouts came against SIU-Edwardsville, a single-game high for strikeouts in the Big Ten this season.
• The Spartans lead the Big Ten in sacrifice bunts, with 13. No other team in the Big Ten has hit more than nine.
• MSU hit .263 at South Carolina, better than it's previous-week .172 at the Littlewood Classic.
• MSU allowed 11 extra-base hits last weekend, five doubles, five triples, and a homer.
• MSU scored 17 runs and had 13 RBI last weekend at South Carolina, on just three extra-base hits.
• The Spartans were a perfect 4-for-4 on stolen bases, and are 9-for-11 overall on stolen base attempts this season.
• The Spartans have scored a total of 42 runs in 11 games, with a total of 35 coming in the first (7), second (8) fourth (10) or seventh (10) innings. The Spartans have allowed 54 runs, with 46 coming in the first (9), second (10), fourth (9), fifth (8), and seventh (9) innings. Six of MSU's nine runs allowed in the seventh came against Boston University (Feb. 22) when the Terriers rallied from a 4-1 deficit to post an 11-4 win.
• MSU will play nine games against five teams which appeared in this week's NFCA poll. MSU has already played single games against No. 20 Oklahoma and No. 7 Washington, and has a single game against current No. 23 Notre Dame along with three-game series against Big Ten foes No. 6 Michigan and No. 16 Nebraska. In addition, MSU has three games against Northwestern and two against Hofstra, both which sit just outside the top 25.
Nineteen of MSU's 26 non-conference opponents finished fifth or better in their conference in 2013, and five are their defending conference champions. Washington and Oklahoma, as well as Big Ten foes Nebraska and Michigan, made the Women's College World Series. Four Big Ten teams received bids to the NCAA Tournament overall.
• MSU was the fifth-most improved team in Division I softball in 2013 from its 2012 record. The 2012 Spartans suffered through an 11-42 campaign riddled with injuries, but went 24-25 in 2013, a 15-game improvement. Only four programs had more than a 15-game improvement from 2012 to 2013: Delaware (+19.5), Northwestern State (+18.5), St. Joseph's (+17), and UNC Greensboro (+15.5).
• MSU's infield features mostly underclassmen, with the exception being junior 1B McKinzie Freimuth. The middle infield of Jacquie Reiser and Destinee Luna are sophomores, while Sarah Gutknecht (3B), catcher Lindsey Besson, and two of MSU's three healthy pitchers (Valerie Kaff and Kristina Zalewski) are all freshmen. Four of MSU's five outfielders are juniors - Alyssa McBride, Carly Nielsen, Stephanie Sanders, and Ellie Stoffer - and left fielder Kassidy Kujawa is a first-year player.
• MSU returns 12 letter winners and six starters from last year's team which finished 24-25 and played in the Big Ten Tournament. Three starters were lost to graduation - center fielder and All-Big Ten pick Kylene Hopkins, third baseman and All-Big Ten selection Jayme O'Bryant, and second baseman Jenny Ramsaier. Ramsaier and O'Bryant are back with the team this year as student coaches.
PLAYER NOTES
• Freshman Valerie Kaff started three of MSU's games at South Carolina, going 2-1 with a 3.06 ERA. She tossed 16 innings, including her first career complete game against Georgetown. Kaff struck out seven and walked eight while improving her overall record to 3-3.
• Kaff owns a 3-1 record with a 2.45 ERA in her four games as a starter.
• Over the last two weekends, junior Ellie Stoffer is 5-for-13 at the plate with a home run and three RBI.
• Sophomore Jacquie Reiser set an MSU single-game record with four sacrifice hits in the 5-2 win over UNC-Wilmington on Feb. 21. Her four sacrifice bunts is the most by any Big Ten player in a game this season. Reiser has just 15 at-bats, despite starting all 11 games at second base.
The previous MSU single-game record was three, set by Lacy Hauxhurst vs. Detroit in March of 2001. Reiser's five sacrifice bunts this year is the second-most in the Big Ten.
• Junior Carly Nielsen has started the last five games in right field, and has been strong at the plate when she has earned those starts. She was 1-for-3 against Oklahoma at the Littlewood Classic, then hit .385 (5-for-13 with 3 RBI) in South Carolina.
• Sarah Gutknect and classmate Kassidy Kujawa shares the team lead in home runs, with two each. They were joined on the home run list by Ellie Stoffer this past weekend, and Shanin Thomas hit a grand slam the first weekend of the season against Rhode Island.
• McKinzie Freimuth hit a team-best .400 in South Carolina, with her first triple of the season and a pair of RBI. She was hit twice by pitches and was walked once.
• Stephanie Sanders has continued her impressive performance as a pinch hitter. On the year, she has three hits, and is 2-of-3 with 3 RBI when coming to the plate as a replacement. Sanders hit .400 as a pinch hitter last season.
• All five of Kristina Zalewski's pitching appearances have come in relief this season, which ranks second in the Big Ten that category. She leads the B1G in games finished (5).
• Valerie Kaff is tied for fourth in the Big Ten with four relief appearances, and all have been in relief of senior Kelly Smith. Smith ranks sixth in the league in batters struck out looking (11), and second in games started (7) and total appearances (9).
• Smith needs just six more strikeouts to move into MSU's all-time top 10 strikeout leaders. She currently owns 245 strikeouts in just her second season at MSU; Keri DeJong ranks 10th all-time in the career record book for strikeouts with 250. In 2013, Smith had 222 K's, good for third in MSU's single-season record book.
