Hoosier Classic Starts Northern Games for Softball

March 12, 2014

MSU at the Hoosier Classic
Dates	Sat.-Sun., March 15-16, 2014
Location	Bloomington, Ind..; Andy Mohr Field
Video Webstream	vs. None
Radio	none
Live Statistics
Download Game Notes	MSU
Social Media	@MSU_Softball \| Facebook
Tournament Central Website	www.iuhoosers.com/

SERIES NOTES

• Michigan State begins the northern part of its schedule with the Hoosier Classic Tournament this weekend at Indiana.

• The Spartans own a winning record against all three opponents at the Hoosier Classic. MSU is 5-3 all-time against Illinois-Chicago, 7-1 against Wright State, and 12-11 against Toledo.

• MSU will not play host Indiana; MSU will return to Bloomington on April 9 for a doubleheader that will count in the Big Ten standings.

TEN FOR TWITTER
Spartan Softball in 140 characters

• .@MSU_Softball plays at @IUSoftball Hoosier Classic this weekend. Takes on @uicflamesdotcom, @UTRocketsSB & @WSURaiders.

• Gametracker software has been upgraded, now available on cell phones & mobile devices. Follow from links at MSUSpartans.com

• .@MSU_Softball has lost four extra-inning games this season, two more in walkoff fashion.

• .@MSU_Softball pitchers had 1.71 staff ERA, allowed eight earned runs, threw two complete games at FAU.

• Fr. P @ValerieLynn88 ranks ninth in B1G in innings pitched (57.0). She's tied for fifth in appearances (13), sixth in starts (9).

• LF Kassidy Kujawa hit .417 at FAU Tourney w/3 doubles.

• .@Sarah_Gutknecht leads team in RBI (12), 2B (4); 2nd in hits (13) and walks (5). Has played 20 games - at 1B, 3B, RF, & DP.

• 1B @McKinzie_Mae HBP a team-high 5x (5th in B1G). Most recent caused her to miss first 3 gms of her career.

• Fr. P @tinny127 made first 2 career starts at FAU. Threw 12 inn. in starts, had 10 IP in 6 relief app. prior.

• Junior @SLSanders20 is 5-of-7 w/ 6 RBI as a pinch hitter in 2014; hit .400 as a pinch hitter as a sophomore.

TEAM NOTES

• MSU is coming off a 1-3 weekend at the FAU Invitational, which includes an extra-inning loss to the hosts and a 2-1 loss to Marshall in the Herd's final at-bat.

• MSU has played four extra-inning games this season, and has lost all four. Three of the games went eight innings (Bethune-Cookman, and both against Florida Atlantic), while the SIU-Edwardsville game took nine innings.

• The Spartans have lost in a walkoff situation twice this season - the first game after a valiant rally against Oklahoma which fell short, and against Marshall (2-1).

• The win over Hofstra was MSU's third shutout victory of the season. The first two came in both ends of a doubleheader against Rhode Island at the Stetson Invitational.

• MSU's pitching staff had probably it's strongest weekend top-to-bottom, with a 1.71 team ERA, a combined eight earned runs allowed, and two complete games.

• The weather forecast for MSU's first games outside of Florida or Arizona call for mid-50's. MSU has already had three games this season washed away due to weather.

• MSU has turned the fourth-most double plays in the league (7); Illinois has 12 to lead the B1G.

• Spartan batters have been hit by pitches a league-high 25 times. Wisconsin batters have been hit by pitches 19 times to rank second.

• The Spartans lead the Big Ten in sacrifice bunts, with 20. Michigan and Purdue (15) are tied for second.

• MSU is 5-4 on the season when scoring three or more runs, but 1-10 when scoring two or fewer. MSU is 5-1 when allowing two or fewer, and 1-13 when allowing three or more. • MSU will play 12 games against six teams which appeared in this week's NFCA poll. MSU has already played single games against No. 19 Oklahoma and No. 5 Washington, and has a single game against current No. 22 Notre Dame along with three-game series against Big Ten foes No. 8 Michigan, No. 17 Nebraska, and No. 25 Northwestern. In addition, MSU has played two against Hofstra, which sits just outside the top 25. Big Ten foe Minnesota is also ranked (No. 18), but is not on MSU's regular-season schedule this year.
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 Kassidy Kujawa was the Spartans' top hitter at the FAU Tournament, going 5-for-12, which inluded three doubles. She hit .417, posting a .533 OBP and .667 slugging pct. Kujawa busted out of an 0-for-17 slump at the plate with a strong performance at FAU.

• On the season, Kujawa leads the team in hits (14), total bases (24), doubles (4), homers (2), fielding pct. (1.000), slugging Pct. (.471), walks (9), and total bases, while ranking second in BA (.275), OBP (.393), runs scored (9), and RBI (9).

• Freshman Sarah Gutknecht owns or shares the team lead in RBI (12), doubles (4), and at-bats (56). She is second on the team in hits (13) and walks (5).

• Gutknecht has played the most positions on the field of any player on the roster. She has logged games in right field, third and first base, in addition to being the designated player.

• Carly Nielsen owns a four-game hitting streak, the longest active streak on the team. McKinzie Freimuth owns the team's longest streak this season (five games.)

• Freimuth has been hit by a pitch a team-high five times, which ranks fifth in the Big Ten and 58th nationally. She was injured on her most recent HBP, which caused her to miss the first three games of her MSU career.

• Ellie Stoffer hit .286 in split duty as a pinch hitter and centerfielder last weekend at FAU. She tied her career best with a pair of doubles in the extra-inning loss to the host Owls.

• Stephanie Sanders continues her prowess as a pinch hitter. The junior has had eight pinch hit appearances and is 5-for-7 (.714), including a bases-loaded double on March 4 at FAU which yielded three RBI. On the year, she's batting .250 and has the team's third-highest OBP (.364). Sanders hit .400 as a pinch hitter in 2013.

• Thomas, Gutknecht and Kassidy Kujawa share the team lead in home runs, with two each.

• Kristina Zalewski earned her first collegiate start against FAU on March 7, going the distance and scattering seven hits in an extra-inning loss to the Owls (4-2). Zalewski went four innings the next day against Hofstra, picking up her first collegiate win against the Pride, 1-0.

• Zalewski who ranked second in the Big Ten in both relief appearances (6) and games finished (6) heading into FAU weekend games, had pitched a combined 10 innings in her previous six appearances this season.

• Now that her innings pitched qualifies for the Big Ten rankings, Zalewski ranks fourth in fewest earned runs allowed (10), second in walks allowed (7), and 12th in fewest runs allowed (22).

• Freshman Valerie Kaff ranks ninth in the Big Ten in innings pitched (57.0). She's tied for fifth in appearances (13), sixth in starts (9),

• Senior Kelly Smith has struck out 35 on the year, which includes 14 batters looking, which is ninth in the B1G. Smith is 11th in the league in innings pitched (48.1), tied for first in appearances (14), and tied for sixth with Kaff in starts (9).

• Smith entered MSU's last two games at FAU in relief, and picked up her second save of the season against Hofstra, which ranks in a tie for second in the Big Ten. Her two saves is tied for 11th nationally.

• Kelly Smith has moved into the top-10 all time at MSU in career strikeouts. Her 257 career strikeouts allowed her to move into tenth place past Keri DeJong (250). In 2013, Smith had 222 K's, good for third in MSU's single-season record book.

• 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 23 at-bats, despite starting all 20 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.
Reiser ranks second in the Big Ten in sac bunts (7), which is 43rd nationally.