Big Ten Play Continues at Purdue

March 27, 2014

MSU (7-18) at Purdue (16-16-1)
Dates	Fri.-Sun., March 28-30, 2014
Location	West Lafayette, Ind.; Boilermaker Softball Complex (Cap. 1,000)
Video Webstream	none
Radio	Purdue Broadcast
Live Statistics
Download Game Notes	MSU \| Purdue
Social Media	@MSU_Softball \| Facebook

SERIES NOTES

• Michigan State heads to Purdue for a Big Ten series this weekend. Scheduled to be played at Secchia Stadium, the games were moved on Wednesday due to unplayable field conditions.

• The Spartans trail the all-time series against the Boilermakers by a 20-27 margin. MSU won two of three in last year's regular-season series in West Lafayette, but fell by an 8-5 score in the first game of the Big Ten Tournament.

• MSU's last home games against the Boilers came in the 2011 season, where the teams split a doubleheader. The last six regular-season games between the teams were played at Purdue, and the most recent meeting was in Lincoln, Neb. at the Big Ten Tournament.

TEN FOR TWITTER
Spartan Softball in 140 characters

• .@MSU_Softball plays at @PurdueSoftball in @B1GSoftball play this weekend. Three-game set: Fri (4 p.m.), Sat/Sun at 1 p.m.

• Six of last seven gms. vs. @PurdueSoftball have been played in W. Lafayette. Series moved there on Wed. due to weather/field in EL.

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

• .@MSU_Softball won 2 of 3 in season series v. @PurdueSoftball in `13, lost 8-5 in #B1G Tournament. • OSU batters just 1K in 3 gms vs. MSU pitching. Fewest K's over 3 gms for MSU this season. Spartan P's avg. 3.5 K's/gm.

• Destinee Luna was MSU's top hitter at OSU (4-for-10). Three hits in gm. 2 was her career single-game high.

• .@Sarah_Gutknecht leads team in hits (19), RBI (18), HR (4), 2B (5). Has played 25 games at RF, 1B, 3B, DP.

• .@Alyssa_McBride went 3-for-5 at OSU, was walked four times and had a hit in each game. Her 3-gm hitting streak is a season-best.

• Sr. P @smith6kelly ranks fourth in B1G in app. (18) - 11 starts (T-9th), seven in relief (8th), 3rd in saves (2).

• Jr. @SLSanders20 is 6-of-9, 8 RBI as a pinch hitter in 2014; hit .400 as a PH as a soph.

TEAM NOTES

• MSU is coming off a sweep at the hands of Ohio State in Columbus (6-13, 7-11, 3-4). The Buckeyes hit a scorching .432 in the series, the best of any team on B1G opening weekend. OSU struck out just once in the three-game series, despite MSU's pitching staff averageing 3.5 strikeouts per game over the course of the season.

• Ohio State batters struck out just once in three games against MSU, the lowest number of strikeouts over a three-game span for the Spartans this season. The previous low was seven strikeouts against Boston University, South Carolina, and Georgetown at the Gamecock Invitational (2/22-23).

• MSU has already had five games this season washed away due to weather, including Tuesday's home opener against Western Michigan.

• MSU has played 25 games, the fourth-fewest in the Big Ten; Iowa has played a league-low 21, Northwestern has played 23, and Illinois 24. Purdue leads the league with 33 games played, while Indiana has 30 and both Nebraska and Ohio State have played 29.

• MSU's 10-inning win over Toledo (3/15) is the longest game in the Big Ten this season. MSU's 30 putouts in that game is also a league-high this season, as is MSU's five sacrifice hits that it had against Boston University on Feb. 22.

• Through 25 games, MSU has had only two players appear in every game this season - the middle infield duo of 2B Jacquie Reiser and SS Destinee Luna. Lately, MSU has been hit by the injury bug, as head coach Jacquie Joseph had a very limited bench in the Hoosier Classic. Junior 1B McKinzie Freimuth returned in the OSU series after missing the previous five games, the first missed games of her career. Lindsey Besson is due back this weekend after missing the OSU series behind the plate.

• Spartan batters have been hit by pitches 28 times, good for third in the league behind Wisconsin (30) and Nebraska (29).

• The Spartans lead the Big Ten in sacrifice bunts (26).

• MSU is 7-6 when allowing five runs or fewer, and 0-12 when allowing six or more.

• MSU has played five extra-inning games this season, and lost the first four before breaking that streak on March 15 against Toledo. Three of the games went eight innings (Bethune-Cookman, and both against Florida Atlantic), while the SIU-Edwardsville game took nine innings, and the Toledo game 10.

• 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). In all, MSU is 2-6 in one-run games this season.

• MSU will play 12 games against six teams which appeared in this week's NFCA poll. MSU has already played single games against No. 22 Oklahoma and No. 5 Washington, and has a single game against current No. 25 Notre Dame along with three-game series against Big Ten foes No. 6 Michigan, No. 19 Nebraska, and No. 23 Northwestern. In addition, MSU has played two against Hofstra and one against Virginia Tech, both which sit just outside the top 25. Big Ten foe Minnesota is also ranked (No. 15), 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 (1B/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 Sarah Gutknecht owns or shares the team lead in hits (19), RBI (18), homers (4), doubles (5), slugging pct. (.480), and at-bats (75). She is third in batting average (.253) and walks (7).

• 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. She played the OSU series at thrid after starting the previous five games at 1B.

• Destinee Luna was MSU's top hitter at Ohio State, with a 4-for-10 performance. Her 3-for-4 was a career high (in game two), and on the weekend she had a pair of RBI and scored once.

Alyssa McBride

• Alyssa McBride went 3-for-5 at OSU, as she was walked four times and had a hit in each game. Her three-game hitting streak is a season-best.

• At the OSU, Gutknecht went 3-for-10 with a double, a grand slam, and four RBI. Gutknecht has a team-best four multiple-RBI games, and five multiple-hit games.

• Kassidy Kujawa has an eight-game streak of reaching base, tying Lindsey Besson for the longest stretch of the year. Gutknecht has reached base safely in seven straight, while Ellie Stoffer has done so in five straight.

• McKinzie Freimuth has been hit by a pitch a team-high six times, which ranks fifth in the Big Ten, and 38th in the nation that category. She was injured on her most recent HBP against Marshall (March 7), which caused her to miss five games - the first games missed in her MSU career.

• Stephanie Sanders continues her prowess as a pinch hitter. The junior has had 11 pinch hit appearances and is 6-for-9 (.667) with eight RBI. In the Big Ten, only Purdue's Katy McJunkin (7-for-10 (.700), 4 RBI, 1 2B) and Kelsey Susalla of Michigan (5-for-5 2 2B, 3 RBI) are at the same level of proficiency as Sanders. She hit .400 last year as a pinch hitter.

• On the season, freshman LF Kassidy Kujawa is second on the team in batting average (.262), OBP (.384), hits (16), total bases (26), doubles (4), total bases (24), and is third in homers (2), runs scored (8) and slugging pct. (.471) and walks (9).

• Senior Kelly Smith has been versatile for the Spartans this season, raking fourth in appearances (18), which includes 11 starts (tied for ninth in the Big Ten) while entering seven games in relief (T-eighth). Her two saves ranks fourth in the Conference.

• Smith also ranks 12th in the league in innings pitched (64.1), and is tied for seventh in games finished (six). Over the last seven games, she has lowered her ERA from a season high 5.73 (on Feb. 22) to 4.46.

• Now that her number of innings pitched qualifies for the Big Ten rankings, Kristina Zalewski ranks sixth in games in relief (9), sixth in games finished (7), fourth in earned runs allowed (18), and second in walks allowed (12).

• 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's seven sacrifice bunts this year is the second-most in the Big Ten, and ranks 23rd nationally.