Spartans Host EMU in Midweek Tilt

April 16, 2014

MSU (9-28, 2-12 B1G) vs. Eastern Michigan ((9-26, 0-8 MAC)
Dates	Wednesday, April 16, 2014; 5 p.m. East Lansing, Mich. Secchia Stadium
Video Stream	none
Television	none
Radio	www.SpartanSportsNetwork.com
Live Statistics
Team Information	Michigan State: Roster \| Schedule \| Stats Eastern Michigan: Roster \| Schedule \| Stats
Download Game Notes	Michigan State \| Eastern Michigan
Social Media	@MSU_Softball \| Facebook

SERIES NOTES

• Michigan State hosts a midweek contest against non-conference foe Eastern Michigan. The teams will play at 5 p.m. on Wednesday.

• MSU holds a 29-16 edge in the all-time meetings between the teams, and is 6-2 in the last eight meetings.

• The teams met twice during the 2013 season. The first was a 6-4 win for the Eagles at the FAU Invitational in March, where the Eagles rallied for three runs in the fourth inning. The Spartans won last year's game in East Lansing, 3-0, on the strength of a complete game by Dani Goranson, while Jenny Ramsaier, Ellie Stoffer and Stephanie Sanders each had an RBI for MSU.

• All softball games, both home and away, will have a broadcast at www.spartansportsnetwork.com. Ken Friend will have the call, and will be joined in the booth for home games by either Ali Grant or Lori Padilla, each four-year Spartan letterwinners (2009-12). In addition, Spartan Sports Network's 24/7 app allows listeners to hear all games carried by the network on their mobile devices. Friend will have all the action from Secchia Stadium beginning at 4:50 p.m. on Friday.

• Live stats will be available each game of the doubleheader via Gametracker. The Gametracker program has undergone an upgrade, allowing smartphone and tablet users to utilize it on their mobile devices. All links can be found for this weekend's games at www.MSUSpartans.com.

TEN FOR TWITTER
Spartan Softball in 140 characters

• .@MSU_Softball breaks from @B1GSoftball play, hosts @emuathletics on Wed. at 5 p.m.

• All remaining @MSU_Softball games are on @Spartan_Radio (www.spartansportsnetwork.com) with @KFriend500 on the call.

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

• .@MSU_Softball holds a 29-16 edge in the all-time meetings with EMU; teams split last weekend's series.

g Spartan batters have been hit by pitches 43 times, the most in the league; 11 more than 2nd-place Indiana.

• Only two players - 2B @Jacquie Reiser and SS Destinee Luna - have played in all 37 MSU games.

• Destinee Luna, @McKinzieMae and @SarahGutknecht all went 2-for-6 in UM series.

• .@mckinzie_mae one of top fielders in B1G; .989 Fld%, 2 errors. Career-high 13 putouts in Gm. 1 v. Indiana.

• .@SarahGutknecht leads team in hits (28), RBI (23), HR (6), 2B (8), Slg. pct. (.505); 2nd in batting average (.262) and walks (13).

• Kassidy Kujawa hit her 3rd HR of the year vs. UM; her first HR since opening weekend.

TEAM NOTES
• MSU was swept by No. 5 Michigan last weekend in Big Ten play, falling 9-1 in five innings in Ann Arbor before falling 8-0 and 14-0 in East Lansing. Sunday's game was particularly frustrating, as the Wolverines scored 10 runs in the top of the seventh inning to turn a tight game into a blowout.

• MSU's opponents have been the beneficiary of MSU's thinning pitching staff, which has just two healthy hurlers. Freshman Valerie Kaff threw nine innings over the weekend, as well as first game of the Indiana DH; senior Kelly Smith threw two complete games (against Indiana and Michigan) and an additional three innings on Sunday agaisnt UM.

• MSU has already had five games this season washed away due to weather, and one series had to be moved- the Purdue series was originally to be played in East Lansing but was moved to West Lafayette.

• 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 UNC-Wilmington on Feb. 22, and the six times MSU was hit by a pitch on April 5 vs. Penn State.

• Through 37 contests, 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 has had to patch together lineups. Junior 1B McKinzie Freimuth returned in the OSU series after missing the first five games of her career. Lindsey Besson missed the OSU series behind the plate, senior Dana Briggs returned vs. PSU after suffering a leg injury on the spring break trip, and junior Stephanie Sanders is just returning to right field after a leg injury limited her to pinch-hitting duty. Kassidy Kujawa missed the series finale against Michigan with injury as well. However, the most affected group has been the pitching staff - sophomore Dani Goranson will not pitch this season (the coaching staff was hoping to have her back in action for B1G games), and freshman Kristina Zalewski was injured during the Purdue weekend and is now out for the remainder of the season.

• 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. MSU has been run-ruled eight times, which includes twice against the Wolverines.

• MSU's 2014 schedule 12 games against six teams which appeared in last week's NFCA poll (April 8). MSU has already played single games against No. 19 Oklahoma, No. 10 Washington, and No. 25 Notre Dame. Still on tap is three-game series against Big Ten foes No.5 Michigan, No. 22 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. 14), 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'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.

PLAYER NOTES

• Destinee Luna, McKinzie Freimuth and Sarah Gutknecht all went 2-for-6 in the Michigan series, while Alyssa McBride went 2-for-8, with both hits coming in the Saturday game. Freimuth and McBride each walked once.

• Valerie Kaff had a strong outing against the Hoosiers last Wednesday, earning her fifth win of the season. She pitching tossed a complete game, scattering seven hits, and fighting her way out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the seventh to earn the victory. She threw an additional nine innings against the Wolverines.

• Kaff ranks 10th in the league in innings pitched (108.0), and is tied for eighth in starts (17). Among league pitching leaders, Kaff is second among freshmen in both innings pitched and starts - only Illinois' Brandi Needham (135.0 IP, 21 starts) has gotten the ball more than Kaff among first-year players in the league.

• Kelly Smith has been versatile for the Spartans this season, ranking seventh in the B1G in appearances (25), which includes 17 starts (T-8th) while entering eight games in relief (T-12th). Her two saves ranks fourth. • Sarah Gutknecht owns the team lead in hits (28), RBI (23), homers (6), doubles (8), slugging pct. (.505), plate appearances (122), and at-bats (107). She is second in batting average (.262) and second in walks (13), which included an intentional walk against the Hoosiers.

• 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 has played all of the Big Ten season, and the most games overall, at third base.

• On the season, Kassidy Kujawa leads the team in batting average (.281), runs (16), and OBP (.407), while ranking second in hits (25), doubles (6), walks (13), and total bases (40). She hit her third home run of the season, and the first since the opening weekend, at Michigan.

• Alyssa McBride's team-best active hitting streak came to an end at six games vs. Penn State, but she has had a hit in four of the last six games. Her streak of reaching base safely in 13 straight games,was snapped at Michigan. McBride ranks in a tie for sixth in Big Ten games with nine walks .

• Spartan batters have been hit by pitches 43 times, the most in the league. Destinee Luna has been hit a team-high eight times, which ranks ninth in the Big Ten; McKinzie Freimuth has been plunked six times, which ranks 11th. 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.

• Carly Nielsen robbed Michigan's Taylor Hasselbach of a home run at the right field wall in Sunday's game vs. Michigan. Watch it at http://tinyurl.com/NielsenCatch.

• McKinzie Freimuth continues to be one of the top-fielding players in the league. She made a career-best 13 putouts in game one vs. Indiana on April 9. She has missed five games this season with injury, and is just six putouts shy of ranking in the top 12 in the league in that category (she has 181 putouts.) She has just two errors in 187 chances - a fielding percentage of .989. She has also turned eight double plays, good for ninth in the league.

• The Spartans lead the Big Ten in sacrifice bunts (44), 11 more than second-place Indiana. Jacquie Reiser set an MSU single-game record with four sacrifice hits in the 5-2 win over UNC-Wilmington on Feb. 21. Those four sacrifice bunts is the most by any Big Ten player in a game this season. Reiser's 11 sacrifice bunts this year is the most in the Big Ten, and ranks 16th nationally. Reiser and Lindsey Besson each have four sac bunts in Big Ten play, which ranks in a tie for third.

• Stephanie Sanders is perhaps the most clutch pinch hitter in the Big Ten. On the season, the junior has had 14 pinch hit appearances and is 7-for-12 (.583) with 10 RBI. In the Big Ten, only Purdue's Katy McJunkin (7-for-10 (.700), 4 RBI) and Kelsey Susalla of Michigan (5-for-7, 3 RBI) are at the same level of proficiency as Sanders, but MSU's junior has more RBI than the pair combined. Last weekend, Sanders was in the lineup as both a right fielder and the designated player, so she did not have any pinch hit at-bats.