Michigan State University Athletics
Nebraska Comes In For Three-Game B1G Set
4/24/2014 12:00:00 AM | Softball
| MSU (12-30, 4--13 B1G) vs. No. 19 Nebraska (33-13, 11-4 B1G) | |
| Dates | Fri.-Sun, April 25-27, 2014; East Lansing, Mich. Secchia Stadium |
| Video Stream | none |
| Television | Big Ten Network (Sunday only) |
| Radio | www.SpartanSportsNetwork.com |
| Live Statistics | |
| Team Information | Michigan State: Roster | Schedule | Stats Nebraska: Roster | Schedule | Stats |
| Download Game Notes | Michigan State | Nebraska |
| Weekend Preview | Watch |
| Social Media | @MSU_Softball  | Facebook  |
SERIES NOTES
• Michigan State hosts a three-game series against Nebraska this weekend at Secchia Stadium.
• The Cornhuskers, currently 33-13 and 11-4 in Conference games, own a 4-0 all-time record against MSU, which includes the first-ever B1G games between the teams back in 2012. Nebraska swept a doubleheader by 7-3, 3-0 scores that season.
• This series will be Nebraska's first-ever games in East Lansing. The first two meetings of the teams, in 1994 and 1997, were in neutral-site non-conference tournaments . The 1994 meeting came at the Troy Cox Invitational in Las Cruces, NM, and the 1997 meeting was at the AT&T Wireless Services Classic in Sacramento.
• MSU's five seniors - players Sarah Bowling, Dana Briggs, Emma Fernandez, and Kelly Smith, along with senior student manager Bryan Rourke - will be honored in a brief ceremony prior to Sunday's series finale with the Cornhuskers.
• All softball games, both home and away, will have a live broadcast at www.spartansportsnetwork.com. Ken Friend will have the call, and will be joined in the booth this weekend by Ali Grant, a four-year Spartan letterwinner (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 and Grant will have all the action from Secchia Stadium beginning at 4:50 p.m. on Friday.
• Live stats will be available 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 the game at www.MSUSpartans.com.
• Sunday's game will be televised live by the Big Ten Network. Eric Collins and Jennie Ritter will have the call.
TEN FOR TWITTER
Spartan Softball in 140 characters
• .@MSU_Softball hosts a 3-gm @B1GSoftball series vs. @HuskerSoftball this weekend.
• All remaining @MSU_Softball games are on @Spartan_Radio (www.spartansportsnetwork.com) with @KFriend500 on the call. Sunday's game on @BigTenNetwork.
• All three games on Gametracker; software has been upgraded, now available on cell phones & mobile devices. Follow from links at MSUSpartans.com
• .@MSU_Softball and @HuskerSoftball have met just four times in program history. Nebraska has won all four.
• .@MSU_Softball has won three of its last five games, best stretch of the season.
• .@MSU_Softball will honor its seniors on Sunday: Dana Briggs, @SarahBowin2, @EmmaFernandezzz, @Smith6Kelly, and mgr. @rourkebr
• .@Smith6Kelly is the @B1GSoftball Pitcher of the Week; 3 CG, No-hitter vs. EMU, 23 K's, 0 runs all. last week.
• Over her last four outings (25 IP), @Smith6Kelly boasts a 0.56 ERA, allowed 2 earned runs, struck out 27, and walked 3.
• Top 3 hitters for MSU are freshmen: .@SarahGutknecht (.279, 24 RBI, 6 HR), @lindsebess (.273, 3 2b, 9 RBI), and Kassidy Kujawa (.272, 12 RBI, 6 2B, 3HR)
• .@mckinzie_mae one of top fielders in B1G; leads team w/.986 Fld%, 3 err.. Kujawa (.986, 71 po, 1 err.) and lindsebess (.981, 150 po, 3 err.) rank 2nd, 3rd.)
TEAM NOTES
• MSU is currently in its best stretch of the season, winning three of its last five games.
• MSU fell to Central Michigan on Wednesday in a non-conference matchup. The Chips rallied from a 4-2 deficit to post a 6-2 victory, with two unearned runs in each the sixth and seventh innings.
• The Spartans won two of three games in Iowa City last weekend to win the series vs. Iowa, snapping a 14-game winning streak for the Hawkeyes in the series and giving MSU its first series win at Iowa in program history.
• MSU's opponents have been the beneficiary of MSU's thinning pitching staff, which has just two healthy hurlers. Senior Kelly Smith has thrown 25 innings over the last five games, including the no-hitter vs. EMU on April 16. Valerie Kaff is second among freshmen pitchers in the Big Ten in both innings pitched and appearances.
• 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. In all, MSU will get just 10 home games this season.
• 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 39 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 as well as Wednesday's game vs. CMU 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 at Purdue and is 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 this week's NFCA poll (April 22). MSU has already played single games against No. 17 Oklahoma, No. 11 Washington, and No. 21 Notre Dame, as well as a three-game series against No. 4 Michigan. Still on tap is three-game series against Big Ten foes No. 19 Nebraska, and No. 25 Northwestern. In addition, MSU has played two against Hofstra and one against Virginia Tech, both which sit just outside the top 25. Big Ten foes Minnesota (No. 12) is also ranked and Wisconsin is receiving votes, but are 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
• Senior Kelly Smith earned the Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honors on Monday. She threw three complete games - all MSU wins last week; she tossed the 20th no-hitter in school history against EMU, recording a season-best nine strikeouts. She threw two complete-game shutout wins at Iowa (1-0 and 4-0), and on the week struck out a total of 23, while walking just three and allowing nine hits.
• Kelly Smith has been versatile for the Spartans this season, ranking sixth in the B1G in appearances (29), which includes 21 starts (T-7th) while entering eight games in relief. She is 10th in innings pitched (121.1), while her two saves ranks sixth. She ranks eighth in starts (21) and 12th in strikeouts (86).
• Over her last four outings (25 IP), Smith boasts a 0.56 ERA, allowed two earned runs, struck out 27, and walked three.
• Carly Nielsen came to the plate as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the sixth and delivered MSU's only run of the game in a 1-0 win over EMU. Two days later, Stephanie Sanders came to bat in the top of the sixth and hit an RBI single for MSU's lone score in a 1-0 victory over Iowa.
• Sanders has had limited opportunities due to injuries this season, but is still batting .261 and is second on the team in RBI (17). Even when she couldn't play in the field, she went 7-for-12 as a pinch hitter with 10 RBI.
• Valerie Kaff is second among Big Ten freshmen in both innings pitched (117) and starts (18) - only Illinois' Brandi Needham (153.2 IP, 25 starts) has gotten the ball more than Kaff among first-year players in the league.
• The top three hitters in the Spartan lineup are freshmen. Sarah Gutknecht owns the team lead in batting average (.279), hits (34), RBI (24), homers (6), and doubles (9); catcher Lindsey Besson is batting .273 with three doubles and nine RBI, while Kassidy Kujawa is hitting .272 with 12 RBI on 28 hits, which includes six doubles and three homers.
• Gutknecht and Besson, along with first baseman McKinzie Freimuth, share the team's longest active hitting streak, at three games. Gutknecht has reached base safely in six consecutive games, the current team high.
• 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.
• Spartan batters have been hit by pitches 49 times, the most in the league (Nebraska ranks second, with 42). Destinee Luna has been hit a team-high eight times, which ranks ninth in the Big Ten; Freimuth, Kujawa, and Jacquie Reiser have each been hit seven times.
• McKinzie Freimuth continues to be one of the top-fielding players in the league. She ranks 12th in the league in putouts (206), and is just shy of the top 12 with 214 chances. She has just three errors in 214 chances - a fielding percentage of .986. She has also turned eight double plays, good for 13th in the league. Kassidy Kujawa (.986, 71 po, 1 err.) and Lindsey Besson (.981, 150 po, 3 err.) rank second and third, respectively, in fielding pct.
• MSU leads the B1G in sacrifice bunts (50), 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 are the most by any Big Ten player in a game this season. Reiser's 13 sac bunts this year are the most in the B1G and rank ninth nationally.
