Penn State Comes to Secchia for Softball Home Opener

April 3, 2014

MSU (8-21, 1-5 B1G) vs. Penn State (7-22, 0-6 B1G)
Dates	Fri.-Sun April 4-6, 2014
Location	East Lansing, Mich.; Secchia Stadium (1,100)
Tickets	Spartan Ticket Office
Radio	www.SpartanSportsNetwork.com
Live Statistics
Download Game Notes	Michigan State \| Penn State
Preview Video	Head Coach Jacquie
Social Media	@MSU_Softball \| Facebook

SERIES NOTES

• Michigan State hosts its first games of the season at Secchia Stadium, welcoming Penn State to East Lansing for a three- game series.

• The Spartans trail the all-time series against the Nittany Lions by a 23-28 margin, but own a 14-12 record in games played in East Lansing. In last year's meeting, MSU swept a doubleheader by 4-1, 7-1 scores at Secchia Stadium.

• Beginning with this week's Penn State series, MSU will have a radio broadcast of all softball games, both home and away, 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 listerners to hear all games carried by the network on their mobile devices.

• Live stats will be available each game of the weekend series game 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 hosts @PennStSB in @B1GSoftball play this weekend. Three-game set: Fri (3 p.m.), Sat/Sun at 1 p.m.

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

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

• .@MSU_Softball swept @PennStSoftball 4-1, 7-1 in 2013 doubleheader, last meeting between the teams.

• Kassidy Kujawa is 4-for-8 over last 4 GP; leads MSU w/ .290 avg, .424 OBP, and 12 BB; 2nd w/20 hits, 5 doubles.

• @Lindsebess hit her first career HR vs. Notre Dame, finished gm. 2-for-4 w/4 RBI.

• .@Sarah_Gutknecht leads team in hits (22), RBI (21), HR (4), 2B (5). Has played 25 games at RF, 1B, 3B, DP.

• .@Alyssa_McBride extended her hitting streak to six gms with single vs. Notre Dame.

• 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 dropped two of three games last weekend at Purdue, winning the middle game by a 6-3 score and dropping 10-1 decisions in the first and final contests. On Wednesday, MSU took an early lead on Notre Dame, but fell to the Irish by an 11-4 score in South Bend.

• MSU's opponents have been the beneficiary of MSU's thinning pitching staff, which has just two healthy hurlers: freshman Valerie Kaff threw 10.2 innings over the Sunday doubleheader with the Boilermakers as well as the Wednesday tilt vs. Notre Dame, while senior Kelly Smith threw a complete game last Friday and 2.1 innings on Sunday.

• MSU has already had five games this season washed away due to weather, including last Tuesday's home opener against Western Michigan. In addition, the Spartans are hoping to have their first home games of the season this weekend against Penn State, as the Purdue series was originally to be played in East Lansing.

• MSU and Penn State have each played 29 games, the third-fewest in the Big Ten; Iowa has played a league-low 25, and Northwestern 28. Nebraska leads the league with 35 games played, while Indiana has 33 and both Purdue and Ohio State have played 32.

• 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.

• Through 29 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 has had to patch together lineups. Junior 1B McKinzie Freimuth returned in the OSU series after missing the previous five games, the first missed games of her career. Lindsey Besson has returned after missing the OSU series behind the plate, senior Dana Briggs has been out since suffering a leg injury on the spring break trip, and junior Stephanie Sanders has been limited in recent games. However, the most affected group has been the pitching staff - sophomore Dani Goranson is now not expected back this season (the coaching staff was hoping to have her back in action for the Big Ten season), and freshman Kristina Zalewski was injured during the Purdue weekend and is now out for the remainder of the season.

• Spartan batters have been hit by pitches 32 times, good for second in the league behind Nebraska (34).

• The Spartans lead the Big Ten in sacrifice bunts (29).

• MSU is 8-6 when allowing five runs or fewer, and 0-15 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's 2014 schedule 12 games against six teams which appeared in this week's NFCA poll (April 2). MSU has already played single games against No. 22 Oklahoma and No. 5 Washington, and No. 23 Notre Dame. Still on tap is three-game series against Big Ten foes No. 6 Michigan, No. 20 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 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.

PLAYER NOTES

• Freshman Lindsey Besson went 2-for-4 with four RBI at Notre Dame, including her first career home run.

• Kassidy Kujawa was MSU's top hitter against Purdue, going 3-for-6 with a double and was hit by a pitch once. She went 1-for-2 with a walk and a HBP vs. Notre Dame.

• On the season, Kujawa leads the team in batting average (.290), OBP (.424), and walks (12), while ranking second in hits (20), runs (12), doubles (5), and total bases (31), She ranks third in homers, and had a season-best six putouts in the series finale against Purdue. On the year, her fielding percentage is perfect, with 47 putouts in left field.

• Alyssa McBride extended her team-best active hiting streak to six games, and has reached base in nine consecutive games, also the team's longest active streak. She went 3-for-7 at the plate with 2 RBI and a stolen base against Purdue, and 1-for--3 at Notre Dame.

• In the second game at Purdue, Sarah Gutknecht went 2-for-3 with a double, a home run, and three RBI. She went 1-for-2 and was walked twice at Notre Dame.

• Gutknecht owns the team lead in hits (22), RBI (21), homers (5), doubles (6), slugging pct. (.512), plate appearances (96), and at-bats (84). She is third in batting average (.262) and walks (11).

• 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.

• McKinzie Freimuth and Destinee Luna have each been hit by a pitch a team-high six times, which ranks fifth in the Big Ten. Freimuth ranks 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-11 (.545) 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.

• 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 nine sacrifice bunts this year is the most in the Big Ten, and ranks 19th nationally.

• Senior Kelly Smith has been versatile for the Spartans this season, ranking eighth in the B1G in appearances (20), which includes 13 starts (tied for ninth in the Big Ten) while entering seven games in relief (T-10th). Her two saves ranks fourth in the Conference.

• Valerie Kaff ranks 12th in the league in innings pitched (80.1), and starts (13). She threw 10.2 innings on Sunday against Purdue in the doubleheader then threw a complete game on Wednesday at Notre Dame.