Spartans Look to Continue Success at FAU

Feb. 12, 2015

Michigan State (4-1) at FAU Strike Out Cancer Tournament
Dates	Fri.- Sun. February 13-15, 2015
Location	Boca Raton, Florida.; FAU Softball Stadium
Webstream	none
Live Statistics
Tournament Central	Click Here
Download Game Notes	Michigan State
Season Preview	Watch
Social Media	@MSU_Softball \| Facebook

TOURNAMENT NOTES

• Michigan State heads Boca Raton to take part in the FAU Strike Out Cancer Tournament. The Spartans will take on the host Owls twice, while also playing Tulsa, Providence, and Drexel once each. MSU is in a tournament at Florida Atlantic for the sixth straight season.

• MSU owns a 9-12 record all-time against the host Owls. Last year, the Spartans dropped two extra-inning decisions to FAU. Florida Atlantic is off to a 4-1 start on the season, posting wins over Arkansas, Georgia Tech, Penn State, and LIU-Brooklyn; the lone loss is a 7-6 decision to Kansas. The Owls have not allowed a run in their last three contests.

• The Spartans are 2-1 all-time against Tulsa, the last meeting coming in 2012 a 6-4 MSU victory). Tulsa is also 4-1 on the season, winning their first four (two each against Santa Clara and Grand Canyon) before falling to Northern Colorado in the finale of the GCU Kickoff in Phoenix.

• MSU has met Providence just twice in previous seasons, a 9-0 Spartan win in five innings in 2011 serving as the last meeting between the teams. Providence begins its season this weekend, and looks to improve on a 6-29 season a year ago.

• Michigan State owns a 2-1 record against Drexel, but all three meetings took place more than 25 years ago. The last game, in 1990, was a 7-6 Dragons victory in eight innings. Drexel was idle last weekend, and is coming off a 17-27 season in 2015.

• Big Ten newcomer Maryland is also participating in this weekend's tournament in Boca Raton, but the Spartans will not meet the Terps on the field until the final weekend of the Big Ten schedule (May 1-3 in East Lansing.)

• All games will have live stats via Gametracker; the Tournament Central webpage has the entire tournament schedule and gametracker links for all 15 games over the three days.

TEAM NOTES
• MSU opened the 2015 season last weekend in DeLand, Florida at the Stetson Leadoff Classic. MSU split a pair of games with Akron, and defeated Rhode Island, Morehead State, and the host Hatters.

• MSU is off to its best start since 2008, when it also began the season 4-1.

• MSU is closing in on it's 1,000 program victory. In the Big Ten, only Michigan (1,512), Nebraska (1,328) and Northwestern (1,104) have won more games. Indiana (991), Penn State (938), and Rutgers (913) are the other programs with 900+ victories.• MSU's pitching staff - a group greatly hindered by injury last season - had an impressive debut in last weekend's tournament. MSU leads the Big Ten in team ERA (1.24) and fewest runs allowed, surrendering just seven over five games. The Spartans are also second in opponent batting average (.188) and third in strikeouts (32).

• The Spartans also had success at the plate. MSU's .298 team batting average is fifth among Conference schools, while ranking fourth in on-base percentage (.397), fifth in hits (39), and sixth in runs (23). Batters drew 16 walks (good for fifth), while leading the league the first weekend in both sacrifice bunts (6) and sac flies (2).

• MSU baserunners stole seven bases, good for third in the B1G; in 2014, MSU stole 27 bases on the season.

• The opening weekend was one of several personnel moves for head coach Jacquie Joseph, experimenting with different lineups. There was no player that started more than four games at any one position, and Joseph employed several pinch hitters to give players at-bats right away. Thirteen players had at least three at-bats over the five games, and each pitcher threw at least four innings on the weekend and made at least two appearances.

• A 20-game home schedule and non-conference games against schools from 17 different conferences (including six NCAA Tournament teams and eight conference champions) comprises Michigan State's 2015 schedule.

• MSU will play 18 of 27 games in Florida in the pre-Big Ten portion of the season, playing four in California next weekend and five in Georgia over Spring Break.

• Once the Spartans "come back north", they will play seven non-conference midweek games around their Big Ten schedule, with six of them coming at Secchia Stadium: against Detroit (March 24), Toledo (April 8), Eastern Michigan (April 14), Western Michigan (April 22), and Notre Dame (April 28); the lone road non-conference contest will be at Central Michigan on Wednesday, April 29.

PLAYER NOTES

• MSU's opponents were the beneficiary of MSU's thin pitching staff a year ago, which had just two healthy hurlers. Both Kristina Zalewski and Dani Goranson returned to the circle after extended injury absences last weekend, to positive results.

• Zalewski was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week, as announced by the conference office on Monday afternoon. She appeared in four of MSU's five games last weekend, earning a pair of wins (over Morehead State and host Stetson), and picked up her first career save in relief against Rhode Island. Over 11.1 innings, she recorded 14 strikeouts, surrendering just five hits (none for extra bases), did not allow a run, and issued just three walks. She posted a career-best seven strikeouts in four innings of work against Morehead State, combining on a two-hitter with Goranson. She tossed 2.1 innings against Stetson, striking out three in relief, allowing the Hatters just one hit over the balance of the game.

• Zalewski leads the Big Ten in ERA (0.0), appearances (4) games finished (2), and saves (1), while ranking fourth in opponent batting average (.135).

• Zalewski's Freshman of the Week honor is MSU's first since Stephanie Sanders earned the award in March 2012.

• Goranson, who last pitched in a game in the spring of 2013, returned to the lineup against Morehead State, tossing three innings, surrendering just one hit and striking out four to earn the save. She also threw 1.2 innings against Akron, striking out one.

• MSU's workhorse a year ago, Valerie Kaff, threw more than 140 innings as a freshman, and came out of the gate in game one with a one-hit gem against Akron, striking out five. She also went 4.2 innings against host Stetson, surrendering two runs and striking out four. She owns a 1.42 ERA in three appearances (12.2 innings).

• Sarah Gutknecht led the Spartans at the plate in the first weekend, hitting .467 with seven hits, including a double and a home run, with four RBI. She led the Spartans in almost all offensive categories a year ago. Her seven hits is eighth in the Big Ten, and she was the only player to have a hit in all five games last weekend. .

• Kassidy Kujawa, also a proven slugger, hit .385, smacking five hits, including a pair of doubles and a home run, with four RBI. She is ninth in the Big Ten in slugging percentage (.769).

• Kujawa and senior Stephanie Sanders are tied for seventh in the B1G with two doubles. Kujawa and Gutknecht, who each hit home runs last week, are tied for third in that category.

• Perhaps MSU's most pleasant surprise was the offensive output of infielder Jacquie Reiser, who hit .429 with a double and a pair of stolen bases. Reiser led the Big Ten in sacrifice bunts a year ago.

• Freshmen Lea Foerster and McKenzie Long saw the most action of any first-year players. Foerster is tied for second on the team, batting .429 with six hits and an RBI; She was 2-2 on stolen base attempts and scored a team-high five runs. Long started four of the five games at shortstop, hitting. 308 with four hits.

• First-year pitcher Bridgette Rainey made her collegiate debut by throwing four innings against Rhode Island on Feb. 6. She allowed two hits and walked two. She also threw 1.1 innings against Akron in the tournament finale, a game in which all four MSU pitchers saw time in the circle.

• Alyssa McBride hit .364 last week, with four hits; she was also walked four times, which ranks fifth in the Big Ten. She walked a team-high 20 times in 2014.

• McKinzie Freimuth is one of top-fielding players in the league. She ranks third in the Big Ten in putouts (35), and owns a perfect fielding percentage. As a team, the Spartans sit atop the B1G with a .979 fielding percentage, and sit second with 102 putouts.