Busy Week For Softball With Five Home Games

April 14, 2015

Michigan State (16-24, 1-11 B1G) vs. Eastern Michigan (9-24) / Michigan (37-6, 10-2 B1G)
Dates	Tuesday, April 14 vs. EMU, 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 15 vs. Michigan, 4:30 p.m.
Location	East Lansing, Michigan; Secchia Stadium (cap. 1,100)
Live Video Webstream	MSU All-Access (vs. EMU)BTN2Go (vs. Michigan)
Radio Broadcast	Spartan Sports Network \| Download the SSN App
Live Statistics
Download Game Notes	Michigan State \| Eastern Michigan \| Michigan
Social Media	@MSU_Softball \| Facebook

THE WEEK AHEAD

• Michigan State hosts five games this week at Secchia Stadium, and kicks it off by entertaining Eastern Michigan and Michigan in midweek contests. This weekend, a three-game series with Minnesota is on tap.

• The Spartans lead the all-time series with the Eagles by a 30-16 margin, which includes a 1-0 no-hitter by Spartan hurler Kelly Smith last April. MSU owns a 16-9 all-time record in games played in East Lansing. The Eagles bring a 9-24 record into Tuesday's game.

• No. 4 Michigan holds a commanding lead in the series, with wins in 13 straight to improve to 82-27 in the all-time series, 38-62. Thirteen of MSU's wins in the series have come in East Lansing. Michigan has won six straight after back-to-back losses against Iowa and Minnesota, and sits at 37-6 entering the week. The Wolverines most recently posted a three-game sweep at Rutgers, after which Abby Ramirez was named B1G co-Player of the Week, and Megan Betsa was named Pitcher of the Week.

LOGISTICS

• Live stats will be available via Gametracker for all three games, with links to each at www.MSUSpartans.com. The Gametracker program has undergone an upgrade, allowing smartphone and tablet users to access it on their mobile devices.

• MSU has a live radio broadcast of all softball games, both home and away, at www.spartansportsnetwork.com. Matt Tjapkes will have the call, and will be joined in the booth for home games by Ali Grant, a four-year Spartan letterwinner (2009-12) who is in her second season as a color analyst. In addition, Spartan Sports Network's 24/7 app allows listeners to hear all games carried by the network on their mobile devices.

• All MSU home games will have a video stream of the game available this season. Several games, including the game vs. Michigan, will appear on BTN2Go. All other games will have a stream through the official Michigan State Athletics website, which will carry Tuesday's contest against the Eagles.

• Last weekend was the debut of the Spartan Softball Fan Zone. After Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday's home games this week, fans can come meet the Spartan players, get autographs, and take pictures with the team in the concourse behind the bleachers on the home side, The team will give away schedule posters and sign autographs as well as take pictures. Fans can then visit the MSU Softball Facebook page to see if they made it into the Fan Zone Photo Gallery.

TEAM NOTES
• MSU is mired in its longest winning drought of the season, dropping the last seven games to Rutgers, Toledo, and Ohio State. This week wraps a nine-game homestand, as MSU has road games at Michigan and Indiana next week, around a midweek contest at Secchia Stadium vs. Western Michigan.

• The Spartans have scored 40 runs in those seven losses, average 4.775 runs per game on the season.

• MSU is hitting .295 as a team in Big Ten play, but the pitching staff owns a 9.29 ERA with 69 walks vs. 52 strikeouts over 12 games.

• The Spartans finished the tournament portion of their schedule with a 15-12 overall record, the fifth-most wins of any Big Ten team prior to conference play.

• Eleven of MSU's 40 games have been one-run affairs, and the Spartans are 5-6 in those contests. MSU's 6-5 11-inning loss to Rutgers was MSU's first loss in extra innings this season (vs. two wins)

• MSU had a pair of instances of "too little, too late" last week, as it trailed 5-0 headed into the bottom of the seventh, and scored three times in it's last at-bat; the Spartans also trailed 15-0 before rallying for five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning against Ohio State on .

• Eighteen of MSU's 40 games this season have been neutral-site contests, and MSU holds a 13-5 record in those games. MSU is 2-13 in true road games and 1-6 at home.

• The Spartans are 15-12 when scoring three runs or more, but 1-12 when scoring two or fewer. MSU has scored fewer than four runs just once in nine Big Ten games.

• MSU has already surpassed 2014 totals in several categories - the Spartans stole just 27 bases last year, and have nearly doubled that with 49; in addition, MSU's run production has increased to 4.78 runs per game in 2015, vs. 2.69 a year ago. The Spartans have also surpassed last year's run total of 132 (191) and RBI (173) to pass the 124 a year ago. The Spartans have already surpassed last year's total of 20 home runs (23).

• The Spartans rank in the top half of the B1G in the "little things" - first in sacrifice bunts (31), sixth in sacrifice flies (9), and fifth in stolen bases (49). The Spartans are also second in batters hit by pitch (51) and eighth in walks (127).

• MSU has hit 51 doubles this season, and has 76 extra-base hits overall; MSU has allowed 70 extra-base hits on the year. Last weekend, MSU smacked three homers, giving MSU 23 on the season. Eight different players have hit homers.

PLAYER NOTES

• MSU has three players batting .300 or better after having none a year ago.

• Freshman McKenzie Long led MSU offensively against Ohio State, batting .400 with a double, a home run, and three RBI. Stephanie Sanders led the team with four RBI, going 3-for-10 at the plate. Kassidy Kujawa also homered, smacking her career-best fifth of the season.

• Long owns MSU's second-longest active hitting streak, at three games. She leads the team with seven multiple-RBI games and is fourth with eight multiple-hit contests.

• Sarah Gutknecht is currently riding a career-best 11-game hitting streak, tied for the team's best of the season (Alyssa McBride had 11 earlier this year). In that stretch, she's hitting .486 with 17 hits, two doubles, two homers, and 10 RBI. She missed the Ohio State series with an injury. In her last Big Ten series, she went 7-for-14 at the plate with five RBI at Rutgers.

• In Big Ten games only, Gutknecht is hitting .484, good for sixth in the Big Ten. Her on-base percentage is tied for 13th (.529).

• The senior class has been big contributors for MSU this season, with three players currently posting career-best seasons. Alyssa McBride continues to lead the Spartans with a .384 batting average, ranks sixth in on-base percentage (.513), and eighth in walks (24). McBride has posted career highs in doubles (4), and 14 RBI; her 33 hits are nine more than her 2014 total and short of her career best of 40.

• Classmate 1B McKinzie Freimuth has not only continued her steadfast field defense, but is hitting a career-best .309 this season, has a career-best 17 RBI, and leads the squad with nine doubles. Defensively, she has a team-best 280 putouts in 294 chances (good for second and third in the league in both categories, respectively) with just one error for a .997 fielding percentage.

• Senior RF/DP Stephanie Sanders has been putting together her finest offensive season. With career bests in at-bats (104), hits (28) runs (16), and doubles (6), her 20 RBI ties her career high, and her batting average of .269 is right below the .270 she hit as a sophomore.

• Kassidy Kujawa has swung a big bat since returning to the starting lineup for the last 11 games. In those contests, she is hitting .364 with 10 hits, with three doubles, three home runs and five RBI. Her five home runs and 20 RBI this season both surpass her freshman year total.

• Freshman Lea Foerster is establishing herself in the Spartan lineup. On the season, the center fielder is fourth on the team in batting (.297), with team bests in hits (38), RBI (23), and runs (28) and ranking third with eight stolen bases. She is second on the team with six multiple-RBI games, and is atop the leaderboard with 12 extra-base hits.

• Bridgette Rainey is coming off her four best starts of the season, getting the nod in four of the last five games. after back-to-back complete games against Rutgers and Toledo, she tossed 6.1 innings against Ohio State, striking out seven and walking just three.