MSU Continues Homestand With Ohio State Series

April 9, 2015

Michigan State (16-21, 1-8 B1G) vs. Ohio State (19-16, 3-6 B1G)
Dates	Fri.- Sun. April 10-12, 2015
Location	East Lansing, Michigan; Secchia Stadium (cap. 1,100)
Live Video Webstream	BTN2Go (Friday, Saturday) MSU All-Access (Sunday)
Radio Broadcast	Spartan Sports Network \| Download the SSN App
Live Statistics
Download Game Notes	Michigan State \| Ohio State
Social Media	@MSU_Softball \| Facebook

MSU-OHIO STATE SERIES NOTES

• Michigan State plays its second Big Ten series of the year at Secchia Stadium, and welcomes Ohio State to East Lansing for a three-game set.

• The Spartans trail in the all-time series, 38-62; the Buckeyes have won nine straight in the series, including a sweep in last year's series in Columbus. This is the first meeting of the teams in East Lansing since the 2012 season.

• Ohio State brings a 19-16 overall record into this weekend's series, and owns a 3-6 Big Ten mark. The Buckeyes were swept by Michigan, won two against Maryland, and lost a pair to Nebraska so far in Big Ten play. OSU was supposed to play Penn State on Wednesday in a Big Ten doubleheader, but the twinbill was postponed to next week due to weather.

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 first two games of this series, will appear on BTN2Go. All other games will have a stream through the official Michigan State Athletics website, which will carry Sunday's contest against the Buckeyes.

• This weekend will be the debut of the Spartan Softball Fan Zone. After Saturday and Sunday home games, 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. On Mondays, fans can visit the MSU Softball Facebook page to see if they made it into the Fan Zone Photo Gallery.

TEAM NOTES
• MSU dropped all three games at Rutgers last week, and then fell in a midweek tilt to Toledo to extend its losing streak to four games, matching it's longest skid of the season.

• The Toledo game on Wednesday started a nine-game homestand for the Spartans, who welcome Eastern Michigan, Michigan, and Minnesota to Secchia Stadium in that stretch.

• At Rutgers, game one extended into a second day with the contest tied 4-4 after nine innings. The game resumed at 1 p.m. on Saturday prior to game two, and despite MSU pushing across a go-ahead run in the top of the 11th, the home team countered with two in the bottom of the frame to take the victory, 6-5. Game two was a wild affair, as the Spartans entered the fourth inning trailing 9-1, but plated 16 runs in the top of the inning to go ahead 17-9 - but allowed the home team to rally in each of the next two innings for a 22-17 victory. Game three was a quiet affair, a garden-variety 5-2 win for the Scarlet Knights to secure the sweep.

• In Wednesday's game against Toledo, MSU trailed 5-0 heading into the seventh inning, but rallied for three runs in its final at bat, falling just short of a comeback.

• MSU's bats have been lively since starting Big Ten play, batting .289 as a team over the last nine games. Meanwhile, the pitching staff has struggled through the first part of the Big Ten season: the staff owns a 9.67 ERA with 54 walks vs. 38 strikeouts over nine 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 37 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 is 13-4 on the season when scoring first, and owns a 12-3 mark when leading after four innings.

• Eighteen of MSU's 37 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.

• The Spartans are 15-9 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 nearly doubled that with 49; in addition, MSU's run production has increased to 4.81 runs per game in 2015, vs. 2.69 a year ago. The Spartans have also surpassed last year's run total of 132 (178) and RBI (161) to pass the 124 a year ago. Of course, the most important number - 16 wins - is more than the Spartans had in 2014 (13).

• The Spartans rank in the top half of the B1G in the "little things" - first in sacrifice bunts (35), seventh in sacrifice flies (9), and fifth in stolen bases (49). The Spartans are also first in batters hit by pitch (49) and ninth in walks (113).

• MSU has hit 47 doubles this season, and has 69 extra-base hits overall; MSU has allowed 58 extra-base hits on the year. Last weekend, MSU smacked five homers, giving MSU 20 on the season - matching the team's 2014 total. Eight different players have hit homers.

• An 17-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. The Spartans capped a 30-game swing away from East Lansing in Lincoln, but will play 17 of its next 25 at Secchia Stadium, starting Saturday vs.

• The Spartans will play five non-conference midweek games around their Big Ten schedule, with four of them coming at Secchia Stadium: against 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 has four players batting .300 or better after having none a year ago.

• Sophomore Sarah Gutknecht led the Spartans offensively at Rutgers, going 7-for-14 at the plate with five RBI. Stephanie Sanders hit .429 and Kassidy Kujawa was right behind with a 5-for-12 performance (.417). They each accounted for a homer as well - along with freshman Lea Foerster and Ellie Stoffer.

• 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.

• Destinee Luna also has a career-best active hitting streak at seven games, while Stephanie Sanders has a hit in six straight, her career high.

• 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 .405 batting average, which is ninth in the Big Ten. She is also fifth in on-base percentage (.533), and eighth in walks (23). McBride has posted career highs in doubles (4), and 14 RBI; her 32 hits are eight 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 .322 this season, has a career-best 15 RBI, and leads the squad with eight doubles. Defensively, she has a team-best 257 putouts in 270 chances (good for second and third in the league in both categories, respectively) with just one error for a .996 fielding percentage.

• Senior RF/DP Stephanie Sanders has been putting together her finest offensive season. With career bests in at-bats (94), hits (25) runs (13), and doubles (6), her 16 RBI is four short of her career high, and her batting average of .266 is right around the .270 she hit as a sophomore.

• Kassidy Kujawa has swung a big bat since returning to the starting lineup for the last seven games. In those contests, she has half of her season total of 18 hits, with three doubles, a home run, and five RBI. Her four home runs and 19 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 (.303), with 37 hits and a team-high 22 RBI, scoring a team-high 26 runs and ranking second with eight stolen bases. Foerster is second on the team with five multiple-RBI games, and is atop the leaderboard with 11 extra-base hits.

• Bridgette Rainey is coming off her two best starts of the season. In the Rutgers finale, she tossed her second career complete game, providing the team a much-needed quality start after using all three pitchers the previous day. On Wednesday, she was the hard-luck loser against Toledo, allowing just one earned run, striking out a career-best seven, and walking just four.