Spartans Head to South Florida

Feb. 25, 2016

Michigan State at the Florida Atlantic Invitational
Dates	Friday-Sunday, Feb. 26-28, 2016
Location	Boca Raton, Fla.; FAU Softball Stadium
Audio/Video	none
Live Statistics	MSUSpartans.com
Download Game Notes	Michigan State
Social Media	@MSU_Softball \| Facebook

THE WEEKEND AHEAD

• Michigan State has five more games on tap this weekend, traveling to Boca Raton for the Florida Atlantic Invitational. MSU will have a pair of games against the host Owls, and will also play Boston University, Columbia, and Stony Brook.

• MSU's history with FAU stands in a 14-9 edge in the all-time series for the Owls - four straight losses for MSU include a pair of extra-inning losses in 2014. The two teams have met each season since 2010. The Owls, at 9-0, are currently receiving votes in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches poll.

• MSU and Columbia have never met on the softball field, but the relationship of the Spartan staff to Columbia skipper Jen Teague has the two teams meeting not once, but twice this season. Teague was the volunteer assistant coach for the Spartans in the 2014 season, and coached nine of MSU's 19 current players. MSU will also see Columbia at the South Carolina tournament in March.

• The Spartans hold a 2-0 record all-time against Stony Brook, downing the Seawolves twice in a 2004 tournament at Florida International. Stony Brook went 2-3 in its opening weekend last week in North Carolina.

• The Terriers of Boston University hold a slim 6-5 edge in the all-time series with MSU, taking the lead in the all-time series with a win at the South Carolina Gamecock Invitational in 2014. BU went 1-3 last week in it's first games of the 2016 season.

LOGISTICS

• Live stats will be available via Gametracker for all five games, with links to each at www.MSUSpartans.com.

• There will not be any audio or video streams of this weekend's games at FAU.

TEAM NOTES
• MSU owns the second-highest win total in the Big Ten, with a 6-4 record through two weeks of play, Nebraska and Michigan both own 8-1 records, while MSU and Purdue (6-3) are two victories behind.

• MSU went 2-3 at the Littlewood Classic at Arizona State last weekend. MSU downed Memphis in five innings on Saturday (9-1) before a Sunday win over Illinois State. In addition to coming out on the short end of a pair of slugfests with Northern Iowa, MSU also fell to No. 17 Arizona State, 5-2.

• MSU hit .362 as a team on the weekend, smacking five doubles, and three home runs. That upped MSU's team battering average on the season to .311, good for fourth in the Big Ten. MSU's slugging percentage (.426) and on-base percentage (.370) both rank sixth. MSU had seven players hit .300 or better on the weekend.

• MSU had a season-best 12 hits in three of the five games in the desert - in the first game vs. Northern Iowa, vs. Memphis, and in the finale vs. Illinois State. On the year, MSU has 84 hits, good for third in the Big Ten.

• The Spartans doubled their run production in week two, plating 31 runs in their five games at ASU after scoring just 16 at the FGCU Tournament opening weekend. MSU is now fourth in the Big Ten in runs scored (47).

• Even with it's hitters busting out with impressive numbers last weekend, the Spartans are still content to play "small ball" to generate offense and plate runs. MSU is first in the league in sac bunts (8) and second in sacrifice flies (3), and tied for the league lead in stolen bases (15).

• MSU's pitching staff has combined for a league-best 70 strikeouts, with a league-best 23 of those batters caught looking.

• A schedule featuring 28 non-conference opponents from 15 Division I leagues around the country in addition to eight Big Ten foes awaits the 2016 edition of the Michigan State softball team. The Spartans will spar with six non-conference teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament a year ago: super-regional participant Georgia out of the SEC, and regional teams South Carolina (SEC) Notre Dame (ACC), Florida Atlantic (C-USA), Chattanooga (SoCon), and Arizona State (Pac-12). Add in College World Series participant Michigan and perennial NCAA qualifier Northwestern from MSU's conference slate, and Joseph expects her team to be challenged from the first pitch of the season on Feb. 12.

• Jacquie Joseph, who will be inducted into the NFCA Hall of Fame in December 2016, starts her 23rd season at the helm of the MSU softball program. Spartan All-America Jessica (Beech) Bograkos shares the dugout with her mentor for the ninth season. Bograkos serves as the team's pitching coach. New to the staff this season is South Carolina product Kaela Jackson as an assistant coach, Spartan All-America Lindsey Hansen returns as a volunteer assistant, and fifth-year student-athlete McKinzie Freimuth is the student coach.

• The Spartans finished the tournament portion of their schedule a year ago with a 15-12 overall record, the fifth-most wins of any B1G team prior to conference play. MSU is 6-4 two weekends into 2016.

PLAYER NOTES

• Lea Foerster led MSU with an 11-of-19 performance at the plate (.579) in her five games at ASU, smacking a double, and posting four RBI and a stolen base. She had multiple hits in four of the five contests, including a perfect 4-for-4 effort in the tournament finale vs. Illinois State, tying her career best for hits in a game. (She previously set the standard at home last April in a game vs. Eastern Michigan, going 4-for-5).

• Foerster now leads the Spartans with a .485 overall batting average, which ranks sixth in the Big Ten. Her 16 hits ranks third, and her three doubles is tied for seventh with Sarah Gutknecht and Lindsey Besson.

• Sarah Gutknecht hit .467 at the Littlewood Classic, ranking second on the team with seven hits on the weekend and adding four RBI. Gutknecht smacked her 15th home run of her career vs. the No. 17 Sun Devils, moving her into a tie for ninth place all time on MSU's career homer list.

• Kassidy Kujawa also hit her 15th career home run, vs. Northern Iowa in the first matchup of the two teams. She and Gutknecht share the No. 9 spot in the career homers list with Patti Raduenz (1993-96).

• Shanin Thomas set a pair of career bests on the weekend. Against Memphis, Thomas was issued three walks. It was one shy of the school record of four, and the 24th time in school history one player had three walks in a game. The last time it happened was against Ohio State on April 10, 2015, when now-student assistant coach McKinzie Freimuth had three free passes. On Sunday, Thomas tied her career best with three hits vs. Illinois State, matching her three-hit effort last February vs. Providence. Thomas is now hitting .250 on the year with a team-best seven walks (fourth in the Big Ten).

• Lindsey Besson is reminding everyone what the Spartans were missing with her missing the 2015 season with injury. She hit .375 last weekend, with three doubles an four RBI. She also had a career-best 11 putouts in the second game vs. Northern Iowa (Feb. 20).

• Foerster and Besson each have six-game active hitting streaks, one off the current team leader Sarah Gutknecht, who has a hit in seven straight contests. Gutknecht also has a team-best streak of nine games reaching base, with Foerster right behind with seven.

• Celeste Wood picked a good time for her first career home run, in the first game of the Littlewood Classic against Northern Iowa. Her grand slam in the fifth inning vs. the Panthers fueled a five-run rally. Wood hit .353 on the weekend (6-for-17) with a team-best RBI and two runs scored and two stolen bases, and ranks third on the team overall with a .370 batting average.

• Dani Goranson has been impressive as she continues to rebuild her strength and form after nearly two full seasons out of action. She made a staff-best three starts in Arizona, and her best outing was a complete-game effort against the host No. 17 Sun Devils where she scattered six hits and walked just two in a 5-2 loss. She also started the second game vs. Northern Iowa and the tournament finale vs. Illinois State. She has thrown 19.1 innings, second among the Spartan hurlers.

• Goranson ranks seventh in the Big Ten with eight of her 14 strikeouts on the season looking. She is also fourth in the league in games started (5) and owns an ERA of 4.71.

• Kristina Zalewski shouldered an 18-inning load at ASU, with a 3.89 ERA in four appearances. She struck out 22 batters and allowed just three extra-base hits among the 17 she surrendered. She currently boasts a 2.88 ERA, and is third in the leagure in strikeouts (40) while leading the B1G in strikeouts looking (11), saves (2) and appearances (8).

• Zalewski had four saves in 2015, which ranked in a tie for third in the Big Ten. She already has half that total through five games this season, and her three wins is tied for fifth among B1G pitchers.