Spartans Head East for B1G Series at Rutgers

April 27, 2017

Michigan State at Rutgers
Dates	April 28-30, 2017
Location	Piscataway, NJ.Rutgers Softball Complex
Live Statistics
Live Video Streams	Friday, 3 pm Saturday, 1 pm Sunday, 12 pm
Radio Broadcast	Spartan Sports Network Matt Tjapkes, pxp Download the SSN App
Download Game Notes	Michigan State \| Rutgers
Social Media	@MSU_Softball \| MichiganStateSoftball @MichStSB

THE WEEKEND AHEAD
• Michigan State heads to Rutgers for a three-game Big Ten series this weekend.

• Live statistics links for all three contests can be found on the team schedule page of MSUSpartans.com.

• All three games will be carried on BTN2Go.com.

• Spartan Sports Network continues its coverage of Spartan softball, and will provide a live broadcast from every game, home and away, for the remainder of the season. Matt Tjapkes is back for his third season on the call, with former Spartan standout Ali Grant and All-American and former pitching coach Jessica (Beech) Bograkos providing analysis on home games.

• MSU owns an 8-6 lead in the all-time series, but the Scarlet Knights hold a 4-2 edge since they joined the Big Ten. MSU is 0-3 at the Rutgers softball complex.

• The Scarlet Knights own a 12-31 overall record and are 3-9 in the Big Ten. Rutgers took a 6-2 win over Penn State in their last outing, and had their midweek doubleheader with Maryland postponed due to weather.

• Taryn Atlee leads the Scarlet Knights with a .411 average, with seven doubles and four triples. Rebecca Hall (.364, nine doubles, 11 homers), and Nicolette Anico (.317) round out the top of the offensive charts. Pitcher Shayla Sweeney has thrown twice the number of innings (45.1) in Big Ten play of any of her teammates, and she owns a 7.41 ERA and four complete Conference games; overall she has a 4.89 ERA in 130.1 innings, 10 complete games and 57 strikeouts. Whiney Jones (6.06 ERA, 67.0 IP) and Aubrie Levine (8.72 ERA, 35.1 IP) have also seen time in the circle during the Big Ten season.

SPARTAN TEAM NOTES
• Michigan State has won four of its last six games, and sits in a tie for seventh place (with Wisconsin and Iowa) in the Big Ten standings. With just two weekends of Conference play left, teams are all vying for position for the upcoming Big Ten Tournament, which will be held in Ann Arbor May 11-14.

• The Spartans played just nine home games this season and owned a 8-1 mark on their home field. The 2017 season was supposed to feature a homestand that had 16 of 18 games at home, but the flooding of the Red Cedar River forced the relocation two B1G series (vs. Penn State and Illinois) to neutral sites as well as flipping a home game against Michigan (April 12) to Ann Arbor. MSU went 2-5 in the seven relocated games.

• MSU is 8-1 at Secchia Stadium, 12-6 in neutral-site games, and 5-12 in true road games this season.

• In MSU's 26 games away from Secchia Stadium to start the season, the Spartans were the true or designated visiting team in 20 of those contests.

• On Wednesday March 29 vs. Western Michigan, head coach Jacquie Joseph earned her 650th victory at Michigan State. Now in her 24th season as the Spartan mentor and 29th season overall as a head coach, she has 795 victories in her career.

• MSU ranks in the top third of the Big Ten in most offensive categories - first in triples (20), second in slugging percentage (.532), homers (50) RBI (245), sac flies (13),and hit by pitch (43), third in walks, (152), on-base pct. (.413), runs (265), and sac bunts (33) while landing fourth in batting average, (.313), hits (361), and doubles.

• Entering the week, MSU ranked nationally in several categories. The Spartans were 29th in batting average, seventh in homers per game (1.14), sixth in slugging percentage, and second in triples per game (0.45). MSU was also 17th in both scoring (5.95 runs per game), and on-base percentage.

• On the season, Michigan State has accumulated 132 extra-base hits, good for 36.6% of its 361 base hits. Only Minnesota (141) has more extra-base hits among Big Ten teams.

• The Spartan batters have struck out 147 times in a combined 1153 at-bats, the second-fewest of schools in the Big Ten (Minnesota has 131 to lead the way.)

• MSU's offense is looking at a third consecutive year of top-10 all-time numbers. MSU's current 50 home runs is second in MSU's single-season record book. The school record is 53, hit in 2011. MSU's current pace of 1.14 per game (seventh nationally) would project the Spartans at a school-record 58 at the end of the regular season. The Spartans also have 20 triples (third), 245 RBI (third), 265 runs scored (tied for fifth).

• MSU has had only one team in program history hit .300 for a season - the 2004 squad hit .306. The Spartans are currently hitting .313, with a slugging percentage (.532) and on-base percentage (.408) that would also be the program's historical best.

• The MSU pitching staff is first in the Big Ten in saves (8), sixth in victories (25), and ranks fifth with 225 strikeouts on the season.

PLAYER NOTES

• Sophomore Kaitlyn Eveland is currently swinging the hot bat. In the last 10 games, she is hitting 14-for-28 (.500) with six doubles, two homers, a triple, and 14 RBI with eight walks.

• Eveland is third on the team and 10th in the Big Ten with a .386 average, ranks eighth in both slugging (.684) and on-base percentage (478), and her 40 RBI is tied for seventh. She has 44 base hits, compiling nine doubles, two triples, seven homers, and 40 RBI, all career highs.

• Against Ohio State, Eveland had three doubles and four RBI with two runs scored, including two doubles in the middle game to tie for second all-time in a game. On Tuesday against Eastern Michigan, she had a bases-loaded double to bring home three runs in her only at-bat, as she was walked three times - which is also tied for second in a game in MSU history. On Wednesday at Central Michigan, the third baseman hit a game-tying home run in the top of the fifth inning, her seventh of the season.

• Eveland is riding the team's longest active hitting streak (six games), which is her season high. On five occasions this season, she has compiled three hits or more, which is the most of any Spartan this year.

• Eveland and Ebonee Echols each have 40 RBI, tied for 10th in a single season in MSU history. Lea Foerster is right behind with 38.

• Ebonee Echols delivered a bases-loaded walkoff single to down Ohio State on Saturday, part of a three-hit day for the sophomore left fielder. On the season, she boasts a .331 batting average, starting all 44 games this season. She leads her team with 11 multiple-RBI games.

• Echols leads the B1G and Division I softball with 11 triples this season. That total is one behind the single-season school record of 12, held since 1980 by Izzy Forester. Her 20 career triples is the most in school history.

• Echols ranks third nationally among active players in career triples, but is the only sophomore among the top 10 active career players in triples. Both players ahead of her - Taylor Brown (24) from Abilene Christian and Lindsay Crowdus of Memphis (22) - are seniors. The all-time NCAA record for career triples is 51, and the second-place holder has 38.

• Echols is tied for sixth all-time in the Big Ten in career triples, and has the most by any player in the Big Ten since 1999:

24 Donna Devanney, Penn State ( 1985-86, 88-89)
23 Lisa Panetta, Michigan (1982-85)

22 Nan Sichler, Penn State ( 1985-88)
Patti Benedict, Michigan (1990-93)
uliette Brooks, Rutgers (1996-99)
Kathy Foley, Nebraska (1977-80)

20 Ebonee Echols, Michigan State (2016-17)
Shelley Mendernach, Minnesota (1976-79)

• Echols is perhaps MSU's best hitter in the clutch. She is batting .386 with two out (17-of-44), and 24 of her 40 RBI on the season have come with two out, the most on the team. She is also batting 6-of-12 with the bases loaded (.500). Eveland is batting a smart .714 (15-of-21) with a runner on third with less than two outs, and is among four players hitting .500 or better with runners on base - Lea Foerster (45-of-75, .600) leads that group. Long leads the Spartans with a .479 average with runners in scoring position - followed by Foerster (.417), Eveland (388), and Echols (.385).

• Lea Foerster leads the team and ranks eighth in the Big Ten with a .391 batting average. In her other place among B1G leaders, she is third in slugging percentage (.805), fourth in on-base percentage (.524), and leads the B1G in doubles (18) and runs scored (55). She is also tied for 10th in hits (52), 10th in RBI (38), and third in total bases (107) while ranking fifth in home runs (11), which is her career best.

• Entering the week, Foerster ranked seventh in doubles and third in doubles per game (0.38), 25th in on-base and slugging percentage, and second in runs scored per game (1.21). She is also 33rd in total bases (99) and 13th in hit by pitch (0.38/per game)

• Foerster has 16 multiple-hit games this season, and has had two different 10-game hitting streaks. She had reached base in 37 consecutive games before that came to an end last Sunday vs. Ohio State.

• Foerster has 18 double, bettering the 15 she had as a sophomore. That total is good for third all-time in a single season at MSU.

• Foerster is steadily moving up both the single-season and career records charts at MSU. This season, her 55 runs is an all-time program record, while her extra-base hits (31) rank second and her 18 doubles is tied for third. She has hit 11 homers, which is tied for fifth in a season in MSU history. On the career front, Foerster has 45 career doubles, (tied for third), 10 triples (tied for 10th), 20 homers (tied for seventh) and 75 extra-base hits, which ranks fourth all-time. Her 175 career base knocks ranks 16th in the Spartan annals, and with 143 career runs scored, she is now MSU's all-time leader in that category.

• Sarah Gutknecht, the team's lone senior, is also moving up the career charts. Her 28 career home runs is third in the Spartan annals. She ranks 20th on MSU's all-time hit list with 169 career base hits, and is fifth in MSU history with 118 career RBI. Gutknecht is hitting .289 on the year, with nine doubles, nine home runs, and 29 RBI. Gutknecht hit her fourth sac fly of the season against Toledo (April 19), which is tied for the most in the Big Ten.

• McKenzie Long is hitting .344 over the last 10 contests, with a pair of triples among her 11 hits in that span. She's hitting .306 on the season with 18 RBI, 11 sac hits (tops in the Big Ten), three triples and two doubles.

• Freshman Kelcey Carrasco is hitting .320 and is tied for 10th in the Big Ten with eight home runs. She has 29 RBI and owns a .531 slugging percentage.

• Lindsey Besson tied a school record vs. Toledo when she was hit three times in the batter's box, a record originally set by Sandy Lewis on March 2, 2002 by North Carolina. She was hit three times by three different Toledo pitchers.She ranks fifth in the Big Ten in hit by pitch (9), a category led by Foerster (16).

• Besson has started 24 games behind the plate, and with just three errors in 28 games, owns a .986 fielding percentage, second on the team behind center fielder Lea Foerster (1.000). In her fourth season in the program, Besson has a great handle on the Spartan pitching staff.

• Kelly Zackrison has also swung a hot bat of late, with eight hits in 18 at bats over the last 10 games (.444). Zackrison has started 21 of 35 games, is batting .328 with two doubles and a homer.

• Melanie Baccay has started 39 of 41 games at second base, and is hitting .280 on the year with two homers and three doubles. Baccay owns the team's longest active reached base streak (10 games). She and classmate Kelcey Carrasco both hit home runs in their first college games on Feb. 10 vs. North Florida, and Baccay added a second vs. No. 16 Georgia (3/4).

• Jordan Watson has appeared in nine of MSU's last 10 games, picking up six decisions (3-3) and a save with just one start in that stretch. She had a win, a loss and a save in the OSU series, and was the pitcher of record when MSU dropped a heartbreaking 6-2 walkoff loss on Wednesday at Central Michigan.

• Watson is tied for first in the Big Ten in saves (4), which is tied for third in a single season in MSU history. She is also the Big Ten leader in relief appearances (23), and is tied for 15th with eight wins to her credit. She is tied for ninth in the B1G with 30 appearances, four behind league leaders (34).

• Bridgette Rainey has logged the most innings of anyone on the staff, compiling a total of 104.2, just outside the top 15 in the Big Ten. She owns an ERA of 4.35, is seventh in the B1G in wins (12), fourth in strikeouts (113), 11th in starts (19) and 11th in total appearances (29). Her 12 victories and 113 strikeouts are both career highs.

• Kristina Zalewski owns a 3.25 ERA on the season, with a 3-6 overall record, 65 strikeouts in 73.1 innings, and three complete games. She ranks 14th in the Big Ten in strikeouts despite missing most of the pre-B1G ten season, and her 10 career saves, is tied with Jessica Beech for third place in the MSU record book.

• With 422 career strikeouts, Zalewski is now second all-time at MSU. She is one of five pitchers to have reached the 400-strikeout mark, with Jessica Beech the leader with 659.