Hoosiers On Tap In Big Ten Tournament Opener Thursday

May 9, 2017

2017 Big Ten Tournament
Dates	May 11-13, 2017
Location	Ann Arbor, Mich. Alumni Field
Tickets	Purchase Tickets
Tournament Website	Big Ten Tournament Central
Live Statistics
Television	Big Ten Network Thursday: Dean Linke (pxp) and Jennie Ritter (analysis) Friday-Saturday: Lisa Byington (pxp) and Carol Bruggeman (analysis)
Live Video Streams	vs. Indiana
Radio Broadcast	Spartan Sports Network Matt Tjapkes, pxp Download the SSN App
Download Game Notes	Michigan State \| Indiana
Social Media	@MSU_Softball \| MichiganStateSoftball @MichStSB

THE WEEKEND AHEAD
• Michigan State opens the 2017 Big Ten Tournament on Thursday. The Spartans earned the No. 7 seed and will take on No. 10 Indiana in the first round at 4:30 pm; the winner will advance to play No. 2 Michigan on Friday.

• Michigan will serve as the host of the Big Ten Tournament in 2017. The Tournament Central website (http://tinyurl.com/2017B1GSoftball) has links to all live statistics, web streams, box scores, and fan information.

• All games of the Big Ten softball tournament will air live on Big Ten Network. Dean Linke and Jennie Ritter will broadcast the second half of Thursday's schedule, and Lisa Byington and Carol Bruggeman will call the Friday and Saturday games.

• 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.

• At 29-21, the Spartans have the most wins since the 2007 team went 33-26.

• The Spartans will be the No. 7 seed for the fifth time in program history (2006, 2007, 2008, and 2013). MSU is 1-4 all-time as a No. 7 seed.

• This is the first time that the Spartans will face Indiana in Big Ten Tournament play. Should the Spartans advance to play Michigan, it would be the team tied for the most games against MSU in B1G tournament action - the Spartans have faced both Michigan (2-3) and Northwestern (1-4) five times.

• MSU trails 55-65 in the all-time series against the Hoosiers, and trail the series 6-8 all-time in games played at a neutral site. MSU has taken four of the last six games between the teams, including two of three last weekend in Bloomington. Friday was a pitcher's duel that went to IU's Tara Trainer, who three-hit the Spartans; Bridgette Rainey went the distance and struck out three, scattering six hits in an equally strong outing . MSU rebounded for a 14-hit, 6-5 victory on Saturday behind a 10-strikeout performance from Kristina Zalewski, then blanked the Hoosiers 8-0 in the Monday finale.

• Indiana (23-30, 9-14 Big Ten) entered last weekend in a four-way tie for eighth in the Big Ten standings, but fell into a three-way tie and ends up as the 10th seed in the tournament.

• Rebecca Blitz leads the offensive attack for the Hoosiers with a .338 average in 51 starts. Much of IU's run production comes from Taylor Uden (.303, 35 RBI, 7 HR, 11 doubles) and CaraMia Tsirigos (.301, 8 HR, 31 RBI). Tara Trainer has nearly double the time in the circle than anyone else on her pitching staff (169.0 innings), and she owns a 2.94 ERA and 172 strikeouts in 39 appearances, with 16 complete games. Emily Goodin threw nine innings in last weekend's series and has a 3.85 ERA over 96.1 innings.

SPARTAN TEAM NOTES
• Michigan State has won eight of its last 12 games, with two losses coming via walkoff hits by the home team in the bottom of the seventh (at Central Michigan and Rutgers).

• The Spartans have had seven walkoff losses this season, and also had three walkoff victories. MSU also won a game vs. Rutgers with a two-run homer in the top of the eighth.

• MSU played just nine home games this season and owned a 8-1 mark on its 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 9-14 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.

• MSU ranks in the top third of the Big Ten in most offensive categories - first in triples (20), second in home runs (60), slugging percentage (.540) and hit by pitch (47), and third in batting average (.317), on-base pct. (.410), doubles (79) and RBI (280), while landing fourth in hits (424). walks (163), runs (302), sac bunts (38) and sac flies (12).

• Entering the week, MSU ranked among the national top 20 in seven different categories: Triples per game (fourth, 0.41), Home runs per game (1.18, fourth), slugging percentage (.538, fifth), scoring (6.00 runs per game, 17th), 18th) and doubles per game (1.55, 12th). (The national statistics were released before the conclusion of MSU's Monday game vs. IU)

• On the season, Michigan State has accumulated 159 extra-base hits (79 doubles, 20 triples, 60 home runs) , good for 37.6% of its 424 base knocks. Only Minnesota (166) has more extra-base hits among Big Ten teams, with Michigan (137) ranking third.

• Spartan batters have struck out 164 times in a combined 1338 at-bats, the second-fewest of schools in the Big Ten (Minnesota has 143 to lead the way.)

• MSU's offense is looking at a third consecutive year of top-10 all-time numbers. This Spartan team has already established new school records in home runs (60), runs (302), and RBI (280), while MSU's batting average (.317), slugging percentage (540) and on-base percentage (.406) would all rank first if the season ended today.

• MSU's 79 doubles and 20 triples both rank third in the Spartan single-season record book.

• The MSU pitching staff is first in the Big Ten in saves (8), sixth in victories (29), and ranks fifth with 253 strikeouts on the season.

PLAYER NOTES
• Despite not getting the start in the opening game of the series, Lexi White was MSU's top offensive producer at Indiana. She went 5-for-8 at the plate (.625) with three homers and four RBI. She hit one of those homers as part of a 3-for-4 effort in the Sunday game, which tied her career best for hits in a game. In Monday's finale, she homered twice to tie the school record for home runs in a game. She had two RBI in each of the two final games of the series.

• All seven of White's home runs this season have come in Big Ten play - that ranks third among Big Ten players in Conference games only.

• Kelly Zackrison, who platoons with White in right field, came off the bench on Monday's game vs. Indiana and delivered a pinch-hit RBI single, then stayed in the game and had a two-run double in the sixth inning for a game-best three RBI. Zackrison has started 25 of 40 games, is batting .308 with four doubles and a homer.

• Sophomore Kaitlyn Eveland has perhaps been MSU's most consistently improving player. She hit .500 in the Indiana series with two doubles among her four hits, and is hitting .517 over the last 10 games, which includes nine doubles and two homers to go along with 14 RBI, drawing eight walks.

• Eveland was injured during the team's spring break trip, and returned to action once the Big Ten season began. Since returning to form, her production has skyrocketed. Since the Illinois series began on April 14 (16 games), Eveland has hit 11 of her 14 doubles, three of her eight homers, and had 21 of her team-best 47 RBI, hitting .479 with a .938 slugging percentage and .583 on-base percentage.

• Eveland leads the team and ranks sixth in the Big Ten with a .396 average, ranks sixth in slugging (.709) and eighth in on-base percentage (.484). She is fifth with 47 RBI, a total which ranks tied for fifth in a season at MSU.

• Eveland's 24 extra base hits is second among the Spartans and tied for eighth on MSU's single-season list. Her .396 average would fall in MSU's all-time single-season top 10.

• Lea Foerster's 21 doubles and 14 homers this season are both the second-highest totals all-time in MSU history, while she has set the school record in runs scored (63), and extra-base hits (37).

• Foerster's batting average is .390, which is 10th among Big Ten players. She leads the league in doubles (21), is third in slugging percentage (.825), and ranks fourth in on-base percentage (.518). She is also among league leaders in hits (60, 11th), RBI (42, 11th), and home runs (14, fourth).

• Entering the week, Foerster ranked in the NCAA Top 20 in doubles (21, first), runs per game (1.24, third), slugging pct (.833, 16th), and total bases (125, 14th). She is 26th in on-base percentage (.518), and 37th in homers per game (0.29).

• On the career front, Foerster is MSU's all-time run-scoring leader (151), while posting 48 career doubles, (third), 10 triples (tied for 10th), 23 homers (sixth) and 81 extra-base hits, which ranks in a tie for second all-time. Her 183 career base knocks ranks 14th in the Spartan annals.

• Both Foerster and Eveland are making a run at becoming MSU's sixth-ever .400 hitter for a season. Patty Raduenz (.422 in 1996, .414 in 1995) did it twice, while Lindsey Hansen (.404, 2011) Kylene Hopkins (.404, 2013), and Keri Lemasters (.400, 1996) are the four to have accomplished the feat.

• Freshman Kelcey Carrasco brings a 10-game hitting streak into the Big Ten Tournament, the second-longest streak for any Spartan this season and one away from Ebonee Echols' 11-game season best. She is hitting .347 on the season and is tied for ninth in the Big Ten with nine home runs. She is just the second freshman in school history to belt nine homers, and looks to become the first to have double-digit round-trippers.

• Carrasco was 8-for-12 (.667) in the series against Rutgers two weeks ago with a pair of doubles, a homer, and five RBI, tied for the team lead. On Friday, Carrasco hit a two-run homer in the top of the eighth inning to help MSU to a 4-2 win, capped MSU's rally in the top of the seventh inning on Saturday to rally from a 5-1 deficit to tie the game at 5-5, and then had a career day on Sunday with a 4-for-4 effort vs. Rutgers.

• Carrasco, who has split time this season between starting at catcher (19 games) and DP (27 games), is second on the team in both multiple-hit (15) and multiple-RBI (10) contests. She has reached base safely in 12 consecutive games, the active team leader.

• Echols is perhaps MSU's best hitter in the clutch, but she certainly has competition for that title. She is batting .375 with two out (18-of-48), and 24 of her 42 RBI on the season have come with two out, the most on the team. She is also batting 7-of-13 with the bases loaded (.538), and her 13 at-bats in that situation is the most on the team as well. Eveland is batting a smart .739 (17-of-23) with a runner on third with less than two outs, while Long leads the Spartans with a .479 average with runners in scoring position - followed by Carrasco (.460), Foerster (.432), Eveland (.415), and Echols (.389).

• Ebonee Echols boasts a .327 batting average, starting all 50 games this season. She leads her team with 12 multiple-RBI games, and also had the team's longest hitting streak of the season (11 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 (26) 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.

• Sarah Gutknecht, the team's lone senior, is also moving up the Spartan career records. Her 29 career home runs is third in the Spartan annals. She ranks 17th on MSU's all-time hit list with 175 career base hits, is sixth in extra-base hits (65), tied for seventh in career doubles (36), eighth in career walks (64), and is fourth in MSU history with 120 career RBI.

• Gutknecht is hitting .258 on the year, with 11 doubles, 10 home runs, and 31 RBI. Her 10 homers ranks in a tie for seventh place in MSU's single-season record book. 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 .301 in her junior season, with 19 RBI, 14 sac hits (second in the Big Ten), three triples (fourth, B1G) and three doubles.

• Long delivered a 4-for-10 performance in the Indiana series, with a double, a walk, and a sac bunt. After missing several games in each her first two seasons, Long is one of five players to appear in all 50 games this season.

• Lindsey Besson tied a school record vs. Toledo (April 19) 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 (11), second on the team behind Lea Foerster (17).

• Besson has started 27 games behind the plate, and with just two errors in 28 games, owns a .988 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.

• Melanie Baccay had a career-best three hits in the Sunday victory over Indiana, and hit .444 in the series overall.

• Baccay has started 44 of 46 games at second base, and is hitting .283 on the year with two homers and four doubles. 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).

• Over the course of the Big Ten schedule, Kristina Zalewski was generally the game one starter, Bridgette Rainey in game two, and a staff outing in game three, with freshman Jordan Watson available for a relief stint in any of the three games. Zalewski went the distance in five of her 15 Big Ten starts, and Rainey had two complete games in seven starts. Watson appeared in 15 of MSU's 23 Big Ten contests.

• Kristina Zalewski owns a 3.08 ERA on the season, with a 6-6 overall record, 85 strikeouts in 95.1 innings, and six complete games. She is tied for eighth in saves (2), and her 10 career saves is tied with Jessica Beech for third place in the MSU record book.

• Zalewski threw nine innings over the weekend at Indiana, and picked up the Friday complete-game win when she tied her career best with 10 strikeouts (previously vs. Ole Miss in 2015). Zalewski also threw the first two innings of Monday's staff outing vs. the Hoosiers, an 8-0 shutout.

• Zalewski missed much of the pre-Big Ten schedule completing her rehab from off-season surgery, and has thrown 72 of her 95 innings in Conference play. Despite missing more than half of the overall Spartan schedule, she ranks 11th in the Big Ten in strikeouts (85), and is tied for eighth in saves (2).

• With 442 career strikeouts, Zalewski is now second all-time at MSU and ranks 45th among active pitchers in Division I softball, one of 14 juniors on that list. She is one of five pitchers at MSU to have reached the 400-strikeout mark - Jessica Beech is the all-time leader with 659.

• Bridgette Rainey has logged the most innings of anyone on the staff, compiling a total of 118.2, just outside the top 15 in the Big Ten. She owns an ERA of 3.95 with five complete games, ranks eighth in the B1G in wins (13), fourth in strikeouts (120), 10th in starts (21) and 12th in total appearances (32). Her 13 victories and 120 strikeouts are both career highs.

• Rainey tossed an excellent game on Friday vs. the Hoosiers, but got no offensive support as the Spartans fell by a 1-0 score. She allowed just six hits, twice working out of bases-loaded jams. She went the distance, struck out three and walked five. She rebounded with the win on Monday in the Spartans' staff outing, allowing just three hits over three innings.

• Jordan 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 (25) and is tied for 12 in the B1G (with Bridgette Rainey) with 32 total appearances.

• In 15 Big Ten appearances, Watson owns a 3.23 ERA and three saves, tossing 30 innings and giving up 14 earned runs.

• Redshirt junior Valerie Kaff had her senior day on April 21 vs. Ohio State, as injuries will not allow her to continue her pitching career. Kaff missed the 2016 season with a pair of surgeries, and has decided to retire from pitching. The consummate teammate, Kaff has been used as a pinch runner during the Big Ten season, and scored the winning run on April 22 vs. Ohio State.