MSU heads to Phoenix for Purple Classic at Grand Canyon

Dates	Feb. 22-24, 2019
Location	Atlanta, Georgia; G CU Softball Stadium
Tournament Schedule
Friday	vs. (RV) Boise State; 2:30 pm ET/ 12:30 pm MT Live Stats Webstream (Facebook Live)
	at Grand Canyon; 7:30 pm ET/ 5:30 pm MT Live Stats Webstream (GCU.TV)
Saturday	vs. Yale; 11 am ET / 9 am MT Live Stats Webstream (Facebook Live)
	vs. North Dakota; 1:30 pm ET/11:30 am MT Live Stats Webstream (Facebook Live)
Sunday	vs. Yale; 11 am ET / 9 am MT Live Stats Webstream (Facebook Live)
Game Notes	Michigan State \| B oise State \| Y ale \| North Dakota
Social Media	Facebook \| Twitter \| Instagram

THE WEEK AHEAD
• Michigan State heads out to Phoenix, Ariz. to participate in the Purple Classic at Grand Canyon University. In addition to the host Lopes, the Spartans will play (RV) Boise State, North Dakota, and Yale (twice).

LOGISTICS
• Links for live statistics can be found above on MSUSpartans.com on the Spartan schedule page.

• MSU's Friday evening game against Grand Canyon will have a live video stream on the Lopes YouTube channel, GCU.TV. The remaining four games will be streamed on Facebook Live via the Spartan softball page.

• Spartan Sports Network continues its coverage of Spartan softball in 2019, and begins its coverage of MSU at the Miami (Ohio) Tournament March 16-17. SSN will provide a live broadcast from every game, home and away, for the remainder of the season. Matt Tjapkes is back for his fifth season on the call.

THE MATCHUPS
• MSU opens its weekend against Boise State, which is receiving votes in this week's USA Today/NFCA national poll, and picked up wins against three teams last weekend that were receiving votes in the poll: LMU, Long Beach State, and Ole Miss. The Broncos are 6-2 on the season, and will be facing off with the Spartans on the diamond for the first time in program history.

• Host Grand Canyon is 4-6 overall on the season, and won two of five last weekend in San Diego. This will be their second home tournament of the season, and the first-ever meetings between MSU and the Lopes in the sport of softball.

• North Dakota opened the season with a big win over No. 25 Long Beach State, but dropped all five games last weekend at the Southern Alabama Jaguar Challenge. With a 2-8 overall record, the Fighting Hawks are looking to break back onto the winning side of the ledger. MSU and NoDak have met three times in program history; the Spartans are 2-0-1 in the series, including a 22-5 win in five innings at the 2017 Madiera Beach Invitational.

• Ivy League entry Yale is playing its first games of the 2019 season this weekend, and looks to improve on a 10-30 ledger a year ago. The Spartans and Bulldogs last met in the 1996 season, where they met twice in the course of two weeks and Michigan State came away with two wins.

TEAM NOTES
• The Spartans entered the 2019 campaign with five returning starters after losing six seniors to graduation at the conclusion of 2018. MSU carries 21 on its roster, including five returning starters: seniors 3B Kaitlyn Eveland and LF Ebonee Echols, junior 2B Melanie Baccay, and sophomores RF Katie Quinlan and SS Caitie Ladd.

• Michigan State struggled through an 0-4 weekend at the ACC-B1G Challenge in Atlanta. The Spartans opened with a tough 10-inning loss to Boston College in which the MSU surrendered 17 base hits and committed seven fielding errors. MSU dropped a pair of decisions to both the Eagles (9-7 (10) and 7-6) and host Georgia Tech (11-2 and 10-3)

• All 17 field players have had at least one plate appearance this season, 14 have started at least one game, and all four pitchers have seen action.

• MSU managed just a .238 batting average in Atlanta over the four games, but drew a total of 26 walks compared to 25 base hits. MSU has been issued 50 walks on the season, tied for Northwestern for the most in the Big Ten. The Spartans also stranded 35 runners over the four games, and has stranded a total of 72 over the first nine contests.

• While MSU's team batting average of .246 ranks 11th in the Big Ten, MSU is 10th in slugging pct. (.360) and fifth in on-base percentage (.399). The Spartans also rank in the top half of the league in RBI (45, sixth), doubles (13, sixth) and runs scored (48, seventh).

• MSU is a perfect 11-for-11 on stolen base attempts, one of two teams to not have a runner caught stealing this season. Ohio State is 8-for-8.

• MSU's relatively young pitching staff faced a rougher second weekend than the first, posting a team ERA of 5.06 at the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. The Spartans struck out 17 and issued just 12 free passes, but allowed 52 base hits over the four games.

• MSU's staff ERA of 3.05 still ranks in the top half of the Big Ten (seventh). MSU's 20 walks allowed by its pitching staff this season is the fifth-fewest in the Conference, and its 26 earned runs allowed ranks seventh.

• Michigan State head coach Jacquie Joseph is in her 26th season at the helm of the Spartan softball program, and is the longest-tenured coach in program history, along with being the second-longest-tenured head coach in MSU's athletics department.

• Joseph is the third-longest tenured head coach in the Big Ten Conference, behind Carol Hutchins (Michigan, 35th season) and Rhonda Revelle (Nebraska, 27th season)

• Joseph's staff consists of pitching coach Ben Sorden, hitting coach Corrie Hill, and volunteer Bruce Lenington. Sorden begins his second season with the Spartan pitchers, while Hill and Lenington joined the staff in the fall of 2018.

PLAYER NOTES - PITCHERS
• MSU's returning pitchers threw just 66.1 of 336 innings a year ago. The staff makeup is intriguing, however, as it features junior Jordan Watson, sophomore McKenna Gregory, redshirt freshman Leah Shipp, and JUCO transfer sophomore Alli Walker.

• Walker was the workhorse of the staff over the weekend, tossing 11.2 innings, nearly five innings more than any other pitcher. She posted a 4.20 ERA, surrendering 22 hits, but was charged for just seven earned runs and struck out nine.

• Walker owns a 2.58 ERA, good for 13th among Big Ten pitchers. She ranks eighth in appearances (6), tied for 12th in batters struck out looking (4), and 13th in innings pitched (21.2).

• Leah Shipp threw a combined seven innings over two games in Atlanta, surrendering 12 hits and striking out four. On the year, she owns a 3.89 ERA and 1-2 record, tossing 18.0 innings - the second-most on the team.

• Jordan Watson made two appearances on the weekend, and while giving up no earned runs she scattered nine hits over 5.1 innings, striking out two and walking two. On the year, she owns a 1.87 ERA (ninth, B1G) , and 1-1 record in 15 innings pitched.

• McKenna Gregory threw 3.2 relief innings in Atlanta, surrendering four earned runs, striking out two, and appearing in three games. With four relief appearances on the season, she ranks in a tie for second among Big Ten pitchers. Overall, she has a 5.60 ERA and 0-2 record.

PLAYER NOTES - FIELD PLAYERS
• While five starters return to the 2019 lineup, the Spartans are still a youthful bunch with just two seniors among those five: LF Ebonee Echols and 3B Kaitlyn Eveland.

• Both Eveland and Ebonee Echols are among MSU's top-10 all-time in several career categories. Eveland ranks third with a .347 career batting average, behind school recordholder Patti Raduenz (.372, 1993-96) and 2018 graduate Lea Foerster (.368, 2015-18); Echols ranks 10th (.318). The duo is tied for 10th on the all-time RBI list in the Spartan annals (102)

• Eveland is ninth all-time at MSU in walks (69).

• Eveland had more walks (4) than base hits (3) in Atlanta, and managed a .438 on-base percentage. She has seven walks on the season (second-most on the team and tied for 7th in the B1G) and is batting .333 with five RBI.

• Ebonee Echols hit .333 in her hometown performance last weekend, with a double, a triple, and a pair of walks.

• Ebonee Echols is MSU's career record holder and shares the Big Ten record with 24 career triples. She also shares the Big Ten single-season record of 11, set in 2017.

• Ebonee Echols has 162 base hits, good for 24th on MSU's all-time list, ranks seventh with 116 career runs scored, tied for ninth in extra-base hits (59) and is 11th with 36 career stolen bases.
• Ebonee Echols owns a .320 batting average on the season, leads the team in RBI (8, 13th B1G) and shares the 10th spot in the Big Ten rankings in slugging percentage with her sister, Charla (.720)

• Charla Echols batted .571 last weekend with a 1.143 slugging percentage, getting four hits in seven at-bats to go with a team-high six walks and a hit by pitch. She launched her first career home run against Georgia Tech and also added a double among her four hits.

• Charla Echols is batting .400 on the season, tied for 12th in the Big Ten. She shares the conference lead in doubles (5) and is tied for fourth in on-base percentage (.559) in addition to tying for 10th in slugging percentage (.720). She had her six-game hitting streak snapped against Boston College (Feb. 16).

• Katie Quinlan hit .304 in Atlanta, sharing the team lead with four hits and drawing six walks for a .412 on-base percentage. On the year, she is batting .290, ranks second on the team with nine base hits, and is perfect 5-for-5 on stolen bases; she ranks second in the league in steals and is tied for third in steal attempts.

• Sophomore Riley Paxson drew her first three starts of the season after missing most of the opening weekend with the lingering effects of an off-season injury. While she went 1-for-4, she also had two walks and two hit by a pitch. She has been hit by a pitch three times in six games this season.

• Sophomore Caitie Ladd had a pair of base hits and two RBI last weekend, and on the year looks to improve her .136 batting average. While she had a slow start to this season, she hit .275 a year ago while playing 49 of 51 games in the middle infield.

• Melanie Baccay continues to be a defensive stalwart in the Spartan infield, and added a sac fly and a double in last weekend's games in Atlanta. She's batting .176 this season with five walks.

• Mackenzie Meech shares the team lead of eight RBI with Ebonee Echols, which is good for 13th in the Big Ten. She is hitting .263 on the year with a pair of doubles.

• Senior Lexi White appeared in three of four games last weekend, starting the last two in the DP spot. She had four hits and a pair of RBI, hitting her first homer of the season. Overall, she's batting .333, tied for second on the team.

• Joanna Bartz started three games in Atlanta, including two in right field. She had a base hit and a pair of RBI while walking three times.

• Kelly Zackrison had a double and four RBI in the games in Atlanta last weekend, and has appeared in seven of MSU's nine games either as a DP or in the outfield. Her four RBI is the fourth highest total on the team.

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Players Mentioned

Melanie Baccay

Joanna Bartz

Charla Echols

Ebonee Echols

Kaitlyn Eveland

Lea Foerster

McKenna Gregory

Caitie Ladd

Riley Paxson

Katie Quinlan

Leah Shipp

Alli Walker

Jordan Watson

Lexi White

Kelly Zackrison