Big Ten Schedule, Home Slate Opens Friday vs. Penn State

Friday, March 22

East Lansing, Mich.

3:30 PM ET

Michigan State University

Penn State

3/21/2019 10:00:00 AM | Softball

Spartans welcome Nittany Lions for Conference Opener

Spartans (10-16, 0-0 B1G) vs. Penn State (14-13, 0-0 B1G)

Dates	March 22-24, 2019
Location	East Lansing, Mich.; Secchia Stadium
Tickets	Spartan TIcket Office
Gameday Links
Game One: Friday, 3:30 pm	Live Stats Watch: B TN2Go ($) Listen: SpartanSportsNetwork.com
Game Two: Saturday, 1 pm	Live Stats Watch: BTN2Go ($) Listen: SpartanSportsNetwork.com
Game Three: Sunday, 1 pm	Live Stats Watch: BTN2Go ($) Listen: SpartanSportsNetwork.com
Big Ten Softball	Schedule/Results Standings Statistics
Game Notes	Michigan State \| Penn State
MSU Softball Social Media	Facebook \| Twitter \| Instagram

THE WEEKEND IN A NUTSHELL
• Michigan State opens Big Ten play as well as its home schedule at Secchia Stadium when the Spartans take on Penn State in a three-game series this weekend.

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

• All of MSU's Big Ten games will have a webstream via BTN2Go. Links for all games can be found on the softball schedule page of MSUSpartans.com, or on the BTN2GO live events page at www.btn2go.com/schedule.

• Spartan Sports Network continues its coverage of Spartan softball in 2019, and begins its coverage of MSU when Big Ten play begins on March 22 vs. Penn State. The broadcast of the remainder of MSU's games will be available exclusively at SpartanSportsNetwork.com and on the network's 24/7 app for mobile devices (available on iTunes and Google Play). Matt Tjapkes is back for his fifth season calling all the Spartan softball action.

THE MATCHUPS
• MSU and Penn State meet for the 12th consecutive season, and the Nittany Lions lead the all-time series by a 28-38 mark. MSU has won four out of the last five games between the teams, including a series win last year in State College (6-8, 7-1, 6-2). Over the last 10 games, each team has won five games.

• Penn State, under the direction of head coach Amanda Lehotak, comes into the weekend with a 14-13 overall record after splitting a midweek home doubleheader against Robert Morris.

• Penn State went 10-2 during its 2019 spring break trip, playing 12 games in 10 days in the Clearwater, Fla., area.
The Nittany Lions went 5-0 at the USF Tournament Series to close out the trip, including a walk-off win against South Dakota State.

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 20 on its roster, including five returning starters: seniors 3B Kaitlyn Eveland and LF Ebonee Echols, junior Melanie Baccay, and sophomores RF Katie Quinlan and SS Caitie Ladd.

• Michigan State went 3-1 at the Miami (Ohio) Invitational, defeating host Miami (12-2) and Dayton (9-1, 4-2) and falling on a walkoff to Austin Peay (5-2).

MSU hit .369 as a team on the weekend at Miami, and six Spartans hit .375 or better. The Spartans compiled 38 base hits, scoring 27 runs. The pitching staff posted an ERA of 2.39, scattering 25 base hits and allowing nine earned runs (10 overall).

• MSU's schedule has been challenging, with eight games thus far vs. power-five opponents. The Spartan schedule strength has an overall rank of 46th nationally, which includes three games vs. non-conference top-25 opponents (No. 5 Alabama (L, 2-1) and two vs No. 19 Auburn, (L, 5-0, L, 3-2), all on the road. Five of MSU's eight Big Ten conference series come against ranked opponents: No. 19 Indiana, No. 21 Minnesota, No. 25 Michigan, RV Northwestern, and RV Ohio State.

• All 17 field players have had at least one plate appearance this season, 15 have started at least one game, and all four pitchers have seen action. However, there are no players who have appeared in all 26 games.

• The Spartans have drawn a total of 94 walks this season, good for the third-most in the Big Ten behind Northwestern (100) and Purdue (96).

• MSU's team batting average improved to .247, good for fifth in the Conference. MSU also ranks in the top half of the league in on-base percentage (.373, seventh) hits (183, seventh), and triples (6, fourth).

• MSU is 26-for-32 on stolen base attempts, and went the first 10 games of the season without a runner being caught stealing. MSU's 26 stolen bases ranks seventh in the Big Ten. Indiana has 88, more than twice that of second-place Rutgers (43).

• MSU's 48 walks allowed by its pitching staff this season is the fifth-fewest in the Conference. MSU's seven hit batters is also the second-lowest in the league; Penn State pitcher have hit just six.

• 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. She earned her 700th victory as the Spartan mentor on March 8 vs. Mercer.

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

• 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 started all four games at Miami (17.0 innings), and was the pitcher of record for all three games. She surrendered 16 base hits, striking out 13 and walking just three. Her ERA on the weekend was 1.24, giving up just three earned runs (four overall).

• Walker lowered her season ERA to 3.25, and she owns a 6-4 overall record in a staff-best 64.2 innings. She is tied for fourth in the B1G in appearances (19), 14th in innings pitched, and is tied for fourth with 14 starts. She is also tied for 15th in the Big Ten in wins (6).

• Gregory earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team at the Crimson Classic during the first weekend of Spring Break, and has led the staff in innings pitched in two of the last three weekends.

• Gregory appeared in all four games at the Miami Invitational, throwing 8.1 innings and striking out four. She allowed just six hits and four earned runs (3.33 ERA). On the season, she owns a 4.32 ERA in 45.1 innings pitched, striking out 24 and walking just nine.

• All 19 of Gregory's appearances this season have come in relief. She leads the league in relief appearances and is tied for fourth in appearances overall. She has also gunned down four runners trying to steal, which is tied for seventh in the B1G.

• Jordan Watson made just one appearances at Miami but on the season has thrown 31.2 innings. She owns a 4.86 ERA with a 1-4 record, striking out 10.

• Leah Shipp has not pitched over the last two weekends. She has a 5.54 ERA in 24.0 innings, striking out 10 and walking six.

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 11th (.322). The duo ranks eighth (Echols, 113) and ninth (Eveland, 111) on the all-time RBI list in the Spartan annals.

• Ebonee Echols is MSU's and the Big Ten recordholder with 25 career triples. She also shares the Big Ten single-season record of 11, set in 2017.

• Ebonee Echols has amassed 178 base hits in her career, good for 19th on MSU's all-time list, ranks fifth with 124 career runs scored, seventh in extra-base hits (64) and stolen bases (38).

• Ebonee Echols owns a .348 batting average on the season, is first on the team and 19th in the Conference in RBI (19) and ranks 14th in the Big Ten rankings in slugging percentage (.609). She also ranks fourth in the Big Ten in triples (2) and second in sac flies (2).

• Eveland now ranks seventh all-time at MSU in walks (79) and moved into seventh place with her 21st career homer last weekend.

. With 17 free passes this season, Eveland ranks fourth in the Big Ten. She is hitting .338 with a 23 base hits, four homers, 14 RBI and is a perfect 6-for-6 on stolen bases.

• Eveland shares the team lead in multiple-hit games (7), owns the longest current streak of reaching base safely (10 games) and the second-longest overall streak of the season (14 games). Charla Echols holds that mark with 17 straight games.

• Melanie Baccay led the Spartans with a .667 batting average last weekend (6-of-9) with a double, a team-best five RBI, and a home run, her first of the season. On the year, her batting average has improved to .273. Baccay is a two-year starter in the middle infield and has started the last 10 of the last 11 games at 1B after nine starts at 2B early in the season. She boasts a .972 fielding percentage in a team-best 109 chances.

• Charla Echols has retaken the team lead with a .377 batting average, which ranks 11th in the Big Ten. She is also ranked among league leaders in on-base percentage (.488, fourth), doubles (8, fifth) and runners caught stealing (5, fifth). In the four games at Miami, Echols shared the team lead with six base hits, walked twice, and had four RBI.

• Mackenzie Meech ranks second on the team in RBI (18), which is good just outside the top 15 in the Big Ten rankings. On the season, she is batting .279, with four doubles and three homers. She has seen time both at 1B and in right field, where she has started the last nine games.

• At Miami, Meech hit .417 (5-of-12), smacking a pair of doubles and adding four RBI.

• Sophomore Laney Joyner continues to improve her offensive approach and it led to a .375 average (3-of-8) at Miami. In those four games, she walked four times and scored four runs. On the year, she has walked 12 times - good for third on the team and three times the number she drew last year as a freshman (4). She has upped her season batting average to .255, and this spring has had her first career doubles, triple, and home run.

• Center fielder Katie Quinlan hit .250 with two stolen bases at Miami. On the year, she boasts a .338 batting average with a team-best 10 stolen bases, which ranks sixth in the Big Ten. She has 25 base hits, good for the second-highest total on the team. She is 10-for 12 on stolen base attempts.

• Sophomore shortstop Caitie Ladd has had a slow start to the season but is still a dangerous offensive presence. She has six doubles, two triples, and three home runs on the year, and is fourth on the team in RBI (13). Ladd is tied for fourth in the B1G in triples and is tied for second with two sac flies.

• Senior Lexi White is batting .255 on the year with a double, a home run, and four RBI. She has started 18 of her 24 games at DP.

• Sophomore Riley Paxson has had a slow return from an off-season injury. She appeared in three games (starting two) at Miami in her home state, picking up a base hit. She is batting .179 on the season in 17 games (10 starts).