Final B1G Home Series Brings Northwestern to Secchia Stadium

Spartans (15-29, 3-13 B1G) vs Northwestern (38-7, 17-0 B1G)

Dates	April 26-28, 2019
Location	East Lansing, Mich.; Secchia Stadium
Tickets	Spartan Ticket Office \| Saturday: Family Four Pack Sunday: Four Seats, Four Treats
Gameday Links
Game One: Friday, 6 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
Promotions	Saturday: Lexi White Senior Day All Games: Kids Run the Bases (postgame) Saturday & Sunday: Post-game Autograph Session
Big Ten Softball	Schedule/Results Standings Statistics
Game Notes	Michigan State \| Northwestern
MSU Softball Social Media	Facebook \| Twitter \| Instagram

THE WEEK AHEAD
THE WEEK AHEAD
• Michigan State plays its final home series of the season when it entertains Northwestern April 26-28.

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. The broadcast of the remainder of MSU's games - both home and away - 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.

• In the Spartan softball program, each senior gets her own "day" where she is honored on the field with her family prior to a home game of her choosing. This weekend, the program has the honor of celebrating the career of Lexi White with her family prior to Saturday's game.

THE MATCHUP
• The Spartan-Northwestern series tips in favor of the Wildcats by a 77-29 mark. The last meeting between the Spartans and Northwestern came in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals in 2018, an 11-0 victory for NU.

• Kate Drohan is in her 18th season as the Northwestern head coach in 2019. Her Wildcats sit atop the Big Ten standings with a perfect 17-0 mark in Conference games, and have won 16 straight contests coming into the weekend. Northwestern swept Illinois in a Tuesday doubleheader to improve to 38-7 overall on the year.

• This is the first three-game series between the teams since the 2016 season, and the first trip to East Lansing for the Wildcats since 2012.

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 is in a seven-game skid, most recently dropping a game on Tuesday night at Michigan.

• Five of MSU's eight Big Ten conference series come against opponents in the national Top-25 or receiving votes, including a current three-week stretch against the teams that currently occupy the top four spots in the Conference standings. Only MSU and Illinois play all four of the Conference's top teams this season.

• MSU's schedule has been challenging, with eight games throughout the non-conference schedule vs. power-five opponents. The Spartan schedule strength has an overall rank of 45th 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.

• MSU has had several players miss games - or long stretches - with injury. No player has appeared in all 39 games - Kaitlyn Eveland has missed just one, starting and playing 43, while Caitie Ladd has played 43 and started 42. Riley Paxson is now done for the season due to a leg injury , and Joanna Bartz is rehabbing from an injury that had limited her role to pinch hitting until the last three weeks.

• The Spartans have drawn a total of 173 walks this season, good for the second most in the Big Ten behind behind Northwestern (195).

• Among Big Ten schools, the Spartans are seventh in on-base percentage (.380) seventh in stolen bases (44) and walks allowed (114), eighth in both slugging percentage (.435) and RBI (199). The Spartans are tenth in batting average (.275), two thousandths behind Northwestern (.277).

• MSU is 44-of-54 (.814) on stolen base attempts, which ranks seventh in the Big Ten in bases swiped and fifth in stolen base percentage. MSU's 44 stolen bases has surpassed both its 2017 (35) and 2018 (36) totals. The 2016 team swiped 47 bases.

• 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, and she owns 842 wins overall.

• 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.

• McKenna Gregory's 26 relief appearances this season leads the Big Ten - Kylee Lingenfelter of Penn State ranks second with 21. Her 31 appearances overall is tied for 10th in the Big Ten.

• Gregory had her first career seven-inning complete game last Saturday in a tough 3-2 loss to Ohio State. She pitched 3.1 innings in Tuesday's game at Michigan, and has pitched in each of MSU's last six contests.

• On the season, Gregory is second on the staff in strikeouts (41) and innings pitched (82.2). Her ERA is 6.69.

• Alli Walker made two starts in the Ohio State series, and then came on in relief at Michigan on Tuesday. On the season, she ranks sixth in the Big Ten in appearances (33) and ranks fourth in starts (26). She owns a 5.11 ERA in 101.1 innings with 54 strikeouts, tossing two complete games and recording two shutouts.

• Jordan Watson pitched in relief against Ohio State. On the year, she has thrown 50.2 innings, striking out 18 in 22 appearances, including seven starts. She owns a 4.70 ERA.

• Among pitchers in Conference games, Watson's 3.57 ERA ranks in a tie for 14th, and her eight relief appearances ranks third.

• Leah Shipp also made one relief appearance vs. Ohio State. She threw 4.1 innings at CMU (April 9), her longest outing since the season opener. Hindered by a lingering injury this season, she has made just 17 appearances (40.0 innings), starting seven ballgames.

PLAYER NOTES - FIELD PLAYERS
• While five starters returned 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 Kaitlyn Eveland and Ebonee Echols are among MSU's top-10 all-time in several career categories. Eveland ranks sixth with a .335 career batting average, while Echols ranks ninth (.325). The duo ranks fourth (Echols, 125) and fifth (Eveland, 123) on MSU's all-time RBI list.

• Ebonee Echols is MSU's and the Big Ten record holder with 25 career triples. She also shares the Big Ten single-season record of 11, set in 2017. She has amassed 195 base hits in her career, moving her into 10th place on MSU's all-time list. She also ranks third with 133 career runs scored, fifth in extra-base hits (71) and seventh in stolen bases (41).

• Ebonee Echols ranks second on the team in batting average (.357), on-base percentage (.609), slugging (.609), hits (41), and triples (2). She ranks third in walks (21) and shares the team lead in sac flies (3).

• In Big Ten games only, Ebonee Echols ranks 11th in on-base percentage (.500) and tied for eighth with 13 walks in Conference contests.

• Kaitlyn Eveland ranks third all-time at MSU in career walks (89). Brittney Green (2001-04) is the all-time career leader with 104, with Patti Raduenz (95) in second place. Her 24 homers is fifth all-time at MSU, and her 159 base hits ranks 25th all-time in that category among Spartan players.

• With 27 free passes this season, Kaitlyn Eveland leads the team, and ranks sixth in the B1G. She has drawn 28 walks in each of the last two seasons, which ranks in a tie for eighth in a single-season at MSU; the school record is held by Patti Raduenz, who had 37 in 1996.

• Charla Echols had two homers vs. Central Michigan, while her sister Ebonee smacked two homers in the finale of the Maryland series just two days prior. That tied the school record for home runs in a game (2) - it had been accomplished earlier in the season by Caitie Ladd (vs. Indiana, March 29). Among current players, Kelly Zackrison (April 28, 2018 vs. Rutgers), Lexi White (May 8, 2017 vs. Indiana) and Kaitlyn Eveland (April 8, 2017) have also accomplished the feat.

• Charla Echols leads the team with a .379 batting average, which is ninth among Big Ten players. She is fifth among B1G leaders in on-base percentage (.490), and tied for ninth in doubles (13). She leads the team in runs scored (32) and hits (47), is second in walks (24, T-14th B1G), and is fourth in RBI (24).

• Caitie Ladd has pushed her batting average up to .291, and boasts a team-best .632 slugging percentage. She owns outright or is tied for the team lead in doubles (13 T-ninth, B1G), triples (3 T-fourth B1G), homers (7, 17th B1G), RBI (31, 17th B1G), and sac flies (3, T-third B1G). Her 23 extra-base hits this season is two shy of a top-10 performance in a single season at MSU.

• In Big Ten games only, Ladd ranks 10th in the conference in RBI (11) and seventh with six doubles.

• Over the last 10 games, Charla Echols and Ladd's offense has led the Spartans. Echols has a .400 average and Ladd .385 in that span. In this stretch, Echols has three doubles and two homers among her 12 hits, with nine walks; Ladd has posted five doubles, a triple, and a home run. Ladd has nine RBI in the last 10 and Echols six. Ebonee Echols has also had five of her nine base hits go for extra bases (three doubles, two homers) and has walked eight times.

• Center fielder Katie Quinlan is third on the team with a .304 batting average and is also third in base hits (35), and has four doubles in addition to 13 walks. She has also swiped a team-best 14 stolen bases, which ranks ninth in the Big Ten.

• Mackenzie Meech ranks third on the team in RBI (27), and is batting .286, with seven doubles and four homers. She has seen time both at 1B and in right field.

• Melanie Baccay has returned to play second base over the last 11 games after playing 14 of the previous 16 at first. She is currently hitting .255, contributing two doubles, two triples, two homers, 15 walks, and a career-best 15 RBI.

• Both of Baccay's triples this season have come in Big Ten games, and she shares the conference lead in that category.

• Laney Joyner continues to improve her offensive approach and has improved on all of her freshman year numbers. On the year, she has walked 15 times - good for fifth on the team and nearly four times the number she drew last year as a freshman (4). She is batting .218 with 11 runs scored, 17 hits, and 10 RBI. This spring she has had her first career doubles, triple, and home run.

• Joanna Bartz has had several starts at DP in recent games as she continues to work her way back from an injury that has limited her defensive contributions. She's batting .176 on the season overall, but in the 10 Big Ten games that she's appeared, she is batting .364 (4-for-11) with two doubles, five walks, and three RBI.

• Senior Lexi White is batting .237 on the year with three doubles, a home run, and six RBI. She has started 30 of her 36 games at DP.

• Katelyn Hendershott has had roadblocks in her way back to the field after a torn ACL in 2018, but started the last three Spartan games at first base. She has three base hits and a pair of RBI on the season.

• Kelly Zackrison celebrated her senior day against Maryland on April 6 by driving in the game-winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning. She has appeared in 21 games this season with four runs scored and six RBI.

• Redshirt sophomore Shae Schreckengost has started 11 games behind the plate. After smacking her first career home run against Oakland (April 3), the catcher has a pair of base hits and two walks in her last nine at-bats.

• Freshmen Abby Joseph and Courtney Callahan have been valuable assets for the Spartans. Joseph (31 gp) and Callahan (26 gp) have both gotten starts in right field, and are used liberally as pinch runners. Joseph has scored 13 runs, and Callahan two.

Final B1G Home Series Brings Northwestern to Secchia Stadium

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Melanie Baccay

Joanna Bartz

Courtney Callahan

Charla Echols

Ebonee Echols

Kaitlyn Eveland

McKenna Gregory

Katelyn Hendershott

Abby Joseph

Laney Joyner

Caitie Ladd

Riley Paxson

Katie Quinlan

Shae Schreckengost

Leah Shipp

Alli Walker

Jordan Watson

Lexi White

Kelly Zackrison

Final B1G Home Series Brings Northwestern to Secchia Stadium

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Melanie Baccay

Joanna Bartz

Courtney Callahan

Charla Echols

Ebonee Echols

Kaitlyn Eveland

McKenna Gregory

Katelyn Hendershott

Abby Joseph

Laney Joyner

Caitie Ladd

Riley Paxson

Katie Quinlan

Shae Schreckengost

Leah Shipp

Alli Walker

Jordan Watson

Lexi White

Kelly Zackrison

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