Spartans Open Season in Miami at Felsburg Invitational

**2020 Softball Week One - Spartans at FIU Felsburg Invitational**
Dates	Friday-Sunday, February 7-9, 2020
Location	Miami, Florida
	FIU Softball Stadium \| FIU No- Bag Policy \| Directions
Spartan Schedule
Fri., 12 pm	vs. Cal Live Stats \| Webstream (Facebook Live)
Fri., 7 pm	vs. FIU Live Stats \| Webstream
Sat.,12:30 pm	vs. Penn State Live Stats \| Webstream (Facebook Live)
Sat., 5:30 pm	vs. Cal Live Stats \| Webstream (Facebook Live)
Sun., 12:30 pm	vs. Syracuse Live Stats \| Webstream (Facebook Live)
Game Notes	Michigan State \| Syracuse \| FIU \| Penn State \| Cal
Social Media	Facebook Twitter Instagram

THE WEEKEND AHEAD
• Michigan State opens the 2020 softball season with the Felsburg Invitational at FIU. MSU plays at FIU for the third consecutive season, and opens in Miami for the second straight year.

• MSU will play five games against four teams - two against Syracuse, one against both host FIU and Cal, and then one against Big Ten rival Penn State. The MSU-PSU matchup is a non-conference game that will not count in the Big Ten standings.

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

• FIU will have a live stream of all Panther games, including the Friday matchup with the Spartans (7 pm Friday). MSU will stream its neutral-site matchups (as weather permits) vs. Syracuse, Penn State, and Cal via Facebook Live. MSU's official facebook page can be found at Facebook.com/MichiganStateSoftball.

THE MATCHUPS
• The two games between the Spartans and Syracuse will serve as the first-ever meetings between the teams.

• MSU owns a 12-4 all-time mark against FIU, which includes a 5-0 win over the Panthers in 2019. MSU has played at Felsburg Field in each of the last two seasons, earning a pair of 2-0 wins in 2018 as well.
   The Panthers went 26-25 in 2019, and 7-16 in Conference USA. They return 12 upperclassmen on their 24-player roster.

• The Spartans have a limited all-time series with Cal, but the Golden Bears have won four of the five meetings. The last game between the squads came back in 2005, a commanding 13-0 Cal victory. In 2019, the Bears went 28-27 and 5-18 in the Pac 12. Like the Spartans, Cal has just one senior - and has added 10 freshman to the roster for this season.

• MSU and Penn State meet for the 13th consecutive season, but for the first time will meet as non-conference foes. The Nittany Lions lead the all-time series that dates back to 1992 by a 30-40 margin. MSU had won four out of the last five games between the teams before PSU took the final two games of a three-game series last year in East Lansing. PSU boasts five seniors and four juniors, returning four of their top five hitters and four of five pitchers to their pitching staff.

TEAM NOTES
• The Spartans will have a very youthful look in 2020, with six juniors and six freshmen, four sophomores, and just one senior (Katelyn Hendershott).

• The Spartans could start as many as five freshmen this weekend, but head coach Jacquie Joseph is also well-known for her lineup flexibility in the early part of the season. Expect everyone on the roster to get at-bats, and most all to see time defensively.

• Michigan State finished the 2019 season with a 16-34 overall record, and went 4-18 in Big Ten play. The Spartans return three of their top five hitters and two of their pitchers from a year ago.

• MSU's non-conference schedule will be challenging, with eight of its first nine non-conference contests vs. power-five opponents. The Spartans will play 29 games away from East Lansing before their scheduled home opener on March 25.

• MSU plays its first two Big Ten series - against Northwestern and Iowa - on the road. MSU has 16 games scheduled in the month of April, with 12 of those at Secchia Stadium, before wrapping up the Big Ten slate at Maryland May 1-3.

• Michigan State head coach Jacquie Joseph is in her 27th 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, 2019 vs. Mercer, and she owns 844 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 Erin Pond. Sorden begins his third season with the Spartan pitchers, while Hill joined the staff in the fall of 2018. Sorden and Pond both have previous Big Ten experience - Sorden was on staff at Indiana before coming to MSU, and Pond was a Penn State letterwinner.

PLAYER NOTES

• Second Team All-Big Ten selection Caitie Ladd posted a .299 batting average, .686 slugging pct. (eighth, B1G), and .396 OPB in 2019. She also had 14 doubles (ninth, B1G), 11 homers (14th B1G) 21 walks, and a team-best 38 RBI. Her 11 homers was fifth in a single season at MSU, and her 28 extra-base hits ranks eighth.

• Junior outfielder Katie Quinlan is MSU's other returning two-year starter. Quinlan hit .294 as a sophomore, smacking four doubles and drawing 14 walks. She also led MSU with 14 stolen bases.

• Mackenzie Meech was fifth on the team with a .279 batting average as a freshman last year, and added nine doubles and four homers. She was also third in sac hits.

• Laney Joyner has appeared in 70 career games over two seasons, starting 53. In 2019, she improved her batting average nearly 50 points from her freshman to sophomore seasons, doubling her number of hits, doubles, and homers.

• Sophomore Courtney Callahan came on strong late in the 2019 season, and is certainly challenging for more time as a sophomore. She hit .250 with a pair of RBI in 32 games a year ago, which included nine starts late in the Big Ten season.

• Joanna Bartz and Katelyn Hendershott have both been hampered by nagging injuries throughout their careers, but both have been outstanding teammates as they battled through the adversity to contribute. Bartz smacked a pair of doubles and had nine RBI and nine walks in 28 games a year ago, and Hendershott was limited to just 21 contests in 2019. The duo can play the corner infield positions, and continue to battle their way into the lineup.

• Redshirt junior Shae Schreckengost started 12 games behind the plate in 2019, which included four hits (one homer) and four RBI, drawing five walks in 25 at-bats.

• Sophomore Abby Joseph has also been a valuable asset for the Spartans. She was the most-used reserve of any field player a year ago (27 appearances off the bench) and also made six starts. She scored 14 runs, the most of any non-starter.

• MSU's returning pitchers threw 176 of 315 innings a year ago. Redshirt sophomore Leah Shipp, and junior Alli Walker are the two returnees.

• Alli Walker was the workhorse of the Spartan pitching staff in 2019, recording 122.2 innings in 39 appearances (27 starts), both ranking 10th in the Big Ten. She owned a 5.31 ERA, 9-14 record, and struck out 65. Shipp tossed 40 innings in 18 appearances, and owned a 2-3 overall record with a 5.78 ERA.

TIDBITS
• Michigan State boasts players from 10 different states, with the most (five) coming from the state of California, followed by four from Michigan. The Spartans have one each from Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana,
Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

• Caitie and Sarah Ladd are sisters. Abby Joseph is the niece of MSU head coach Jacquie Joseph.

• Katelyn Hendershott is the lone Spartan senior. She has been hampered with injury throughout her time at MSU, suffering an ACL tear in 2018. She transferred to the University after her original school, Lake Superior State (Division II, GLIAC) cut softball after her freshman season. She was a two-sport athlete for the Lakers, also on the women's basketball team.

• MSU added freshman Camryn Wincher in January 2020. The first-year standout was scheduled to arrive in the fall 2020 class but accelerated to join the Spartans this spring. She was a Top 100 recruit.

• The Ladd sisters were two-year high school teammates (2016, 2017 season) at Los Alamitos (Calif.) high school, winning a national championship in 2017. Their mother was a softball letterwinner at Oregon State.

• Sophomore Katie Quinlan, a Creative Advertising/Graphic Design major, is employed in the Athletic Communications office as a graphic design student. She has helped design and execute all the graphics for the 2020 season.

• Junior Riley Paxson chose to retire from collegiate softball after her sophomore season (2019) after a third knee injury that required surgery. She has stayed on with the team and serves in a student coach capacity.

• MSU has two groups of players who were club teammates before coming to MSU. Juniors Joanna Bartz and Katie Quinlan played for Indiana Magic Gold, as did student assistant coach Riley Paxson. Freshman Brooke Snyder and sophomore Mackenzie Meech played for the Corona Angels.

• The Spartans had nine players earn Academic All-Big Ten honors a year ago (of a possible 13 eligible), and three earned Big Ten Distinguished Scholar kudos (3.7 + GPA in 2018-19 academic year).

• Michigan State softball has compiled 22 consecutive semesters (11 years) with a team cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better; the Spartans have 22 consecutive semesters with a semester GPA of 3.0 or better as well.

• Michigan State softball boasts 10 Academic All-Americans in program history, the second-most for any Spartan sport behind football. In addition, all 10 played for Jacquie Joseph - giving her the most Academic All-Americans of any coach in the MSU athletic department. MSU had a pair of Academic All-America picks in 2018, Lea Foerster and Kristina Zalewski.

• MSU's 17 players boast 12 different academic majors:
Pre-Med: Joanna Bartz
Advertising Management: Courtney Callahan
Kinesiology: Katelyn Hendershott, Mackenzie Meech, Jenae Wash, Kennedy Wyllie
Communication : Erica Holt, Brooke Snyder
Animal Science: Abby Joseph, Alli Walker
Packaging : Laney Joyner
Criminal Justice : Caitie Ladd
Human Biology : Sarah Ladd
Creative Advertising: Katie Quinlan
Zoology: Shae Schreckengost
Education: Leah Shipp
Business: Camryn Wincher

• MSU has signed five student-athletes that will enroll at MSU in the fall of 2020: Alexis Barosso (INF, Monrovia, Calif./Monrovia/Corona Angels); Zaquai Dumas (INF, Atlanta, Ga./Westlake/Firecrackers); Ashley Miller (RHP, Leo, Ind./Leo/Finesse); Marissa Trivelpiece (INF, Hazelton, Pa/Hazelton Area/Stripes and Strikes), and Jala Wright (RHP, Charlotte, NC/Providence Day School/Firecrackers)    The class (which originally included freshman Camryn Wincher) ranked No. 33 on the Flo Softball ranking of recruiting classes, which fell fourth in the Big Ten behind Wisconsin (17), Indiana/Purdue (23), and Minnesota (32). The class features a pair of FloSoftball Hot 100 recruits, and adds a pair of pitchers and some incredibly talented hitters.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Joanna Bartz

Courtney Callahan

Lea Foerster

Katelyn Hendershott

Erica Holt

Abby Joseph

Laney Joyner

Caitie Ladd

Sarah Ladd

Mackenzie Meech

Riley Paxson

Katie Quinlan

Shae Schreckengost

Leah Shipp

Brooke Snyder

Alli Walker

Jenae Wash

Camryn Wincher

Kennedy Wyllie

Kristina Zalewski