Softball Begins 2021 Campaign in Florida


Spartan Softball at Big Ten Weekend No. 1
Dates	vs. Northwestern - Friday, February 26, 10 am (doubleheader)
	vs. Nebraska - Saturday, February 27, 10 am (doubleheader)
	vs. Iowa - Sunday, February 28, 2021 - 9 am (doubleheader)
Facility	Sleepy Hollow Sports Complex; Leesburg, Florida
Fan Information	There is no general admission to this event
Television	None
Webstreams	vs. Northwestern: Game One Game Two vs. Nebraska: Game One Game Two vs. Iowa Game One Game Two
Live Statistics	None
Game Notes	Michigan State
Social Media	Facebook Twitter Instagram
Opponent Information	Northwestern Nebraska Iowa

The Weekend Ahead:
• Michigan State heads to Leesburg, Fla. with the other 13 Big Ten institutions to begin the 2021 softball season.

• No general admission tickets will be sold for the two weekends in Leesburg.

• The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the look of the season schedule. The Big Ten will play a conference-only slate, allowing for each team to play each of the other 13 teams in the Conference.

• The Conference will play two weekends of the season at the Sleepy Hollow Sports Complex. In week one (Feb. 26-28), each team will play doubleheaders on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. In week two (March 11-14), each team will play a three-game series against two opponents.

• The more "traditional" portion of the season begins on March 26. Each team will play eight, four-game weekend series (four at home, four on the road). One exception is that one of the four games between MSU and Michigan will be played at Secchia Stadium (April 4) after three in Ann Arbor (April 2-3).

• For the 2021 season, no general admission tickets will be sold for any sports on the Michigan State campus. A limited number of family members of players and staff will be the only fans allowed.

• All games in Florida will have a live video webstream on BTN+. There will not be a live statistics feed, and twitter updates will be limited.

The Matchups:
• Kate Drohan is in her 20th season at the helm of the Northwestern program. She guided her squad to an 11-12 mark in non-conference competition in 2020.

• The Wildcats hold a commanding 79-29 all-time series lead. The two teams last met in East Lansing in 2019, a 3-0 series sweep for NU.

• All but two of the all-time meetings in the series between MSU and Nebraska have come since the Cornhuskers joined the league in 2011-12. The two teams met four times in the 2018 season: Nebraska took two out of three games in Lincoln in a series marred by horrific weather delays, but MSU downed Nebraska 4-3 in the Big Ten Tournament later in the season.

• Rhonda Revelle is in her 29th season as the head coach at Nebraska, and enters the 2021 season with 998 career victories. Nebraska was 9-14 at the time of the season cancellation in 2020.

• One of the relative newcomer to the fraternity of Big Ten coaches, Renee Gillespie is in just her third season at Iowa. She guided her team to a 17-5 mark in non-conference play in 2020.

• Iowa holds a 74-32 record in the all-time meetings between the teams. MSU has not played the Hawkeyes since the 2014 season, a series MSU won 2-1 in Iowa City.



The Team:
• The Spartans return 15 letterwinners from last year's team, including starters at every position. At the end of the 2020 campaign, MSU was down to 15 healthy players on its roster.

• MSU went 6-16 in the abbreviated season in 2020.

• The Spartans opened the 2020 season with eight straight games against Power Five conference schools (Cal x2, Syracuse, Penn State, Pitt x2, Clemson x2). Only Liberty University had played more consecutive games against P5 competition to start the season - 13 games.

• Spartan head coach Jacquie Joseph is in her 28th 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, 36th season) and Rhonda Revelle (Nebraska, 29th.)

• Joseph's staff consists of pitching coach Ben Sorden, hitting coach Corrie Hill, and volunteer Erin Pond. Sorden begins his fourth 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. Hill spent 16 seasons as the hitting coach at Texas after serving as the head coach at UTSA from 1998-2005.

The Pitchers:
• MSU posted a team ERA of 3.46 in 2020, with two pitchers carrying the bulk of the load. Sarah Ladd made 19 appearances, while Alli Walker made 17. Leah Shipp, who made three appearances in 2020, has opted out for the 2021 season.

• Sarah Ladd put forth an impressive collegiate debut in a shortened season, ranking 10th in the Big Ten in strikeouts (69), third in total appearances (19), sixth in relief appearances (7) and seventh in innings pitched (75.1) . She owned an 3.81 ERA.

• Walker is now in her third season in the Green and White. In 2020, she owned a staff-best 2.89 ERA , while she ranked seventh in the Big Ten in total appearances (17), of which 10 were in relief (second, B1G). She also had 32 strikeouts and issued 23 walks over 55.2 innings, tossing one complete game and picking up one save.

The Field Players:
• At the plate in 2020, MSU hit .258 as a team, with 21 doubles, six triples, nine homers in 22 games. The Spartans owned a .363 slugging percentage and .340 on-base percentage.

• Caitie Ladd led the Spartans in average (.323), hits (21) doubles (6), homers (2) walks (13) and sac hits (3), ranking second with 13 RBI in the abbreviated 2020 campaign. She ranked 12th in the B1G in runs scored (14) and tied for sixth in walks.

• Caitie Ladd was a Second Team All-Big Ten selection in 2019, and is an academic standout as well. She is a two-time Academic All-Big Ten pick, a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar, and owns the team's top GPA.

• Courtney Callahan ranked second on the team a year ago with a .322 average, starting all 22 games in left field. She smacked three doubles, a triple, a homer, and had eight RBI and a pair of stolen bases. She also finished second on the team with a .458 slugging percentage and third with a .412 on-base percentage.

• Joanna Bartz wrapped her abbreviated junior season with a career-best .306 average, with a double and a pair of home runs, seven walks, and a .414 on-base percentage.

• Katie Quinlan hit .286 and was one of three players to start all 22 games in 2020. She contributed 20 base hits, three triples (tied for second in the Big Ten), nine RBI, and 11 stolen bases (fourth, B1G)

• Camryn Wincher posted a .263 average in an abbreviated freshman campaign. She started 21 of 22 games on the year, with 19 starts at short. At the plate, shehad one double and one homer, adding eight RBI.

• Mackenzie Meech is the incumbent starter at first, and in 2020 hit .238. She led the team in doubles (6, eighth B1G), homers (2) and RBI (15, t-10th B1G).

• Shae Schreckengost hit .250 in 21 games, and had career-bests in hits (13), doubles (2), RBI (6) and was second on the team with a career-best nine walks.

• Kennedy Wyllie appeared in 18 of MSU's 22 games and hit .244 with a homer and two doubles, adding six RBI.

• Erica Holt started 18 of 21 games, primarily in center field. She hit .204 and had a triple among her 10 base hits, walking six times and adding three RBI.

• Senior Laney Joyner has started 65 of the 86 MSU games in her career. She started 12 of 19 games in 2020, with a .143 average, a pair of walks and a stolen base

• Junior Abby Joseph appeared in 14 of 22 games last season, with a pair of base hits and a .154 average.

• Redshirt freshman Jenae Wash made three starts a season ago (and played in eight games) before an injury sidelined her for the remainder of the season.

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Players Mentioned

Joanna Bartz

Courtney Callahan

Erica Holt

Abby Joseph

Laney Joyner

Caitie Ladd

Sarah Ladd

Mackenzie Meech

Katie Quinlan

Shae Schreckengost

Leah Shipp

Alli Walker

Jenae Wash

Camryn Wincher

Kennedy Wyllie