Spartans Welcome Rutgers For Weekend Series


Spartan Softball vs. Rutgers
Dates	Friday, March 26, 4 pm Saturday, March 27 - 1 pm (doubleheader) Sunday, March 28 - 1 pm
Facility	S ecchia Stadium; East Lansing, Mich.
Fan Information	There is no general admission to this event
Television	None
Webstreams	Friday \| Saturday - Game One Game Two \| Sunday
Live Statistics	Click Here
Radio (Spartan Media Network)	Friday Saturday Sunday
Game Notes	Michigan State Rutgers
Social Media	Facebook Twitter Instagram

The Weekend Ahead:

• Michigan State hosts Rutgers in a four-game set at Secchia Stadium.

• MSU's last game on its home field was a game against Northwestern on April 27 2019, almost exactly 23 months (699 days) between then and the Spartans' return on March 26 vs. Rutgers.

• 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 played two weekends of the season at the Sleepy Hollow Sports Complex in Leesburg, Florida. In week one (Feb. 26-28), each team played doubleheaders on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The Spartans took on Northwestern, Nebraska, and Iowa in those three doubleheaders.
In week two (March 11-14), each team had a three-game series against two opponents (MSU faced Illinois and Minnesota).

• The more "traditional" portion of the season begins this weekend for each squad in the Big Ten. 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.

The Matchup:
• Kristen Butler is in her third season at the helm of the Rutgers program. The Scarlet Knights are 2-10 on the season, and played many of the same opponents as MSU during the two weekends in Leesburg: Illinois (0-2), Northwestern (0-2), and Minnesota (0-3), while also playing a three-game series with Indiana (0-3) and sweeping a doubleheader with Purdue.

• MSU owns a 14-9 mark all-time against Rutgers, and each team holds a significant edge in their own ballparks: MSU is 5-1 at Secchia Stadium and 1-5 in Piscataway since Rutgers joined the Big Ten. MSU holds a 6-2 edge in neutral-site contests

• MSU and Rutgers last met in 2019 in New Jersey, where MSU rallied for a 10-9 extra-innings victory in the series finale after dropping the first two games (7-5 (8), 7-3)

Team Notes:
• Michigan State went 3-9 in the opening two weekends of the season. MSU split doubleheaders with Nebraska and Iowa, and won the series finale vs. Illinois.

• The Spartans have played three of the top four teams in the standings already - Northwestern (11-1), Illinois (10-2) and Minnesota (9-3) are a combined 30-6. Tied with Minnesota in the standings is Michigan, MSU's opponent next weekend.

• 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.

• MSU improved its batting average a bit from week one to week two, hitting .201 compared to .185 in the first week. MSU has faced some of the best aces in the Big Ten over the opening games - 2019 National Freshman of the Year Danielle Williams of Northwestern, All-American Amber Fiser of Minnesota, and Iowa ace Allison Doocy.

• MSU ranks seventh in the Big Ten in both doubles and home runs per game.

• MSU's young pitching staff is consistently improving. Senior Alli Walker is the veteran of the staff, which also consists of sophomore Sarah Ladd and two freshmen, Ashley Miller and Jala Wright.

• 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:
• Freshman Ashley Miller earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors in the opening week of the season. She owns a 1.24 ERA and a 2-2 overall record, with 25 strikeouts in 28.1 innings pitched. She ranks 13th in the Big Ten in ERA.

• Sarah Ladd has a team-best 30 strikeouts, sharing the team lead in innings (28.1) . She is ninth in the Big Ten in strikeouts per seven innings (7.4) and owns a 4.20 ERA, starting five games and making eight total appearances.

• Alli Walker owns a 3.23 ERA in 13 innings (six appearances). She is eighth in the Big Ten in strikeouts per seven innings (7.5). Walker has made two starts and four relief appearances, a category she ranked second in 2020 (10 relief appearances in 17 total).

• Jala Wright made two starts in her first weekend of collegiate softball, tossing 6.1 innings. She made two relief appearances in the second weekend, and has tossed a total of 11.2 innings.

The Field Players:
• MSU head coach Jacquie Joseph got each of her eligible field players on the field in at least one games so far this season, with most seeing three or more.

• Only three players have started all 12 games - the middle infield combo of Jenae Wash and Caitie Ladd, and CF Courtney Callahan.

• Caitie Ladd was a Second Team All-Big Ten selection in 2019, and is one of two of MSU's four-year starters. She is hitting .300 on the year after hitting .429 last weekend, with three doubles, an RBI, and a stolen base. She leads the team with four doubles.

• Ladd has four multiple-hit games and brings a six-game hitting streak into the Rutgers series.

• Jenae Wash appeared in just nine games in 2020 due to injury, and had season-ending surgery prior to the pandemic wiping out the entire campaign. She returned to the lineup this season healthy, and owns a .281 average, She has a pair of doubles, the team's only triple, and a homer, and leads the team with six RBI.

• Junior Mackenzie Meech is hitting a team-best .400, shares the team lead with 12 base hits (two doubles) and has three RBI. She boasts a team-best .984 fielding percentage at first.

• Senior Joanna Bartz hit .364 in MSU's opening weekend, and leads the team with four walks and ranks second with a .364 on-base percentage. On the year, she's hitting .235 with a double.

• Camryn Wincher hit .308 between the Illinois and Minnesota series, and is hitting .250 overall on the year with three RBI. She was the team's DP most of the second weekend.

• Freshman Alexis Barroso saw most of her action in the second B1G weekend at third base, smacking a pair of extra-base hits: a double and her first career home run against Minnesota. She has started seven of nine games, and has three RBI and ranks second on the team with three walks.

• Courtney Callahan has 11 of her 12 starts in center (the other in left). She had a pair of base hits last weekend, and owns a pair of RBI on the season.

• Kendall Kates, MSU's transfer catcher, has started 10 of 12 games behind the plate. She has a pair of multiple-RBI games and four base hits. She has 67 putouts and three assists against zero errors defensively.

• Abby Joseph started four of the six games in the two series against Illinois and Minnesota, all in left.

• Katie Quinlan had to miss the two most recent series but will be back in the lineup vs. Rutgers. She hit .200 in the first weekend.

• Marissa Trivelpiece started two of six games in the Illinois and Minnesota series.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Alexis Barroso

Joanna Bartz

Courtney Callahan

Abby Joseph

Kendall Kates

Caitie Ladd

Sarah Ladd

Mackenzie Meech

Ashley Miller

Katie Quinlan

Marissa Trivelpiece

Alli Walker

Jenae Wash

Camryn Wincher

Jala Wright