MSU Tangles With Wolverines In Weekend Series

UPDATE (April 1) :


Spartan Softball vs. No. 23 Michigan Wolverines
Dates / Locations	Friday, April 2, 4 pm \| Alumni Field, Ann Arbor Saturday, April 3 - 1 pm (doubleheader) \| Alumni Field, Ann Arbor Sunday, April 4 - 1 pm \| Secchia Stadium, East Lansing
Fan Information	There is no general admission to this event
Television	None
Webstreams	Friday \| Saturday - Game One Game Two \| Sunday
Live Statistics	Friday/Saturday \| Sunday
Radio (Spartan Media Network)	Sunday
Game Notes	Michigan State \| Michigan
Social Media	Facebook Twitter Instagram

The Weekend Ahead:
• Michigan State plays in-state rival Michigan in a four-game softball series this weekend. The first three games take place in Ann Arbor, with Sunday's game scheduled for East Lansing.

• MSU is coming off a series with Rutgers at home, taking three of four games from the Scarlet Knights. Rutgers won the opening game 3-2, and then MSU won both ends of the Saturday doubleheader - a 4-3 walkoff victory in game one, and then a 10-3 win in the nightcap. The Spartans capped the weekend with a 4-1 victory in the finale.

• 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 began last 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).

• At this time, there is no distribution of tickets to the general public. Only a limited number of family members of players and staff are permitted to attend.

The Matchups:
• Carol Hutchins is in her 37th season at the helm of the Michigan program, and has guided her team to a 13-3 mark through the first three weekends of Big Ten play. The Wolverines are No. 23 in this week's national poll and have won seven straight entering the series, including a series sweep at Indiana last weekend. Hutchins is a 1979 graduate of Michigan State and a member of the Spartans' 1976 AIAW National Softball Championship team.

• MSU and Michigan meet for the 122nd time on Friday, and MSU trails the all-time series by a 29-92 margin. Michigan won both meetings in 2019, which came after a 7-0 Spartan win in the 2018 meeting in East Lansing.

Team Notes:
• The Spartans have played five of the top six teams in the standings already, and add second-place Michigan (13-3) this weekend. Northwestern (15-1), Michigan, and Minnesota (12-4) are a combined 40-8.

• 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 hit a combined .327 in the Rutgers series and improved its team BA to .227. Along with playing the top teams in the league comes facing the top pitchers, and MSU has seen some of the league's best.

• MSU has seven home runs on the season, and at 0.44 per game, ranks third in the Big Ten. MSU is also third in the B1G in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.72).

• 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, 37th 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.

PITCHER NOTES:
• Freshman Ashley Miller had an impressive weekend against Rutgers, making a pair of starts and throwing 14.0 innings, scattering nine hits and allowing just one earned run (0.50 ERA). On the year, she boasts a 0.99 ERA (fourth, B1G) in 41.0 innings pitched and has issued just 10 walks compared to 40 strikeouts.

• Sarah Ladd had a strong finish to her weekend, picking up her first save of the season and going 1-1 in the circle. She threw 7.2 innings and struck out 12, walking just one and surrendering three earned runs, all in her first outing. She's second on the team in innings pitched (36.0) and has struck out a staff-best 42, starting six of her 12 appearances.

• Sarah Ladd had a career-best eight strikeouts in her four-inning relief appearance in the 10-3 win over Rutgers. Miller had eight K's - also her career best - in the first game of the weekend against the Scarlet Knights, the 3-2 loss.

• Alli Walker started one of the four games against Rutgers, and went 3.1 innings, striking out four while allowing just two base hits. She has a 3.0 ERA in 16.1 innings of work, with 18 K's.

• Jala Wright saw three innings of relief work against Rutgers, picking up a win with three strikeouts and two hits allowed in three innings. The ever-improving freshman has thrown 14.2 innings this season in five appearances, and has struck out eight.

Field Player Notes:
• Only two players have started all 16 games - the middle infield combo of Jenae Wash and Caitie Ladd. Six others have appeared in all 16 games.

• Kendall Kates, MSU's transfer catcher, had herself a big weekend to introduce herself in her Secchia Stadium debut. She went 6-for-12, with a double and a walkoff homer that won the second game of the series. She now shares the team lead in RBI (9), and is hitting .217.
• Caitie Ladd is second on the team with a .309 average, with a team-high four doubles among her six extra-base hits. She hit .333 against Rutgers with a triple and her first homer of the season.

• Ladd has a team-best six multiple-hit games and brings a three-game hitting streak into the Michigan series.

• Jenae Wash has recovered from the injury that ended her 2020 season and is tied with Caitie Ladd in extra-base hits, contributing two each doubles, triples, and homers. She owns a five-game hitting streak (currently the team's longest active streak) and is hitting .302, sharing the team RBI lead. (9).

• Junior Mackenzie Meech is hitting a team-best .326, ranks second on the team with 14 base hits (two doubles) and has three RBI. She boasts a team-best .990 fielding percentage at first.

• Camryn Wincher is hitting .308 on the year and came to the plate as the DP in each of the four games against Rutgers. She has a pair of doubles and five RBI, and contributed five base hits against the Scarlet Knights.

• Freshman Alexis Barroso started all four games at 3B last weekend and hit .400 in her Secchia Stadium debut. She had a homer and a pair of RBI, upping her season batting average to .226. She has five RBI and is tied for the team lead with two homers.

• Marissa Trivelpiece started the final three games of the Rutgers series and led the Spartans in hitting with four base hits and a pair of walks in eight plate appearances, which included two doubles and her first career home run. She also picked up a stolen base, and has improved her batting average to .238. She has the team's second-best slugging percentage (.476)

• Courtney Callahan has 13 of her 14 starts in center (the other in left). She has six base hits and three RBI (.158) on the season, going 2-for-6

• Abby Joseph started two games vs. Rutgers, picking up her first base hit of the year and also added a sac bunt. She has started six of the 11 games she has appeared in.