Five-Game Week Awaits Softball

**UPDATE:** The Penn State-Michigan State softball series has been postponed out of an abundance of caution due to positive tests among Penn State's Tier 1 personnel. The institutions will work with the Big Ten Conference to identify rescheduling options.
Spartan Softball Week Six: at Michigan; vs. Penn State
Dates	Wednesday, April 14, 5 pm - at Michigan Friday, April 16, 4 pm - vs. Penn State Saturday, April 17 - 1 pm (doubleheader) - vs. Penn State Sunday, April 18 - 1 pm - vs. Penn State
Facility	Alumni Field, Ann Arbor, Mich. (Wednesday) S ecchia Stadium; East Lansing, Mich. (Weekend)
Fan Information	There is no general admission to this event
Television	None
Webstreams (BTN+)	Wednesday at Michigan vs. Penn State: Friday \| Saturday - Game One Game Two \| Sunday
Live Statistics	Click Here
Radio (Spartan Media Network)	Friday Saturday Sunday Dalton Shetler, pxp
Game Notes	Michigan State \| Michigan \| Penn State
Social Media	Facebook Twitter Instagram

The Weekend Ahead:
• Michigan State has a busy week, with five games on the schedule. The Spartans head to Ann Arbor on Wednesday to make up one of the previously postponed games vs. the Wolverines, and then hosts Penn State in a four-game series Friday through Sunday.

• MSU was scheduled to play Michigan April 2-4, but the series was postponed due to Covid-19 issues in the Michigan program. Two makeup dates have been announced: This Wednesday (April 14) at Michigan and May 12 in East Lansing.

• The Spartan softball program, instead of one game at the end of the season honoring all its seniors, provides each senior a "Day" - at a home game of their choosing - to be honored for their career in a Spartan uniform. Prior to Sunday's game vs. Penn State, the Spartans will honor senior centerfielder Katie Quinlan.

• MSU went 1-3 at Maryland last weekend. The Spartans split the first day with a 2-0 win and 9-1 run-rule loss, but suffered 6-1 and 5-4 doubleheader losses on Saturday.

• 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 in late March for each squad in the Big Ten. Each team will play eight, four-game weekend series (four at home, four on the road).

• 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 16-4 mark. The Wolverines are No. 22 in this week's national poll and took three of four from Ohio State 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 EL.

• Clarissa Crowell is in her first season at Penn State, going to Happy Valley from Miami. The Nittany Lions took three of four in a home series vs. Rutgers last weekend, and sit at 4-19 overall.

• MSU and Penn State played a non-conference game at FIU last February, with PSU taking an 11-0 win. The all-time series is led by the Nittany Lions, 41-31; for games in East Lansing, MSU trails by a slim 18-20 margin.

• Former Spartan standout Stephanie Sanders is an assistant coach at Penn State, and is now in her third season working with Crowell between Miami and PSU. She appeared in 177 career games at MSU (2010-15).

Team Notes:
• The Spartans have played five of the top six teams in the B1G standings already, and adds first-place Michigan (16-4) this week. The top three teams - Northwestern (18-6), Michigan, and Minnesota (19-5) are a combined 53-15.

• 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 struggled at the plate last weekend, hitting a combined .189 in the Maryland series, with a 5.62 team ERA.

• MSU has eight home runs on the season, and at 0.40 per game, ranks eighth 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.

Player Notes - Pitchers:
• Freshman Ashley Miller had a mixed bag in the Maryland series. She won the first game 2-0 with five shutout innings, scattering four base hits and striking out six. She took the loss in game three when she surrendered two first-inning runs, and in game four gave up four runs on five hits, striking out three.

• Miller ranks seventh in the Big Ten in ERA (1.64), sixth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.55), and 10th in walks per seven innings (1.50). She leads the Spartan staff with 51.2 innings pitched.

• Sarah Ladd was the workhorse of the staff in the Maryland series, tossing eight innings of relief over four games. She scattered eight hits and struck out seven, surrendering three earned runs (2.62 ERA). She picked up her second save of the year, which places her third in the Big Ten. She ranks fifth in the B1G in K's per seven innings, (7.8). She owns a 3.66 ERA with a 2-5 record and two saves.

• Jala Wright threw five innings over two appearances, striking out five. She has started three games in seven appearances this season.

• Alli Walker owns a 4.36 ERA in eight appearances, striking out 18 and walking just eight in 17.2 IP.

Player Notes - Field Players:
• Only two players have started all 20 games - the middle infield combo of Jenae Wash and Caitie Ladd. Four others have appeared in all 20 games.

• Kendall Kates, MSU's transfer catcher, led the Spartans in hitting for the second straight weekend, with a 4-for-10 effort at the plate with a walk and one RBI. She has improved her season batting average to .250 and leads the Spartans with 10 RBI, with two doubles and a homer to her credit.

• Junior Mackenzie Meech is hitting a team-best .327, shares the team lead with 18 base hits (three doubles) and hit her first homer of the season on Saturday. She hit .333 in the Maryland 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 is hitting .269 and ranks fourth in the Big Ten in triples per game (0.10).

• Caitie Ladd is hitting .265, with a team-high four doubles among her six extra-base hits. She has four RBI and a team best three stolen bases. She leads the team with six multiple-hit games.

• Camryn Wincher is hitting .261 on the year and came to the plate as the DP in each of the four games against Maryland. She has a pair of doubles and five RBI on the year.

• Freshman Alexis Barroso started all four games at 3B last weekend and hit .333, consistently improving her batting average. On the year, she's at .250, sharing the team lead in walks (6) and adding a double and two homers.

• Marissa Trivelpiece started three of the four games in College Park, picking up a pair of base hits, a sac fly, and one RBI. She's hitting .259, with a pair of doubles, a homer, and four walks.

• Abby Joseph started three games in the Maryland series, with a stolen base. She has started nine games this season, three each in the last two series vs. Maryland and Rutgers.

• Zaquai Dumas started the series finale vs. the Terps, and picked up her first career base hit and RBI. She had five at-bats in the Maryland series, with a base hit, RBI, walk, stolen base, and run scored.

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Players Mentioned

Alexis Barroso

Zaquai Dumas

Abby Joseph

Kendall Kates

Caitie Ladd

Sarah Ladd

Mackenzie Meech

Ashley Miller

Katie Quinlan

Marissa Trivelpiece

Alli Walker

Jenae Wash

Camryn Wincher

Jala Wright