Spartans Host Purdue In Four-Game Series


Spartan Softball vs. Purdue
Dates	Friday, April 23, 3 pm (doubleheader) Saturday, April 24 - 1 pm Sunday, April 25 - 1 pm
Facility	S ecchia Stadium; East Lansing, Mich.
Fan Information	There is no general admission to this event
Television	None
Webstreams	Friday: - Game One Game Two \| Saturday \| Sunday
Live Statistics	Click Here
Radio (Spartan Media Network)	Friday Saturday Sunday
Game Notes	Michigan State P urdue
Social Media	Facebook Twitter Instagram

The Weekend Ahead:

• Michigan State plans on a series with Purdue this weekend, hosting the Boilermakers for a four-game set. NOTE: The schedule has changed to play a doubleheader on Friday, beginning at 3 pm. Single games remain on the schedule for Saturday and Sunday at their original start times of 1 pm.

• The Spartans will honor four of the members of their senior class this weekend. In lieu of a "Senior Day" at the last home game of the regular season, each student-athlete and their family select a date on which she is honored prior to a home game during the home schedule. MSU will honor Riley Paxson on Friday, Alli Walker and Laney Joyner on Saturday, and Joanna Bartz on Sunday.

• MSU has had series postponements two of the last three weekends. The Spartans were supposed to play four games against Michigan (April 2-4) and Penn State (April 16-18), but both were postponed due to Covid-19 issues within those programs. MSU has yet to play back-to-back weekends this season.

• Games against both Michigan and Penn State have been rescheduled, but the series will be reduced to two games against each opponent. MSU played at UM last Wednesday and will host the Wolverines on Wednesday May 5, and will host Penn State for a doubleheader on Tuesday, May 11.

• At 21 games, MSU has played the fewest games this spring of anyone in the Big Ten. Penn State has played 24.

• MSU played one game last week, a 6-1 decision at No. 22 Michigan.

• 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 Matchup:
• Boo DiOliveira is in her fifth season at the helm of the Purdue program, and has guided her team to a 8-20 mark. The Boilermakers played four games against Illinois last week, taking the series finale after losing the first three to the Illini.

• MSU and Purdue meet for the 59th time on Friday. The Boilers own a 22-36 edge in the all-time series, and have won 22 of 32 games played in East Lansing.

• The teams are playing in East Lansing for the first time since the 2013 season. The last six have been played in West Lafayette.

Team Notes:
• The Spartans have played each of the six teams in the B1G standings already. The top three teams - Michigan, Minnesota and Northwestern are a combined 64-17.

• Due to previous postponements, the Spartans have 11 home and eight road games remaining. MSU will have midweek games in each of the first two weeks of May.

• The Spartans returned 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 has nine home runs on the season, and at 0.43 per game, ranks seventh in the Big Ten. MSU is also fourth in the B1G in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.68).

• Spartan head coach Jacquie Joseph is in her 28th season at the helm of the Spartan softball program, and is not only the longest-tenured coach in program history, but is now the 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 pitcher of record in the Michigan game, tossing five innings, scattering six hits, striking out seven, and allowing four runs. Against Maryland, 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, (8.0). She owns a 3.86 ERA with a 2-6 record and two saves.

• Jala Wright threw one inning in relief at Michigan, striking out two and surrendering two base hits. She has eight 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 21 games - the middle infield combo of Jenae Wash and Caitie Ladd. Four others have appeared in all 21 games.

• Marissa Trivelpiece delivered a home run in the game at Michigan and started three of the four games of the Maryland series, picking up a pair of base hits, a sac fly, and one RBI. She's hitting .276 with a pair of doubles, two homers, and four walks.

• Kendall Kates, MSU's transfer catcher, led the Spartans in hitting at Maryland, with a 4-for-10 effort at the plate with a walk and one RBI. She is hitting .241 and leads the Spartans with 10 RBI, with two doubles and a homer to her credit.

• Junior Mackenzie Meech is hitting a team-best .328, shares the team lead with 19 base hits (three doubles) and has one homer. She hit .333 in the Maryland series, and carries a three-game hitting streak into the weekend against Purdue.

• Caitie Ladd is hitting .268, 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.

• 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 .255 and ranks fourth in the Big Ten in triples per game (0.10).

• Freshman Alexis Barroso seems to have settled into a permanent starter's role at third base. In the Maryland series she hit .333, while on the year, she's at .233, sharing the team lead in walks (6) and adding a double, two homers, and five RBI.

• Camryn Wincher is hitting .250 with a pair of doubles and five RBI on the year.

• 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.

Players Mentioned

Alexis Barroso

Joanna Bartz

Zaquai Dumas

Abby Joseph

Laney Joyner

Kendall Kates

Caitie Ladd

Sarah Ladd

Mackenzie Meech

Ashley Miller

Riley Paxson

Marissa Trivelpiece

Alli Walker

Jenae Wash

Camryn Wincher

Jala Wright

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