Michigan State University Athletics
Photo by: (Ben Solomon/Michigan State Athletics)
Miller, Bartz Earn Postseason B1G Honors
5/19/2021 12:54:00 PM | Softball
East Lansing, Mich. -- Michigan State freshman Ashley Miller (Leo, Mich.) has earned a spot on the Big Ten All-Freshman team, as the Conference's post-season awards were announced today. In addition to Miller, senior Joanna Bartz (Mattawan, Mich.) was Michigan State's honoree for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.
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Miller turned in a phenomenal first-year campaign, where she made a team-best 18 starts and made 27 appearances in the circle. She led the Spartan staff with a 1.98 ERA, throwing four complete games (one shutout) and shared three other shutout performances. She went 8-9 on the year with a pair of saves, striking out 99 batters.  In 113.2 innings, she boasted had a 3.41 strikeout-to walk ratio, which ranks 12th in the Big Ten.Â
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Bartz, a four-year letterwinner and strong leader for MSU both on and off the field, was named the 2021 recipient of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. Bartz was hitting a career-best .306 in 2020 when the remainder of the season was called off due to Covid and was hampered with injury throughout her career. She appeared in 25 games (starting 16) as a senior and played in 103 games overall in her career, with a .211 average. She is a three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection and a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar. She plans on returning to the program in 2021-22, as a student assistant coach.Â
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"I'm so happy for Ashley - she is a special talent and we are thrilled she has been recognized by our fellow Big Ten coaches," said head coach Jacquie Joseph. "She is a great team player and we really look forward to watching her grow over the next three years of her career. She and Joanna Bartz embody what we hope our student-athletes to be – they work hard to improve their performance between the lines, are driven to succeed in the classroom, and are good teammates and leaders.
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"I'd like to actually acknowledge all of our players," continued Joseph. "This last year was an incredible challenge. From the day that we learned during a practice that our season was over in March 2020 to today, they have been resilient. They did whatever they needed to do to keep our hopes of a season in 2021 alive, they became a team without the ability to do the team-building we generally to do away from the field, they posted record numbers in the classroom, and gave us everything they had in an exceptionally frustrating season where we had to adapt to frequent changes and cancelations. They remained flexible and grew within the parameters they were given, and for that I am extremely grateful. I could not be prouder of a team than I am of this one."
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Michigan State returns 16 letterwinners in 2021-22.
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Miller turned in a phenomenal first-year campaign, where she made a team-best 18 starts and made 27 appearances in the circle. She led the Spartan staff with a 1.98 ERA, throwing four complete games (one shutout) and shared three other shutout performances. She went 8-9 on the year with a pair of saves, striking out 99 batters.  In 113.2 innings, she boasted had a 3.41 strikeout-to walk ratio, which ranks 12th in the Big Ten.Â
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Bartz, a four-year letterwinner and strong leader for MSU both on and off the field, was named the 2021 recipient of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. Bartz was hitting a career-best .306 in 2020 when the remainder of the season was called off due to Covid and was hampered with injury throughout her career. She appeared in 25 games (starting 16) as a senior and played in 103 games overall in her career, with a .211 average. She is a three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection and a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar. She plans on returning to the program in 2021-22, as a student assistant coach.Â
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"I'm so happy for Ashley - she is a special talent and we are thrilled she has been recognized by our fellow Big Ten coaches," said head coach Jacquie Joseph. "She is a great team player and we really look forward to watching her grow over the next three years of her career. She and Joanna Bartz embody what we hope our student-athletes to be – they work hard to improve their performance between the lines, are driven to succeed in the classroom, and are good teammates and leaders.
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"I'd like to actually acknowledge all of our players," continued Joseph. "This last year was an incredible challenge. From the day that we learned during a practice that our season was over in March 2020 to today, they have been resilient. They did whatever they needed to do to keep our hopes of a season in 2021 alive, they became a team without the ability to do the team-building we generally to do away from the field, they posted record numbers in the classroom, and gave us everything they had in an exceptionally frustrating season where we had to adapt to frequent changes and cancelations. They remained flexible and grew within the parameters they were given, and for that I am extremely grateful. I could not be prouder of a team than I am of this one."
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Michigan State returns 16 letterwinners in 2021-22.
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Players Mentioned
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