Friday, February 25
Boca Raton, Fla.
6:30 pm
Michigan State University
at
Florida Atlantic
Boca Raton Awaits Spartan Softball for Five-Game Weekend
2/24/2022 11:11:00 AM | Softball
EAST LANSING, Mich. -Â Michigan State softball heads back to Florida this week to play in the FAU 'Strikeout Cancer' Tournament hosted by Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida.
Projected weather has altered the Spartans' schedule for the weekend. Michigan State will now face four opponents over the course of three days at the invite, playing host FAU twice. MSU will play FAU at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, February 25, Jacksonville (4:30 p.m.) and FAU (7 p.m.) on Saturday, February 26, and LIU (10 a.m.) and Columbia (12:30 p.m.) on Sunday, February 27. All times are subject to change.
Live stats will be provided for all games throughout the weekend and live video is provided at a cost by ConferenceUSA.com. A 24-hour pass will cost fans $6.95 and a month-long pass is $10.95.
THE OPPONENTS
Florida Atlantic
Florida Atlantic is 3-6 this season and is lead by 28th year head coach Joan Joyce. FAU is 18-9 against Michigan State all-time and has won the last eight meetings between the two teams. The Owls won 3-0 in the last meeting during the 2018 season.
FAU's top hitter by average is Sara Berthiaume, who is hitting .375 in 24 at-bats. Lynn Gardner is the team leader in OPS at .946, with a double and a home run in 14 at-bats along with a .286 batting average. Gardner leads the team in RBI with five.
Gardner is also the team's top pitcher boasting a 1.44 ERA in 24.1 innings pitched, striking out 17 batters and walking eight. Gabby Sacco is second on the team in innings pitched with 18.1 and owns a 3.05 ERA, walking 13 and striking out seven. Opponents are hitting .250 against the Owls.
Jacksonville
Jacksonville is 0-9 in 2022 and is coming off a loss to the Spartans at the Osprey/Dolphin Invite last weekend. Head coach Erica Ayers is in her fifth season on staff for the Dolphins.
Dolphin batters are hitting .181 as a team leading into the weekend, but Allison Bratek tops the chart with a .292 batting average and a pair of home runs. Bratek's three RBI is tied with Victoria Rodebaugh for the team high.
Skylar Whitty and Shelby Harpe are the teams primary starting pitchers, with Whitty owning a team best 8.29 ERA and Harpe checking in at 9.22. Dolphin pitchers have allowed 69 earned runs in nine games and 85 runs overall with batters hitting a .396 against.
LIU
LIU enters the weekend with a record of 1-8, with its lone win coming over Santa Clara, 8-2. Head Coach Roy Kortmann is in his 28th season. LIU is 2-1 all-time against the Spartans, with MSU winning the last meeting, 7-3, in 2014.
Lefty Camryn Lyman is the team's best hitter, boasting a .462 batting average (12-for-26) while starting in all nine games. Kiana Cisneros is the team-leader in RBI with four, but is hitting .182 in eight starts.
Opponents are hitting .498 against LIU's pitching so far this season. Elena Valenzuela owns a team-best 4.20 ERA on 18.1 innings pitched. The other starter for LIU is Alyssa O'Donnell who has a 5.18 ERA in 24.1 innings.
Columbia
A member of the Ivy League, Columbia did not participate in athletics last season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Lions last played during the 2020 season in which they finished 5-5 before the season was shut down. Columbia's last full season of play was in 2019 when they went 24-21. Columbia is the Ivy League favorite this season and is coached by former Michigan State assistant Jennifer Teague, now in her eighth year with the program.
Abby Stuart and Maria Pagane are the best of four players that have played a full season of softball at Columbia. Stuart was a 2019 All-Ivy League Honorable Mention, starting 45 games at first base and ranking top five in the ivy League in home runs and RBI. Pagane is a two-time All-Ivy League selection and a 2019 NFCA All-Region selection. She started all 45 games at shortstop in 2019 and hit 344 with a .386 OBP, .543 slugging percentage and .929 OPS
ABOUT THE SPARTANS
Ashley Miller threw three complete game shutouts over the first weekend of competition, highlighted by the third perfect game in program history on Sunday, Feb. 13 against Akron. Miller's perfect game is the first seven inning perfect game in program history. Megan Hair's perfect game in 2007 went six innings after the team run-ruled Saint Joseph's and Becky Gray/Jessica Beech combined for a perfect game in 2002. Miller is #3 nationally in shutouts (3), #11 in strikeouts (46) and #21 in ERA (0.41). Miller's 14 strikeouts against Akron are tied for the most in program history in a regulation game. The only outings of more strikeouts went into extra innings. Beech struck out 16 batters in 18 innings against Northwestern on May 8, 2003, and struck out 15 in 10 innings against Virginia on Feb. 28, 2003.
Camryn Wincher has been the most formidable bat in the Michigan State lineup this season rocking a .500 batting average in 26 at-bats. Wincher plated runners in all four of Michigan State's games last weekend, including hitting a grand slam in MSU's 10-2 win over Jacksonville on Feb. 19. Macy Lee, Mackenzie Meech and Jessica Mabrey have also homered for the Spartans this season. Lee is hitting .350 over the first 20 at-bats of her collegiate career and is second on the team in RBI with seven. Alexis Barroso is second on the team in hits with eight and is hitting .333 in nine starts. Mabrey has been an on-base machine drawing five walks in nine games and reaching on a hit by pitch three times so far. Kendall Kates has caught three runners stealing from behind the plate this season.
UP NEXT
After a brief return to East Lansing, the Spartan softball team will be back on the road for spring break, playing 10 games in nine days in both North Carolina and South Carolina. Michigan State starts its trip in Elon, N.C. where it will play Elon and East Carolina twice. The Spartans then travel to Columbia, S.C. for a single game against the South Carolina Gamecocks. MSU wraps up its trip in Greensboro, N.C. where it will play UNC-Greensboro, Delaware State and Elon.
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Projected weather has altered the Spartans' schedule for the weekend. Michigan State will now face four opponents over the course of three days at the invite, playing host FAU twice. MSU will play FAU at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, February 25, Jacksonville (4:30 p.m.) and FAU (7 p.m.) on Saturday, February 26, and LIU (10 a.m.) and Columbia (12:30 p.m.) on Sunday, February 27. All times are subject to change.
Live stats will be provided for all games throughout the weekend and live video is provided at a cost by ConferenceUSA.com. A 24-hour pass will cost fans $6.95 and a month-long pass is $10.95.
THE OPPONENTS
Florida Atlantic
Florida Atlantic is 3-6 this season and is lead by 28th year head coach Joan Joyce. FAU is 18-9 against Michigan State all-time and has won the last eight meetings between the two teams. The Owls won 3-0 in the last meeting during the 2018 season.
FAU's top hitter by average is Sara Berthiaume, who is hitting .375 in 24 at-bats. Lynn Gardner is the team leader in OPS at .946, with a double and a home run in 14 at-bats along with a .286 batting average. Gardner leads the team in RBI with five.
Gardner is also the team's top pitcher boasting a 1.44 ERA in 24.1 innings pitched, striking out 17 batters and walking eight. Gabby Sacco is second on the team in innings pitched with 18.1 and owns a 3.05 ERA, walking 13 and striking out seven. Opponents are hitting .250 against the Owls.
Jacksonville
Jacksonville is 0-9 in 2022 and is coming off a loss to the Spartans at the Osprey/Dolphin Invite last weekend. Head coach Erica Ayers is in her fifth season on staff for the Dolphins.
Dolphin batters are hitting .181 as a team leading into the weekend, but Allison Bratek tops the chart with a .292 batting average and a pair of home runs. Bratek's three RBI is tied with Victoria Rodebaugh for the team high.
Skylar Whitty and Shelby Harpe are the teams primary starting pitchers, with Whitty owning a team best 8.29 ERA and Harpe checking in at 9.22. Dolphin pitchers have allowed 69 earned runs in nine games and 85 runs overall with batters hitting a .396 against.
LIU
LIU enters the weekend with a record of 1-8, with its lone win coming over Santa Clara, 8-2. Head Coach Roy Kortmann is in his 28th season. LIU is 2-1 all-time against the Spartans, with MSU winning the last meeting, 7-3, in 2014.
Lefty Camryn Lyman is the team's best hitter, boasting a .462 batting average (12-for-26) while starting in all nine games. Kiana Cisneros is the team-leader in RBI with four, but is hitting .182 in eight starts.
Opponents are hitting .498 against LIU's pitching so far this season. Elena Valenzuela owns a team-best 4.20 ERA on 18.1 innings pitched. The other starter for LIU is Alyssa O'Donnell who has a 5.18 ERA in 24.1 innings.
Columbia
A member of the Ivy League, Columbia did not participate in athletics last season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Lions last played during the 2020 season in which they finished 5-5 before the season was shut down. Columbia's last full season of play was in 2019 when they went 24-21. Columbia is the Ivy League favorite this season and is coached by former Michigan State assistant Jennifer Teague, now in her eighth year with the program.
Abby Stuart and Maria Pagane are the best of four players that have played a full season of softball at Columbia. Stuart was a 2019 All-Ivy League Honorable Mention, starting 45 games at first base and ranking top five in the ivy League in home runs and RBI. Pagane is a two-time All-Ivy League selection and a 2019 NFCA All-Region selection. She started all 45 games at shortstop in 2019 and hit 344 with a .386 OBP, .543 slugging percentage and .929 OPS
ABOUT THE SPARTANS
Ashley Miller threw three complete game shutouts over the first weekend of competition, highlighted by the third perfect game in program history on Sunday, Feb. 13 against Akron. Miller's perfect game is the first seven inning perfect game in program history. Megan Hair's perfect game in 2007 went six innings after the team run-ruled Saint Joseph's and Becky Gray/Jessica Beech combined for a perfect game in 2002. Miller is #3 nationally in shutouts (3), #11 in strikeouts (46) and #21 in ERA (0.41). Miller's 14 strikeouts against Akron are tied for the most in program history in a regulation game. The only outings of more strikeouts went into extra innings. Beech struck out 16 batters in 18 innings against Northwestern on May 8, 2003, and struck out 15 in 10 innings against Virginia on Feb. 28, 2003.
Camryn Wincher has been the most formidable bat in the Michigan State lineup this season rocking a .500 batting average in 26 at-bats. Wincher plated runners in all four of Michigan State's games last weekend, including hitting a grand slam in MSU's 10-2 win over Jacksonville on Feb. 19. Macy Lee, Mackenzie Meech and Jessica Mabrey have also homered for the Spartans this season. Lee is hitting .350 over the first 20 at-bats of her collegiate career and is second on the team in RBI with seven. Alexis Barroso is second on the team in hits with eight and is hitting .333 in nine starts. Mabrey has been an on-base machine drawing five walks in nine games and reaching on a hit by pitch three times so far. Kendall Kates has caught three runners stealing from behind the plate this season.
UP NEXT
After a brief return to East Lansing, the Spartan softball team will be back on the road for spring break, playing 10 games in nine days in both North Carolina and South Carolina. Michigan State starts its trip in Elon, N.C. where it will play Elon and East Carolina twice. The Spartans then travel to Columbia, S.C. for a single game against the South Carolina Gamecocks. MSU wraps up its trip in Greensboro, N.C. where it will play UNC-Greensboro, Delaware State and Elon.
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Players Mentioned
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OF
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RHP
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1B
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