Softball Set for Season Opening Weekend at FAU
2/7/2024
EAST LANSING, Mich. - A new season of Spartan softball gets underway this weekend in Boca Raton, Florida as Team 53 opens the 2024 campaign at the Paradise Classic hosted by Florida Atlantic. MSU will play five games over three days for a challenging opening weekend that features games against Ohio, Marshall, No. 12/16-ranked Arkansas and host FAU. All games will be streamed live on FloSoftball ($).
WHO'S UP NEXT?
Follow along live with the Spartans this weekend
Sep 26, 2025 at 5 pmvs NorthwoodEast Lansing, Mich.
Sep 28, 2025 at 12 noonat ToledoToledo, OH
Oct 3, 2025 at 5 pmat Detroit MercyDetroit, MI
Oct 4, 2025 at 1 pmvs HillsdaleEast Lansing, Mich.
Oct 5, 2025 at 5:30 pmvs Lansing Community CollegeEast Lansing, Mich.
Cooking some things up in the studio before opening day ???????#GoGreen | #SpartanUp pic.twitter.com/s29jYzsNwX
— MSU Softball (@MSU_Softball) February 6, 2024
NOTES TO KNOW
ABOUT OHIO
• Ohio was picked to finish second in the MAC Preseason Poll, receiving three first place votes and three MAC Tournament Champion selections. The Bobcats went 32-23 in 2023 with a 20-9 mark in MAC action, falling to Miami in the MAC Championship game.
All five of Ohio's .300+ hitters from 2023 return for 2024 led by Annalia Paoli (.335). Paoli led the team with 12 home runs and 48 RBI, while Yasmine Logan his .323 with 11 long balls and 39 RBI.
Top pitcher Skipp Miller also returns after posting a 2.59 ERA across 38 appearances in 202.2 innings of work. Miller owned a 1.44 WHIP as opponents hit .251 against her.
Ohio assistant coach Lilli Piper spent one season at Michigan State as a volunteer assistant coach in 2022.
ABOUT MARSHALL
Marshall went 45-10 in 2023, finishing as the runner-up in the Sun Belt. The Herd are picked to finish seventh in the Sun Belt Preseason Poll. Head Coach Morgan Zerkle is in her first season at the helm.
Sydney Bickel was named to the preseason All-Sun Belt team after earning 2023 Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year. Bickel hit .363 last season which was fourth on the team.
Savannah Rice is the top returning pitcher offering a 2.63 ERA in 88 innings over 20 appearances in 2023. Rice posted a 1.25 WHIP and a .245 BAA last season behind ace Sydney Nester.
Outfielder Erica Holt spent three years at Michigan State prior to transferring to Marshall in 2023.
ABOUT #12/16 ARKANSAS
Arkansas is ranked #12 in the USA Softball/ESPN poll and #16 in the NFCA poll. Arkansas went 40-19 last season and 14-10 in the SEC. Played in an NCAA Regional going 2-2 with wins over Harvard and Notre Dame.
Transfers Nia Carter and Bri Ellis were named Second Team Preseason All-Americans by D1Softball. Carter was a Softball America Third Team All-American at Iowa last season. Ellis hit .275 with 14 home runs and 47 RBI at Auburn in 2023.
Reagan Johnson, Rylin Hedgecock and Carter were named to the USA Softball Player of the Year watch list. Johnson hit .378 for the Razorbacks last season and finished as a finalist for National Freshman of the Year. Hedgecock was an NFCA First Team All-American after hitting .335 with 21 home runs and 62 RBI, tying for fifth nationally in long balls.
Second Team All-SEC pitcher Hannah Camenzind returns after posting a 2.52 ERA in 33.1 innings of work in conference action in 2023.
ABOUT FLORIDA ATLANTIC
FAU was picked to finish fifth in the Preseason AAC poll. The Owls went 35-20 last season with a 15-9 mark in C-USA. It was the most wins for the program since 2017.
Junior Gabby Sacco ranked as the No. 36 player in the country by D1Softball after earning C-USA Pitcher of the Year in 2023. Sacco was All C-USA First Team and Third Team All-South Region after going 19-8 with a 1.61 ERA over 169.1 innings in the circle.
Cammeo Presutti hit .332 for FAU last season to lead the team in batting average. Jesiana Mora was second on the team hitting .296 with 17 extra-base hits.
MSU is familiar with transfer Trinity Schlotterbeck, who spent four seasons at Maryland and hit .269 along with a 15-7 record in the circle for the Terrapins in 2023. Schlotterbeck posted a 2.79 ERA and was second on the team in RBI (43) and home runs (6).
SERIES HISTORY
Ohio
- Michigan State is 5-2 all-time against Ohio and 2-2 against the Bobcats at neutral sites.
- The Spartans have won three-straight against Ohio, last defeating the Bobcats on March 2, 2002 by a final score of 4-1 at the Strawberry Cup in Plant City, Fla.
Marshall
- Michigan State is 1-3 all-time against Marshall with all four meetings occurring at neutral sites.
- Michigan State last played Marshall on March 7, 2014, a 2-1 loss at the Florida Atlantic Invitational. MSU's lone victory over Marshall occurred at South Florida, a 4-2 win on March 8, 1996.
#12/16 Arkansas
- MSU is 1-0 all-time against the Razorbacks, an 8-0 win on March 7, 1997 at the Speedline Invitational in Tampa, Fla.
FAU
- Michigan State is 9-20 all-time against FAU in a series that dates back to 1997.
- MSU is 5-17 when playing at Joan Joyce Field, last defeating FAU on its home turf on March 8, 2013 in a 1-0 win.
- FAU has defeated the Spartans in their last 10 meetings since 2014.
MSU RETURNS TO BOCA RATON
- The Spartans have been a regular in Boca Raton since 1998, facing the Owls 22 times on the road while the programs were under the direction of long-time head coaches Jacquie Joseph (MSU) and Joan Joyce (FAU). MSU and FAU played each other in eight consecutive seasons from 2010-2018 and 29 times overall since 1997.
- Joseph always wanted to expose her student-athletes to Joyce, who is considered a godmother of the sport and was a legendary figure in women's athletics.
- Joyce played professionally in four sports, setting records in softball, volleyball, basketball and golf. She played professional softball from 1954 to 1975, striking out Ted Williams and Hank Aaron in exhibition games.
- Joyce was a member of the USA women's national basketball team in 1964 and 1965, and also played volleyball for the Connecticut Clippers. From 1977 to 1994 she competed on the LPGA Tour before becoming head softball coach at FAU from 1995 to 2022 where she won over 1,000 games.
Introducing Spartan softball season tickets!
— MSU Softball (@MSU_Softball) February 5, 2024
Make your way to Secchia Stadium for all 12 of our home games this season!
???: https://t.co/aCowAlQD7Y#GoGreen | #SpartanUp pic.twitter.com/ohmhY0Mmnn
MSU WELCOMES 11 NEWCOMERS FOR 2024
- There are plenty of new faces on the Spartan roster in 2024 with 11 players set to make their MSU debuts.
- The 2024 class of newcomers includes seven transfers and four freshmen. MSU returned 12 players from 2023 to make up the 23 player roster.
- Alexis Ross (FIU), Liv Grey (Portland State), Kaelin Cash (Saint Joseph's), Sam Sutton, Mik Anthony (Salt Lake CC), Sierra Baldwin (North Carolina A&T) and Hannah Hawley (South Carolina) join the team as transfers.
- MSU's freshmen class is made up of infielders Jaeya Butler and Payton Conroy, and pitchers Makayla Huddleston and Ava Mullen. Butler ranked as the No. 46 recruit in the Class of 2023 by Extra Innings Softball. Mullen was named Miss Softball for the state of Michigan in 2023.
WHO'S BACK?
- Michigan State's returners are highlighted by junior battery mates catcher Macy Lee and starting pitcher Faith Guidry.
- In total, The Spartans return eight players that made 15 or more starts a season ago.
- Guidry saw improvement across the board as a sophomore setting new career bests in innings pitched (107.0) and complete games (8), while making 27 appearances in the circle for MSU.
- Lee hit .297 as a sophomore along with a .388 on-base percentage which each ranked second on the team a season ago. Behind the plate Lee successfully caught six baserunners stealing.
SOFTBALL ADDS ONE TO MSU HOF
- Nance Lyons became the seventh member of the Michigan State softball program inducted into the MSU Athletics Hall of Fame this year, joining Gloria Becksford, Carol Hutchins, Deanna Moore, Patti Raduenz, Diane Spoelstra and Kathy Strahan.
- Lyons was a member of the 1976 AIAW National Championship team along with Becksford, Hutchins, Spoelstra and Strahan, defeating Northern Colorado, 3-0, in the eighth ever Women's College World Series.
SPARTANS SIGN EIGHT FOR 2025
- Ava Coffinger (Richland, Mich.), Carsyn Cassady (Pataskala, Ohio), Ella Cunningham (Cleveland, Tenn.), Hannah Herman (Buchanan, Mich.), Jacey Schuler (Antioch, Ill.), Jordan Credeur (Georgetown, Texas), Natalia Kenyatta (Madison, Ala.) and Sophia Holverstott (Byron Center, Mich.) will join the Spartans next season.
- Michigan State's recruiting class ranked No. 23 nationally via Extra Inning Softball and is ranked second among current B1G programs (Northwestern, No. 21).
- Coffinger, Schuler and Kenyatta all ranked in the EIS Top 100.
One week out from first pitch!#GoGreen | #SpartanUp pic.twitter.com/7ECjfR2Rb7
— MSU Softball (@MSU_Softball) February 2, 2024
SPARTANS ADD ASSISTANT COACHES
- MSU hired Bethaney Wells as its hitting coach in June 2023. Wells joins the Spartans from UNC Greensboro where she coached seven seasons under head coach Janelle Breneman.
- Wells helped UNCG to six SoCon regular season championships, three SoCon Tournament championships and three NCAA regional appearances, amassing an overall record of 233-124 in that span.
- Under Wells' guidance UNCG posted five of the program's top 10 seasons in total team runs, six of the top 10 seasons in total team home runs, six of the top 10 seasons in total team RBI and seven of the top 10 seasons in total team slugging percentage.
- After serving as a volunteer assistant coach for MSU last season, Destini England was elevated to a full-time assistant coaching role for 2024.
LOOKING AHEAD
- Next week Michigan State travels to Arlington, Texas for the Maverick Invitational hosted by UT Arlington.
- The Spartans are set for five games from Friday, Feb. 16 through Sunday Feb. 18, facing DePaul, Kansas City, Boise State (x2) and UT Arlington. It will be the first ever meeting between MSU and Kansas City (formerly UMKC).
- Former Spartan Bibianna Rodriguez plays for DePaul. The Blue Demons were picked to finish fourth in the BIG EAST.
- Boise State had three players (Taylor Caudill, Jordyn Hutchins, Mykenzie Hanna) selected for the preseason All-Mountain West team.
- Marley Neises was named to the All-WAC preseason team for UT Arlington.
