Experience, hard work and a new attitude have led to the MSU softball team's excellent start this season.
After going 24-35 overall and 4-15 in the Big Ten in 2002, the Spartans (24-9 overall, 4-1 Big Ten) need just one win to eclipse last season's overall and conference win totals.
"I fully expected this start because we weren't that bad before," head coach Jacquie Joseph said. "A lot of teams at MSU cycle and we're one of them."
While pitching and defense have been staples for MSU the past few years - the Spartans led the Big Ten in fielding percentage in 2002 - it is performances at the plate that have enabled MSU to have a blistering start.
MSU's top six hitters all average above .275, with four hitting .300 or higher. Last season, MSU was 4-17 in one-run games. This season, they are 5-4.
"We're doing a lot of the same things we've done in the past," Joseph said. "We're pitching well, we play good defense. The exception is we're now getting timely hitting."
In MSU's second conference game of the season against Northwestern on March 29, the Spartans trailed 3-0 after two innings. But with the bases loaded, freshman catcher Elizabeth Peterson blasted a pitch over the left field wall to give the Spartans the lead for good on their way to a 6-3 win.
But as critical as the hitting has been, the team MVP may be junior pitcher Jessica Beech, who is 17-3 and boasts an eye-popping 0.75 ERA.
Joseph said there is no doubt in her mind the team would not be where it is without the hurler. Beech, however, is quick to give the credit to her teammates.
"I'm playing well, but I wouldn't be as successful without our defense," she said. "The whole team has stepped up to make this turnaround possible. We just pride ourselves in consistency and making fundamental plays."
The team is off to a good start to make the Big Ten Tournament, as the top six teams in the conference advance. MSU is tied with Iowa for first place.
"In the past, they were just happy to play and get along with each other," Joseph said. "Now they're putting the game and the team first and it's showing in everyone's performance."
Joseph said the conference is so good, wins can be hard to come by and that the team didn't have the confidence or the leaders it has now.
Senior catcher Lacy Hauxhurst has been with the team for each of the last three seasons (30-23 in 2000 and 21-39 in 2001), and she said they were all disappointing. She said the success the team has had thus far is a great way for her and the other four seniors to go out.
"It's a relief, but it's also kind of overwhelming," Hauxhurst said. "I feel like all my energy is being concentrated on softball right now. But it feels so good to be on top right now that all the work makes it worthwhile."
Joseph said the single biggest challenge affecting her team is the weather, which makes it difficult to work on things and get players healthy.
The team has already missed 12 games - which it cannot make up - due to inclement weather. But the coach isn't going to argue with Mother Nature.
"We would have won 10 of those 12 games," Joseph said. "But it's hard to get loose in 28-degree weather. I think the challenge now is to try to stay focused and stay positive and control what you can control."
