Thursday, March 28, 2024

Spartans return home to play Big Ten opponents

April 9, 2004
Valparaiso pitcher Brittany Atteberry tags senior first-baseman Natalie Furrow at home plate March 27 at Old College Field. Furrow was safe, helping the Spartans win, 10-2. —

After spending the majority of the season on the road, including the past six games, the MSU softball team is back in the comforts of its own dugout to open up the Big Ten season at home.

The Spartans (19-14, 1-3 Big Ten) hope to put their recent woes behind them - 1-4 in the past five - as Minnesota (22-11, 3-1) and Wisconsin (21-17, 1-3) come to East Lansing.

MSU plays Minnesota at 4 p.m. and the two teams meet for a rematch Saturday at noon. On Sunday, the Spartans play a doubleheader against the Badgers starting at noon.

"We're ready to redeem ourselves after a rough weekend and we're ready to start fresh here at home," senior pitcher Jessica Beech said.

Head coach Jacquie Joseph said the team will use the weekend to refocus. MSU is coming off Wednesday's 3-0 loss at Central Michigan after losing identical back-to-back, 8-2 losses at Iowa. In those three contests, the Spartans gave up 19 runs, while scoring only four.

It's not lack of effort that contributed to losing, Joseph said, but rather how the team approached the game mentally. In the Central Michigan game, the Spartans had a total of 10 players on base throughout the game but were unable to capitalize on running them in.

"We have to get back to focusing on the things we were focusing on earlier in the year, which is more of the process of the game and our individual game goals, rather than feeling the pressure of the Big Ten," Joseph said.

"The fact that we've left so many runners on base shows that we can play, but we need to finish."

Joseph said the keys to a successful weekend are "scoring first, having the proper mental attitude and discipline."

Scouting Minnesota: With a Big Ten record of 3-1, the Gophers are third in the conference. Minnesota swept the 2002-03 season series and leads the all-time series, 47-25. Minnesota is led by senior pitcher Piper Marten, who was named Big Ten Pitcher of the Week for the second time in three weeks after recording all three wins last weekend. In Friday's 1-0 win at Ohio State, Marten made the Big Ten record books as the third pitcher in the history of the conference to notch 1,000 career strikeouts.

Scouting Wisconsin: The Badgers are fresh off a three-game nonconference matchup against Loyola, but stand ninth in the Big Ten, right behind MSU. Junior shortstop Kris Zacher leads Wisconsin in batting average and RBIs this season, with .361 average and 26, respectively. Junior catcher Boo Gillette notched her 12th double of the season Wednesday, leading the team. She needs just one more double to set Wisconsin's single-season record.

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