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Spartans look to extend season-high win streak

April 9, 2002

The MSU softball team will ride its season-high seven-game winning streak into tonight’s game against Detroit.

The Spartans (18-21 overall, 3-3 Big Ten) will kick off a doubleheader against the Titans (11-7) at 3 p.m. at Titan Field.

MSU also is trying to win its sixth consecutive nonconference game.

Manager Jacquie Joseph said she is excited about the weekend sweep of Indiana Purdue-Fort Wayne and Indiana, adding she thinks her team is peaking at the right time.

“This is where you’d like your team to be at this time,” Joseph said. “Everything came together this weekend.”

Nothing breeds confidence like winning, and the Spartan players are enjoying the streak now.

“We feel great about it,” sophomore pitcher Jessica Beech said. “We’re very excited. We’re loving everything right now.

“We feel awesome , and we’re hoping to keep it rolling.”

The Titans have won three of their last four outings and are looking forward to taking on a Big Ten team.

Detroit manager Bob Wilkerson said his staff circled this game on the calendar at the beginning of the season, especially since former MSU player Stacey Phillips joined the staff as an assistant coach. Phillips played for Joseph from 1997-2000.

“We’ve been looking forward to the MSU matchup all year long,” Wilkerson said. “We’re still riding high over a victory we had over Michigan State last fall.”

The Titans won the second game of a doubleheader last year 5-0 on Feb. 28, 2001 at Old College Field. The Spartans captured the victory in the first game 6-5.

Joseph said the team’s focus will be tested today and the Spartans can’t afford to play poorly.

“There’s always a jeopardy of a let down when you play a team that is not perceived to be as strong,” Joseph said. “If we have any letdown at all they can beat us.”

Joseph said both Beech and senior pitcher Becky Gray are nursing forearm injuries so the starting pitcher will be decided at game time.

But Joseph said she expects Gray, Beech and senior pitcher Keri DeJong to see action.

“I won’t know until I see them tomorrow,” Joesph said. “It’ll depend on how quickly they recover.”

Wilkerson said his team needs to swing the bats well to be competitive today.

“Up until yesterday, we were hitting pretty well,” he said. “It’ll be a good test for our hitters.”

The Titans will send pitcher Krista Peters to the mound. Peters boasts a 5-2 record and is coming off an 11-strikeout, complete game performance against IPFW on Sunday.

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