FGCU Invitational on Tap For Softball in Fort Myers

**2020 Softball Week Three - Spartans at FGCU Spring Break Invitational**
Dates	Friday-Sunday, February 21-23, 2020
Location	Fort Myers, Florida
	FGCU Softball Complex \| T ickets \| Directions
Spartan Schedule
Fri., 10 am	vs. UMass-Lowell Live Stats \| Webstream (Facebook Live)
Fri., 12:15 pm	vs. Harvard Live Stats \| Webstream (Facebook Live)
Sat., 3:45 pm	vs.Southern Illinois Live Stats \| Webstream (Facebook Live)
Sat., 8:15 pm	vs. FGCU Live Stats \| Webstream
Sun., 11:15 am	vs. Fordham Live Stats \| Webstream (Facebook Live)
Game Notes	Michigan State \| U ML \| Harvard \| So. Illinois \| Fordham
Social Media	Facebook Twitter Instagram

THE WEEKEND AHEAD
• Michigan State heads to Fort Myers, Florida for the Florida Gulf Coast University Spring Break Invitational February 21-23. There are five games on tap for the Spartans, vs. UMass-Lowell and Harvard (Friday), Southern Illinois and the host Eagles (Saturday) and Fordham (Sunday).

LOGISTICS
• Links for live statistics can be found on MSUSpartans.com on the Spartan schedule page.

• MSU's Saturday game against the host Eagles will have a live webstream.

• MSU will have a free webstream via Facebook Live of its games against UMass-Lowell, Harvard, Southern Illinois, and Fordham. MSU's official page is https://www.facebook.com/MichiganStateSoftball/

THE MATCHUPS
• Danielle Henderson enters her sixth year at the helm of the UMass-Lowell softball program. The River Hawks went 2-3 last weekend at the Houston Tournament, earning wins over Fordham and Houston.

• Harvard is playing its first games of the 2020 season in Fort Myers. The Crimson was selected third in the Ivy League preseason poll after back-to-back Ivy titles in 2018 and 2019 and is under the tutelage of Jenny Allard, who is starting her 27th season at the school.

• Southern Illinois has won three straight after an 0-5 start to the season, where the Salukis dropped games to both Ohio State (5-0) and Purdue (4-1). The all-time winningest coach in SIU softball history, Kerri Blaylock enters her 21st season at the helm of the program.

• Host FGCU owns an 8-3 record on the season, with all 11 games played on its home field. David Deiros is the only head coach the program has ever known, and enters his 18th season in the Eagle dugout.

• Fordham is coached by first-year mentor Melissa Inouye, who previously served as an assistant coach at the school and came back to campus after serving as the head coach at Iona for six years. The Rams are 1-9 in 2020, playing tournaments at both Houston and Fresno State in the first two weekends of the season.

TEAM NOTES
• The Spartans have a very youthful look in 2020, with six juniors and six freshmen, four sophomores, and just one senior (Katelyn Hendershott).

• MSU is 1-7 after a 1-3 effort at the Big Ten-ACC Challenge last weekend where it dropped a pair of one-run games, including one on a walkoff. MSU split with Pitt and dropped both to Clemson .

• The Spartans have opened the 2020 season with eight straight games against Power Five conference schools (Cal x2, Syracuse, Penn State, Pitt x2, Clemson x2). Only Liberty University has played more consecutive games against P5 competition to start the season - the Flames have opened with 10 straight and will play three more extending into the coming weekend at the South Carolina Tournament.

• MSU greatly cleaned up its errors from week one (12 total), recording just five in the four-game set in Clemson. In the finale against the host Tigers, both teams had four errors in an 8-4 Clemson victory.

• While MSU is still looking to improve its team's batting average, the Spartans have consistently produced some quality at-bats. MSU ranks fifth in the league in walks (29), and is next-to-last in the Big Ten in strikeouts, with 40 in 234 plate appearances.

• MSU's pitching staff has shown vast growth and improvement from its returning players and gotten a boost from a talented freshman. The staff has managed a 2.54 ERA (fifth, B1G) and has allowed just 18 earned runs in 49.2 innings pitched. The staff is averaging 0.63 K's per inning in 2020 compared to 0.45 in 2019. Also, the staff issued 0.46 walks per inning in 2019, compared to 0.34 through the first eight games this season.

• The Spartans will play 28 games away from East Lansing before their scheduled home opener on March 25. MSU plays its first two Big Ten series - against Northwestern and Iowa - on the road. MSU has 16 games scheduled in the month of April, with 12 of those at Secchia Stadium, before wrapping up the Big Ten slate at Maryland May 1-3.

• Michigan State head coach Jacquie Joseph is in her 27th season at the helm of the Spartan softball program, and is the longest-tenured coach in program history, along with being the second-longest-tenured head coach in MSU's athletics department. She earned her 700th victory as the Spartan mentor on March 8, 2019 vs. Mercer, and she owns 844 wins overall.

• Joseph is the third-longest tenured head coach in the Big Ten Conference, behind Carol Hutchins (Michigan, 35th season) and Rhonda Revelle (Nebraska, 27th.)

• Joseph's staff consists of pitching coach Ben Sorden, hitting coach Corrie Hill, and volunteer Erin Pond. Sorden begins his third season with the Spartan pitchers, while Hill joined the staff in the fall of 2018. Sorden and Pond both have previous Big Ten experience - Sorden was on staff at Indiana before coming to MSU, and Pond was a Penn State letterwinner. Hill spent 16 seasons as the hitting coach at Texas after serving as the head coach at UTSA from 1998-2005.

PLAYER NOTES - PITCHERS
• MSU posted a team ERA of 2.27 last weekend (down from 2.80 in week one). Junior Alli Walker tossed eight innings with 8 K's and a 0.88 ERA, while freshman Sarah Ladd went 12.2 innings, struck out ten, and had an ERA of 1.66.

• Alli Walker boasts a season ERA of 2.14 (10th, B1G), is tied for the B1G lead in relief appearances (6), and tied for ninth in overall appearances (6).

• Ladd started two of the four games at Clemson, delivering two complete games (the first of her career), a 1.66 ERA, and striking out 10. She ranks in a tie for fifth in the B1G in games started (5).

• Leah Shipp has started three of the first eight games after starting six a year ago. She is 1-0 (earning the win againt Pitt).

PLAYER NOTES - FIELD PLAYERS
• Freshman Erica Holt had four base knocks and hit .444 at Clemson with her first career triple and four walks. On the year, she's started five games and has a .462 average.

• Caitie Ladd was walked five times in the four games at Clemson, but hit her first homer of the season. She's third on the team with a .304 average, leading the team in base hits (7), walks (7), and slugging pct. (.478)

• Right fielder Katie Quinlan led MSU with five base hits at the B1G-ACC Challenge, hitting .385 with four stolen bases. She leads the team and ranks fourth in the Big Ten with five stolen bases on the season, and is hitting .269 and shares the team lead with seven base hits.

• Catcher Kennedy Wyllie played all four games behind the plate at Clemson (and six of eight on the season overall). She hit .308 in the four games of the B1G-ACC Challenge, and on the year is hitting .333 with three RBI and a pair of HBP.

• Courtney Callahan came on strong late in the 2019 season, and has earned a starting role early as a sophomore. She is the only player to start every game of the season at the same position (eight games in LF), and owns a .222 batting average with a pair of doubles, four RBI, and four walks. She is also 2-3 on stolen base attempts.

• Laney Joyner hit .250 at the B1G-ACC Challenge, including a triple and two RBI.

• Katelyn Hendershott has been hampered by nagging injuries throughout her career, but picked up her first base hit of the season in a pair of starts at 1B last weekend.

• Freshman Camryn Wincher started all four games at shortstop last weekend, and is getting quality at-bats - she walked three times and had a base hit in the B1G-ACC Challenge. She had a team-best seven assists against no errors in the field as well.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Courtney Callahan

Katelyn Hendershott

Erica Holt

Laney Joyner

Caitie Ladd

Sarah Ladd

Katie Quinlan

Leah Shipp

Alli Walker

Camryn Wincher

Kennedy Wyllie