Tuesday, April 1
East Lansing, Mich.
4 PM
Michigan State University
vs
Detroit Mercy
Photo by: Erica Lee
Softball to Host Non-Conference Doubleheaders
3/31/2025 2:24:00 PM | Softball
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State returns to Secchia Stadium this week for a pair of non-conference doubleheaders. The Spartans meet Detroit Mercy on April 1 and Toledo on April 4. MSU is off this weekend with no B1G contests scheduled. Friday's series against Toledo marks the return of Michigan State softball alumnae Jessica Bracamonte, who played for the Spartans from 2008-11.
All games will be streamed on B1G+ with live stats available via StatBroadcast. Radio broadcasts of this week's contests will stream on MSUSpartans.com and the Michigan State Athletics App.
The Opponents: Detroit Mercy and Toledo
Led by third-year head coach Dan Vitale, Detroit Mercy enters Tuesday night with a 5-17 record (2-4 Horizon). The Titans have lost four straight which includes three against Purdue Fort Wayne last week. Jada Davis leads Detroit Mercy with a .319 batting average along with eight extra-base hits and 14 RBIs. Trinity Fessler leads the team in on-base percentage at .441 with 11 walks to her name. Detroit Mercy's pitching staff owns a combined 7.12 ERA this season on a 2.13 WHIP.
MSU is 41-11 all-time against Detroit Mercy and 26-6 when facing the Titans in East Lansing. The Spartans have won five consecutive against Detroit Mercy dating back to 2009. Michigan State bested the Titans three times during the 2022 season facing them in Elon, N.C. and twice at Secchia Stadium.
Toledo is led by Michigan State softball alumnae Jessica Bracamonte who played at MSU from 2008-11 where she led the B1G in triples as a senior hitting .328 and driving in a team-high 28 RBIs. Bracamonte earned the 2011 Big Ten Sportsmanship Award and was named an NFCA All-America Scholar Athlete. Toledo is 8-20 this season (3-6 MAC) and enters the week on a two-game losing streak following a 1-2 series against Akron. The Rockets will take on Miami for a road doubleheader on Tuesday prior to their arrival in East Lansing.
Four Toledo hitters are batting better than .300, led by Kendra VanderLugt, Samantha Bolding and Audrey Miller's .341 batting. The Toledo offense is potent hitting .304 with 28 home runs and 152 runs scored through 28 contests. Bolding and Miller have each hit seven home runs. It's mostly a two-player pitching staff with Kylee Graham (5.17 ERA, 22 appearances/15 starts) and Sophia Knight (4.07 ERA, 21 appearances/11 starts) handling a bulk of the innings.
The Spartans are 15-12 all-time against Toledo and 6-6 when meeting the Rockets in East Lansing. Michigan State has won two-straight with the last meeting coming on March 4, 2022 in a 5-4 victory in 11 innings. Caitie Ladd hit a game-tying home run in the eighth inning and Alexis Barroso walked it off with an RBI single in the 11th.
Spartans Take One From Michigan, Snap Streak
Michigan State went 1-3 last week, falling to Central Michigan earlier in the week before knocking off rival Michigan in the opening game of its weekend series. It was the first Spartan victory over Michigan since May 11, 2018 and the first regular season victory over the Wolverines since May 9, 2009. MSU and Michigan played a tight contest in game three, going to extra innings to decide the series victor. UM came out on top, 9-8, despite a record-setting performance at the plate by junior Kaelin Cash.
A trio of Spartans batted .333 or better last week led by Cash's .500 hitting. Hannah Greer and Hannah Hawley each batted .333 for MSU with Hawley homering against Michigan and Greer doubling against the Wolverines. Cash led MSU with six hits last week on four home runs and nine RBIs, all of which came in the series against Michigan.
Cashing In
Junior Kaelin Cash broke a pair of individual single-game program records against Michigan last weekend. After a game one solo home run, Cash followed up that performance with three home runs and eight RBIs in game three of the series. Cash set new program bests for single-game home runs (3) and RBIs (8), breaking the program RBI record set by Dayna Feenstra (7) against Wright State on March 9, 2006. Over the last two weeks of play, Cash is hitting .476 with a .522 on-base percentage while leading the team with eight multi-hit games this season.
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All games will be streamed on B1G+ with live stats available via StatBroadcast. Radio broadcasts of this week's contests will stream on MSUSpartans.com and the Michigan State Athletics App.
The Opponents: Detroit Mercy and Toledo
Led by third-year head coach Dan Vitale, Detroit Mercy enters Tuesday night with a 5-17 record (2-4 Horizon). The Titans have lost four straight which includes three against Purdue Fort Wayne last week. Jada Davis leads Detroit Mercy with a .319 batting average along with eight extra-base hits and 14 RBIs. Trinity Fessler leads the team in on-base percentage at .441 with 11 walks to her name. Detroit Mercy's pitching staff owns a combined 7.12 ERA this season on a 2.13 WHIP.
MSU is 41-11 all-time against Detroit Mercy and 26-6 when facing the Titans in East Lansing. The Spartans have won five consecutive against Detroit Mercy dating back to 2009. Michigan State bested the Titans three times during the 2022 season facing them in Elon, N.C. and twice at Secchia Stadium.
Toledo is led by Michigan State softball alumnae Jessica Bracamonte who played at MSU from 2008-11 where she led the B1G in triples as a senior hitting .328 and driving in a team-high 28 RBIs. Bracamonte earned the 2011 Big Ten Sportsmanship Award and was named an NFCA All-America Scholar Athlete. Toledo is 8-20 this season (3-6 MAC) and enters the week on a two-game losing streak following a 1-2 series against Akron. The Rockets will take on Miami for a road doubleheader on Tuesday prior to their arrival in East Lansing.
Four Toledo hitters are batting better than .300, led by Kendra VanderLugt, Samantha Bolding and Audrey Miller's .341 batting. The Toledo offense is potent hitting .304 with 28 home runs and 152 runs scored through 28 contests. Bolding and Miller have each hit seven home runs. It's mostly a two-player pitching staff with Kylee Graham (5.17 ERA, 22 appearances/15 starts) and Sophia Knight (4.07 ERA, 21 appearances/11 starts) handling a bulk of the innings.
The Spartans are 15-12 all-time against Toledo and 6-6 when meeting the Rockets in East Lansing. Michigan State has won two-straight with the last meeting coming on March 4, 2022 in a 5-4 victory in 11 innings. Caitie Ladd hit a game-tying home run in the eighth inning and Alexis Barroso walked it off with an RBI single in the 11th.
Spartans Take One From Michigan, Snap Streak
Michigan State went 1-3 last week, falling to Central Michigan earlier in the week before knocking off rival Michigan in the opening game of its weekend series. It was the first Spartan victory over Michigan since May 11, 2018 and the first regular season victory over the Wolverines since May 9, 2009. MSU and Michigan played a tight contest in game three, going to extra innings to decide the series victor. UM came out on top, 9-8, despite a record-setting performance at the plate by junior Kaelin Cash.
A trio of Spartans batted .333 or better last week led by Cash's .500 hitting. Hannah Greer and Hannah Hawley each batted .333 for MSU with Hawley homering against Michigan and Greer doubling against the Wolverines. Cash led MSU with six hits last week on four home runs and nine RBIs, all of which came in the series against Michigan.
Cashing In
Junior Kaelin Cash broke a pair of individual single-game program records against Michigan last weekend. After a game one solo home run, Cash followed up that performance with three home runs and eight RBIs in game three of the series. Cash set new program bests for single-game home runs (3) and RBIs (8), breaking the program RBI record set by Dayna Feenstra (7) against Wright State on March 9, 2006. Over the last two weeks of play, Cash is hitting .476 with a .522 on-base percentage while leading the team with eight multi-hit games this season.
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Players Mentioned
A Road Less Traveled | Spartans All-Access
Thursday, April 17
A Higher Standard | Spartans All-Access
Tuesday, February 11
Spartans All-Access: Jenae Wash
Thursday, April 11
Spartans All-Access: Coach Sharonda McDonald-Kelley
Thursday, April 20