Softball Welcomes Nebraska for B1G Series in Home Opener

No. 7/5 Nebraska (21-5, 6-0 B1G) at Michigan State (13-13, 0-3 B1G)
Dates/Location	Friday-Sunday, March 20-22 East Lansing, Mich. \| Secchia Stadium \| GameDay G uide
Parking	There will be multiple events on campus this weekend. We encourage softball fans to utilize Lot 62/IM West
Tickets	Spartan Ticket Office
Radio	Spartan Media Network; Steve Goff (pxp) and Jacquie Joseph (analysis) Click Here for Broadcasts
B1G+ Webstreams	Friday (5 pm) \| Saturday (1 pm) \| Sunday (1 pm)
Live Statistics	Click Here
Game Notes	Michigan State \| Nebraska
Social Media	Facebook X Instagram

Around the Horn
What you need to know about Spartan softball

• Michigan State gets its first home games of the 2026 season at Secchia Stadium, welcoming No. 7/5 Nebraska to East Lansing for a three-game set. Nebraska opened its Big Ten schedule last weekend with a sweep of Michigan and has won 10 straight entering the MSU series. The Huskers own an overall record of 21-5, with the NCAA rating their strength of schedule as the most difficult in the nation to date.

• MSU opened its Big Ten schedule with a tall task at big-hitting No. 7 UCLA last weekend and dropped all three games to the Bruins. The Spartans went 13-10 in pre-Big Ten play, the most pre-B1G victories in the four years that Sharonda McDonald-Kelley has been at the helm. The Spartans earned wins over two ranked teams (No. 14/16 Virginia Tech and No. 13/12 Auburn) and suffered a 5-4 road loss at No. 19/17 LSU.

• MSU hit .269 in its series at UCLA, with seven of 18 hits going for extra bases: five doubles, one triple, and one homer. The team has drawn 93 walks on the season, (3.58 per game), which is seventh in the Big Ten. MSU had 136 walks in 45 games a year ago and is on pace to surpass that total.

• Green and White batters have already posted eight triples this season, matching their total from 2025. The Spartans are fourth among B1G teams (44th nationally) in that category. The Spartans had five doubles last weekend in the UCLA series, and boast 44 through 26 games (seventh, Big Ten). MSU surpassed its 2025 total (43) last weekend at UCLA; the Spartans had 46 doubles in 2024 and 47 in 2023.

• MSU has turned 12 double plays on the season, which ranks second in the Big Ten (0.46/gm). Twelve double plays rank 31st nationally.

• Kendall Smiley ranks second on the team with 24 base hits and has added 14 RBI, good for fourth. She on pace to surpass her 2025 totals in hits (33), RBI (18) and doubles (four). She is 3-for-3 on stolen base attempts. Last weekend, Smiley was 3-for-9 with a double and was hit by a pitch.

• Zoie Bernard owns or shares the team lead in batting average (.427), slugging (.626), on-base percentage (.441), hits (32), runs scored (20), doubles (9), triples (5), and stolen bases (5-6). She ranks second in the B1G and third nationally in triples (5), and is ninth in the league in doubles (9).

• Hannah Hawley was one of four players who delivered three base hits at UCLA last weekend and one of those hits was her team-leading fourth homer of the season. That blast moved her into fifth place in career home runs at MSU (27). Classmate Britain Beshears is right behind in sixth place with 26 home runs. Twice this season the duo have homered in the same game, most recently vs. Villanova (2/14).

• MSU's middle infield duo of juniors Hannah Greer (2B) and Payton Conroy (SS) are among the top 10 in the B1G in assists. Six of Greer's 14 base hits this year are for extra bases (one homer, one triple, four doubles). Her four doubles is one shy of her total of five in 2025. She also boasts a team-low seven strikeouts in her 26 games among starters. Conroy is hitting a career-best .226, is second on the team in doubles (7), and has 13 base hits.

Around the Horn
What you need to know about Spartan softball

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Players Mentioned

Zoie Bernard

Britain Beshears

Payton Conroy

Hannah Greer

Hannah Hawley

Kendall Smiley

Michigan State University Athletics