May 7, 2009

Spartan Sports Podcasts
Gina Mondo
Megan Hair

Complete Game Notes in PDF Format

Friday's Broadcast - Listen Here

EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State softball team concludes the 2009 season with a home-and-home series against in-state rival Michigan. The Spartans travel to Ann Arbor on Friday, May 8 for a 6 p.m. game with the Wolverines before returning to East Lansing on Saturday, May 9 for a 1 p.m. game at Old College Field.

Friday's game in Ann Arbor will be broadcast live through www.msuspartans.com, with Scott Moore calling play by play.

LAST TIME OUT
MSU closed out a two-game series with Wisconsin Sunday afternoon at Old College Field, posting a 5-3 win. Senior Kara Weigle notched a walk-off home run with two outs in the bottom of the seventh and the winning run on third to give the Spartans the victory and split the series with the Badgers. Sophomore Lindsey Hansen and classmate Karen Fox also led MSU, with both going 2-for-3 at the plate.

SCOUTING MICHIGAN
The eighth-ranked Wolverines are coming off doubleheader sweep of 11th-ranked Ohio State, recording a 6-3 win in game one and a 5-2 victory in the nightcap. With the wins, Michigan clinched at least a share of the Big Ten Conference title and extended its win streak to 20 straight games. Sophomore Jordan Taylor posted 12 strikeouts in the nightcap, while junior Nikki Nemitz recorded the win in game one after striking out nine. Classmate Maggie Viefhaus went 4-for-6 and posted four RBIs.

Amanda Chidester leads Michigan with a .366 batting average, 56 hits and three triples. Viefhaus has a .331 average and leads the team with 38 runs, 17 doubles, 35 RBIs, 89 total bases and a .640 slugging percentage. Nemitz has a 23-5 overall record with a 0.85 ERA and 266 strikeouts through 180 1-3 innings, while Jordan Taylor has struck out 230 batters in 158 1-3 innings work.

SERIES HISTORY
Michigan leads the all-time series between the two, 66-26. Last season, the two teams met three times. Michigan picked up both wins in the two-game regular season series while the Spartans recorded a 2-1 win over the Wolverines in the opening game of the Big Ten Tournament. MSU struck first in the game, scoring a run in the second, while Michigan evened the score with a run in the fourth. Jessica Bracamonte hit a two-out RBI single to left field in the sixth inning to take a 2-1 lead, and Lesley Noel pitched the complete game for MSU.

HITTING THEIR STRIDE
The Spartans are currently riding their best nine-game span of the season. MSU has gone 6-3 in the last seven contests, including a shutout sweep of Minnesota. The Spartans recorded 61 hits, 11 home runs and 27 RBIs in that span with Gina Mondo recording a team-high .350 average. Lauren Kramer has recorded all decisions but one in the nine-game span, posting a 1.16 ERA, two shutouts and four complete games with 55 strikeouts. Megan Hair has made four appearances, posting a 1-0 record and striking out eight batters.

SENIOR LEADERS
All three Spartan seniors have been critical components of the MSU lineup.

Gina Mondo, who starts at second base, recently returned to the lineup after a three-week absence. She leads the team with a .388 average, .638 slugging percentage and is 9-for-9 in stolen bases. Mondo played in game two of the Oakland doubleheader for the first time since April 1, going 1-for-2 with a double and a walk. She has 29 doubles in her career, just two short of breaking in the top 10 on MSU's all-time doubles list.

Behind the plate is Kara Weigle, who has started all 47 games for MSU. She has a .320 batting average with a team-leading 153 at-bats, 49 hits, 13 doubles and 12 sacrifice hits. Weigle also has 29 doubles in her career, just two short of breaking in the top 10 on MSU's all-time doubles list.

Megan Hair has appeared in 31 games for the Green and White, starting 18 games, and pitching four complete games. She leads the team with four saves, ranking her ninth in the nation in the category. Hair is second on MSU all-time saves list and is three wins short of breaking into the top-10 on the all-time win list, with 24 in her career.

HOLDING DOWN THE CIRCLE
Freshman Lauren Kramer, the Spartans' only left-handed pitcher, has recently hit her stride. Through the last nine games, she has pitched 48 1-3 innings, recording a 1.16 ERA. She allowed just 11 runs and eight walks while posting a 5-3 record. Kramer tallied her first career shutout on Tuesday, April 21 in an 8-0 win over Bowling Green in five innings. She shared the first shutout win over Minnesota with senior Megan Hair, but picked up the second one for second of the week and her career.

Through the last nine games, Kramer has recorded 55 strikeouts, including setting a career high with nine against No. 23 Iowa in the second game of a doubleheader. She tied her career high in game one against Minnesota, fanning nine batters. Kramer has recorded at least one strikeout in each of the last 17 games in which she has appeared, and has more than doubled her strikeouts in the last 10 games.

In 15 1-3 innings (a four game span), Kramer faced 52 batters and did not allow a walk. The streak was broken against the Golden Gophers.

BIG TEN STATS
The Spartans rank sixth in the Big Ten in batting average, fourth in slugging percentage, third in doubles and home runs, and second in the conference in triples. MSU is tied for fourth in hits. Several players are also ranked in various categories. Gina Mondo is fourth in batting average (.388) and is tied for first in sacrifice flies (3), while Kara Weigle is tied for third in doubles (13) and sacrifice bunts (12). Lindsey Hansen is tied for third in triples (3), seventh in home runs (10) and ranks seventh in slugging percentage (.604). Lauren Kramer ranks eighth in batting average (.344) and is sixth in base percentage (.431).

On the mound Megan Hair is tied for the Big Ten lead in saves with four. Kramer is first in game finished (15), games in relief (17) and is seventh in appearances (36).

In the field, Hansen ranks third in assists (93) and Weigle is first in catching runners stealing (22).

GOING YARD
The Spartans have notched 44 home runs through 47 games this season, the second most homers in a single season. Sophomore Lindsey Hansen leads the team with 10, while senior Gina Mondo has six. To date, 10 of the 12 Spartans that have entered the batters box this season have hit two or more home runs.

Mondo is tied for fourth on MSU's all-time home runs list with 19 in her career, while two other Spartans recently made the list - Kara Weigle and Hansen. Weigle has 14 thus far in her career, and Hansen made the list after hitting a solo home run against Northwestern. After hitting just one homer last season, she has 10 this season, tying for ninth on the all-time list.