Softball Hosts Michigan State for Senior Weekend

Saturday, May 6

4:00 PM ET

Indiana University

Michigan State University

Softball Hosts Michigan State for Senior Weekend

5/5/2017 10:48:00 AM | Softball

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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana Softball closes out play in the regular season as the Hoosiers play host to Michigan State for Senior Weekend. The series will be pivotal in determining seeding in next week's Big Ten Tournament. The Spartans (27-10, 9-11 Big Ten) are currently in sixth place, while Indiana (22-28, 8-12 Big Ten) is tied for eighth in the standings.

Due to the weather forecast, the team's will now play Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Admission to all IU Softball games is free of charge.

WEEKEND AT A GLANCE
Saturday - 2 p.m.
Sunday - 1 p.m.
Monday - 1 p.m.

WEEKEND PROMOS
On Saturday, fans will receive free IU Softball tanks, as well as #GoIU signs. Sunday will be Senior Day with a special recognition for the senior class prior to the game.

LAST TIME OUT
The Hoosiers visited Ann Arbor, Mich. last weekend to face No. 19 Michigan. The Wolverines took all three games of the series.

WHAT'S NEXT
Indiana returns to Ann Arbor next week for the Big Ten Tournament. The official tournament bracket will be set Monday afternoon with play beginning on Thursday. The event is single elimination with the top four seeds receiving a first-round bye.

SCOUTING MICHIGAN STATE
• Michigan State has won six of its last nine games, including take two of three from No. 25 Ohio State and Rutgers. Other Big Ten series wins came against Penn State and Maryland while the Spartans dropped series against Illinois, Purdue and Michigan.
• The Spartans are hitting an impressive .317 as a team, good for second in the Big Ten and 18th nationally. MSU has six everyday hitters batting .300 or better. Lea Foerster leads the way with a .410 average, third in the Big Ten and 48th nationally. Foerster has scored 61 runs this year and averages 1.30 runs per game, second-most in the nation.
• Michigan State has racked up numbers in extra-base hit categories. The Spartans have knocked 57 home runs, a new school record. The 1.21 home runs per game ranks fourth nationally, as does the 0.43 triples per game average. The Spartans knock 1.53 doubles per game, good for 19th in the country.
• The pitching staff's ERA is 4.23, with Kristina Zalewski (3.00 ERA, 5-6, 86.1 IP), Bridgette Rainey (4.21 ERA, 12-7, 109.2 IP) and Jordan Watson (4.23 ERA, 8-6, 82.2 IP) seeing the most innings.
• IU and MSU last met in East Lansing last season, the Spartans took the first two games before Indiana won the finale.

SPOTLIGHT ON SENIORS
• Maria Latimer: A native of Leesburg, Va., has appeared in a pair of games for the Hoosiers, including a pinch hit outing at Maryland last season. Invaluable as the bullpen catcher, Maria is a two-time Academic All-Big Ten selection. In addition, she was a 2016 Big Ten Distinguished Scholar.
• Erin Lehman: Hailing from New Palestine, Ind., Lehman has played in 196 games at Indiana, with 188 career starts, including every game of the 2016 and 2017 seasons at second base. In her career, Lehman has scored 89 runs, with 149 hits and 70 RBI.
• Kayla Mathewson: Coming to Indiana from Lakewood, Colo., Mathewson has played in 128 games with 42 starts. This season, she has played in a career-best 45 contests and tied her career high with eight runs. Kayla has scored 22 career runs with 24 hits and 11 RBI.
•CaraMia Tsirigos: An Atlanta, Ga. native, Tsirigos has played in 187 games with 177 starts. Tsirigos leads the team in home runs with eight this season and has knocked 25 home runs in her career, which is tied for fifth all-time at Indiana. Her 113 career walks is second all-time in program history, while her 92 career RBI is tied for 11th most in Hoosier history. A two-time Academic All-Big Ten selection, she was also named a 2016 Big Ten Distinguished Scholar. Tsirigos was awarded the prestigious Big Ten Medal of Honor in April and this week was named CoSIDA Academic All-District Second Team.

NEWS AND NOTES
• IU has knocked 23 home runs this season, led by eight from Tsirigos and seven from Uden. Last season, the Hoosiers finished the year with 26 homers.
• Indiana's 153 walks this year is fifth in the Big Ten. Tsirigos leads the team with 33, which ranks 47th in the country and third in the Big Ten, while freshman Katie Lacefield has 24.
• Indiana now has 63 doubles on the year, which is sixth in the Big Ten. The Hoosiers finished the 2016 campaign with 69 doubles, which was fourth all-time in program history.
• Junior Rebecca Blitz has 15 stolen bases on the year, good for seventh in the Big Ten. For her career, she has 59 which is now fifth in Indiana program history.
• The Indiana pitching staff has hit a batter just eight times in the season, which is second best in the country.
• IU's .966 fielding percentage ranks fourth in the Big Ten.

TRAINER'S STRIKEOUT RANKINGS
Tara Trainer has 163 strikeouts on the year, good for 39th nationally and third in the Big Ten. For her career, she has 346 strikeouts which puts her seventh in Indiana program history.

A season ago, the righty, who was named No. 21 on Fastpitch News' Preseason Top 50 NCAA Softball Pitchers List, set the Indiana freshman strikeout record with 183.