May 18, 2005

EAST LANSING, Mich. -

Listing of the Youngest Programs in Division I - Sorted by the Percent of How Many Freshmen and Sophomores Make Up Each Roster
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It was the most-used word of the year. Young. How could anyone not use it? From early February to mid-May, this five-letter word was hard to get away from. But there was another term that filled the air, and in many cases was used with "Young" to help form a key two-word phrase. Talent. The descriptions could either have been a blessing or a nightmare. Early on, it appeared it was going to be the latter.

Before the season began, the Spartans were set on using their offense to provide the spark they needed to open the year on a successful note. Head coach Jacquie Joseph agreed that MSU's bats were its strong point and that the pitching staff was "untested." Little did anyone realize the opposite would occur.

State traveled to Las Vegas Feb. 18-20 with two seniors, two juniors, eight sophomores and seven freshmen (eight newcomers overall) on its roster. Of the Spartans' five pitchers, three were sophomores and two were freshmen. Of 269 Division I teams, Michigan State ranked as the ninth youngest team in the nation in terms of what percentage of freshmen and sophomores make up its roster. This group of student-athletes immediately had its first game cancelled with Iowa State due to rain, and then looked at its upcoming schedule to find five of its next eight games were against ranked opponents. Seven of these teams would go on to make the 2005 NCAA Tournament. This was going to be a wild ride.

It started with an MSU team facing a No. 16 Florida bunch that was already 12-1 on the year, including wins over Oklahoma and Louisville. The game opened with the Spartans taking advantage of three-straight walks to plate five runs in the first inning. They lost the lead in the third, where Rachel Turney saw her first Division I action in relief and gave up just two runs in the final five innings to keep her team close. Down 8-6 in the seventh, Caitlin Mahoney recorded a one-out RBI single and Amy Szawara ripped a two-out single down the left-field line that scored the tying and go-ahead runs. Turney then shut down the Gators 1-2-3 to preserve the 9-8 upset.

On an extreme high, the Spartans came back down to earth in the second game of the day as Southern Illinois hit a two-out, two-run walk-off homer for the 4-3 win. No. 1 California and UNLV provided State with two more losses to end the UNLV Rebel Tournament with a 1-3 record. The next two weeks would prove even more difficult.

Heading down to Columbus, Ga., for the 24-team NFCA Leadoff Classic Feb. 25-27, Michigan State was divided into a pool that featured No. 13 Oklahoma, No. 21 Florida State and Lehigh. After being outscored 13-1 for three more defeats, MSU went into bracket play where it suffered a 6-0 loss to No. 10 LSU. The lack of runs continued during the first half of spring break with a 4-1 loss to Central Michigan and a 7-0 shutout from Penn State at the UCF Tournament March 5-6. Those were surrounded by a 5-1 victory over Eastern Kentucky and a 4-4 tie vs. UCF, but the next two games told the entire story.

In Tampa March 8, Temple, who sat at No. 198 in the NFCA RPI rankings May 18, blanked the Spartans 3-0. The following day at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex, Wagner shutout the Spartans, 4-0, in a driving rain that cancelled the second game of what was supposed to be a doubleheader. That cancellation did ruin a scheduled appearance by the Atlanta Braves' John Smoltz, but it gave the coaching staff and its players a great opportunity to settle down and regroup. When they were finished, little did everyone realize that this team was a changed collection of Spartans.

Two days later at the Stetson Tournament, the field boasted only MSU, Virginia Tech, Bethune-Cookman and host-Stetson. It was exactly what this 2-11-1 team needed. VT and BCC each qualified for this year's NCAA

Freshman Caitlin Mahoney was a combined 5-for-6 in the two games vs. Bethune-Cookman March 11-12.

Tournament so the Spartans were up against stiff competition. They experienced this in a 2-1 extra-inning loss to the Hokies to open the weekend. Turney continued to pitch well, going the distance and striking out nine as both runs were unearned. MSU then topped Bethune-Cookman in both games only to go down to Stetson in the final contest of pool play. The two wins over BCC, though, were enough to help State advance to the championship game, where the Hokies once again came through in a 2-1 extra-inning win. It may have left with a 2-3 record and an overall mark of 4-14-1, but MSU was beginning to gel.

One last regular-season tournament was on tap and the team went back down to the Sunshine State, this time to Florida Atlantic March 18-20. It did not appear State was ready when it committed six errors in a 7-0 loss to No. 12 Texas A&M. The next game finally saw the team put it together in a 3-1 triumph over Tulsa. With four freshmen in the starting line-up and the Lansing Community College transfer in Turney in the circle, State

Freshman Nikki Nicosia tied an MSU single-game record with three stolen bases vs. Florida Atlantic March 19.

knocked out six hits and did not commit a mistake in the field as the Golden Hurricane left with only one run on three hits.

The second day left all of their early-season troubles behind them. The Spartans defeated Florida International, 4-1, and host-Florida Atlantic, 6-2, en route to reaching another championship game. Unfortunately, freshman sensation Amanda Scarborough and the Aggies were waiting. While Turney limited an A&M team that was hitting .363 entering the game to only two hits and one first-inning run, Scarborough out-dueled her with a no-hitter to give the Aggies the 1-0 victory.

Michigan State did come home from the warm weather feeling very good about heading into the Big Ten portion of its season. It was not a young team anymore. It was a talented young team that was only getting better.

State had plenty of time to focus on Indiana and Purdue when three non-conference dates were postponed due to poor field conditions, including home games against Central Michigan and Loyola-Chicago. On April 1, MSU run-ruled the Hoosiers, 8-0 in six innings, and completed the sweep with

Sophomore Nicole Mercado was named to the All-Big Ten second team after she batted .378 in conference games.

a 3-2 performance April 2. A perfect weekend was not to be as Purdue dominated State in an 11-1 and 7-2 doubleheader April 3.

While two conference victories were huge, sophomore Nicole Mercado stepped it up at the bottom of the order. After going hitless in her last 11 games, the right fielder was 2-for-2 in the first game with IU, and went 5-for-7 in the four games with six RBI and two triples. That set the stage for her being awarded Big Ten Player of the Week, as well as an overall stunning showing in Big Ten games. Mercado eventually batted .378 with a .568 slugging percentage to receive All-Big Ten second-team honors.

Old College Field finally hosted its first games of the season when the Spartans defeated Loyola-Chicago, 2-0 and 4-1, April 5. However, their

Senior Victoria Morache had two hits in each game April 8-9 against Ohio State.

record then dropped to 11-19-1 when Eastern Michigan scored four unearned runs, two in the seventh, in a 4-3 disappointer the following afternoon. A 6-1 loss to Ohio State April 8 provided MSU with another setback. It did get its conference record back to even when the Green and White busted out for 12 hits, led by Janette Hurtado with three and Victoria Morache, Elizabeth Peterson and Mercado who each had two, in a 7-4 win over the Buckeyes.

April 10 was witness to Michigan State's fifth-longest game in program history as Caitlin Mahoney got revenge on a Penn State team that defeated the Spartans March 6. The Nittany Lions posted a run in the first and MSU tied it up in the third as neither school touched home again until the 13th inning. Missy Beseres retired the first two batters, but hit Dayna Feenstra. Szawara came on as a pinch-runner and sprinted all the way around on a double by Mahoney. Even though the Spartans fell in the second game, 3-1, to a PSU team that received an at-large berth to the NCAA post-season, the first win signified how far they had come since early March.

Freshman Traci Nicosia's three-run triple vs. WMU April 12 was one of five on the season for the shortstop.

MSU posted another victory when Traci Nicosia broke a 2-2 tie with a bases-loaded triple to help defeat Western Michigan April 12, 7-2. But CMU again got the best of the Spartans as the Chippewas stole a 3-1 contest in East Lansing April 13. The loss did not hamper State's attitude in the coming weekend at Wisconsin, a team that also received an at-large berth to the NCAA field of 64.

Holding a 4-4 conference mark, State traveled to Madison April 15-16, with a doubleheader at Minnesota rounding out the trip. The Badgers were 3-5, however three of the defeats were one-run games against the top-two teams in Michigan and Northwestern. The first game between MSU and UW featured a freshman pitcher who was beginning to form a scary 1-2 duo for the Spartans. Lesley Noel, who did not even see action from March 11 to April 2, was coming into her own when it counted, and she got the nod in game one. A complete game and two runs later, Noel won her fourth decision in her last five tries, 4-2. The next day, Turney surprised UW again with a four-hit shutout as her teammates were flawless on defense and put up five runs in the fourth inning for the 6-0 win.

Now two games above .500 and heading to Minneapolis, the Spartans were about to take on a 1-7 Golden Gopher team that seemed to lack any offensive momentum. An 8-4 Big Ten record looked pretty realistic, but for a team with a lot of young talent, wins do not come easy. When the Gophers controlled every facet of both games, cruising to 8-0 and 9-2 victories, State returned to East Lansing back at .500 and wondering what just happened.

With three Big Ten weekends behind them, the Spartans knew they had to remain near the middle of the standings because No. 22 Iowa, No. 15 Northwestern and No. 1 Michigan all were waiting. They first dismantled

Freshman Lesley Noel recorded her first career shutout in game two at Oakland April 19.

Oakland, 4-0 and 5-0, April 19, in what was the first time since 2002 that an MSU team shutout the same opponent in a doubleheader. When it got back into conference play, the horrible weather returned to East Lansing.

Rain began to fall with State battling Iowa April 22. Although soaking wet, both teams were setting the stage for an exciting finish as the Spartans and Hawkeyes each held one-run leads. Iowa tied it in the third but minutes later, play was halted. With rain and snow in the forecast for the series finale, everyone was predicting that Old College Field had seen the last of the Big Ten for 2005.

They were right. The rain and wind picked up April 23, canceling all four games that weekend, including a twin-bill vs. 0-11 Illinois. State's home conference schedule was over just like that. It hosted a record-low four Big Ten games, when the Spartans typically averaged 11 each year.

Things were starting to get interesting as numerous teams across the Big Ten were forced to deal with the weather. Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana and Purdue were all going to play 20-game schedules, whereas the rest of the conference was not. Ohio State lucked out by not having to play Northwestern or Michigan at all. And with the Golden Gophers on a small hot streak, MSU went into its final week of league play desperately searching for one more Big Ten win.

To prepare for the Wildcats and Wolverines, it recorded 20 total hits in a doubleheader sweep over IPFW April 27. That boosted its record to 20-24-1, a far cry from that 2-11-1 mark earlier in the season. Now the

Lansing native Rachel Turney blanked No. 15 Northwestern in eight innings April 29.

Spartans had to face a 14-0 Northwestern squad April 29. As the game got going, Turney was providing her team a chance at the upset. State recorded only one hit through seven innings but the scoreboard still showed zeroes in the run column. A walk to Peterson opened the eighth, Traci Nicosia hit into a fielder's choice and the Wildcats picked up the second out on a K. With two away, Meghan Darhower came through with a single and Mercado laced a two-run double to left. The Wildcats loaded the bases with two outs in their half, and even had their career home run hitter up in Kristen Amegin. Peterson locked up the victory, though, when she made a diving snag on a pop up at first. While State lost the last three games that weekend, the Gophers stumbled at Illinois and Iowa to provide MSU a spot in the eight-team Big Ten Tournament.

State concluded its regular season with two victories May 5 against Detroit and two more April 8 over Miami (Ohio). The wins over the RedHawks were highlighted by Janette Hurtado and Victoria Morache playing in their final games at Old College Field. They led their team to a 10-3 record in East Lansing as MSU out-hit opponents .291 to .229 while compiling a stunning 1.23 team ERA at home.

More importantly, Michigan State was 14-9 in the month of April and 4-2 in May heading into the post-season. While it was easy to think about what its overall record would have been if they had won some of the early tournament games, the Spartans would not have gotten that far without learning. The steps in becoming a winning program begin with experiencing both the ups and downs during a season and State definitely went through both.

The Spartans completed the 2005 campaign as the eighth seed in the conference tournament, and suffered a 6-2 defeat from top-seed Michigan in the first round in Ann Arbor May 12. That might not seem like an entertaining battle, but all of UM's runs were scored with two outs, proving just how close MSU was in scaring the top-ranked team in the nation. The four-run loss was actually the best showing by a Big Ten team against the Wolverines on the weekend, as Wisconsin lost 10-1 in the semifinals and Iowa fell 7-2 in the title game.

A few days later, Michigan State realized that it is not too far away from making a run in 2006, and that does not mean just in the Big Ten. Of

Freshman Jessica LeFevre was a pinch-runner in 38 games and finished second on the team in stolen bases (12) and tied for fourth in runs scored (13).

the 35 different teams it played, 16 made their way to the 2005 NCAA Regionals, and of the 54 total games it participated in, 26 were against such teams. Four of those opponents (seven games) were ranked in the top ten May 11, and State even faced two different No. 1 teams (California and Michigan) during the year.

By playing one of the toughest schedules in the nation, the Spartans still compiled a 25-28-1 record. They held a batting average under .200 for a good chunk of the season and came back to finish with a .234 mark. Three of their top four hitters were freshmen (Caitlin Mahoney .288, Traci Nicosia .253 and Nikki Nicosia .240) while Victoria Morache tied the school's 27th-best performance at the plate with a .317 average. Hurtado completed her four-year career by climbing to 20th on the all-time hit chart with 131, fourth in walks with 66 and sixth in games played with 229.

Rachel Turney (1.90 ERA, 14-16) and Lesley Noel (3.24 ERA, 8-5) combined into an impressive tandem on the rubber. Turney's 160 strikeouts tied for fifth most all-time in a single season, while Noel was 8-3 in April and May combined.

Jacquie Joseph explained in February, "My goal is to get better as the season goes on and finish strong. We've been able to do that the last couple years. I would hope and expect that we will do it again this year." Her team of young talent certainly accomplished that goal.