Jay Alexander was so excited that his team was playing the Spartans at Oldsmobile Park this season, he thought it was a mistake.
The Wayne State manager, whose team is a traditional nonconference opponent for the Spartans (16-12 overall, 6-2 Big Ten), did a double-take when he looked at the Warriors' 2004 schedule when it came out.
"I wanted to make sure it was correct before I called (MSU's) coach - I didn't want him to change his mind," Alexander said. "I wanted to get it up on our Web site right away so I could say, 'Well, it's already on the Web.'"
The schedule was correct, and Alexander's Warriors will take the field at 5 p.m. at Oldsmobile Park in Lansing today.
Alexander's team was more than excited about the game as well. Of course, it's not every day a Division II school gets to play in a professional baseball stadium.
"They want me to get there really early, like two hours before the game," Alexander said. "Any time you're a Division II program and you get to play Michigan State, kids are always going to be jacked up. Now, that can help us and that can hurt us. But everyone wants to play in the major leagues, so everyone gets to be a major leaguer for a day, so to speak."
The up-and-down Warriors (14-16) are coming into the game riding a four-game winning streak. Wayne State swept Hillsdale in Detroit, winning the four games by the combined score of 32-13 over the weekend.
On the other hand, the Spartans come into the game with an unfamiliar feeling - losing.
MSU extended its winning streak to 12 games by winning Friday and the first game of Saturday's double-header, but the weekend turned ugly.
The Spartans dropped Saturday's second game and Sunday's series finale, meaning they came back to East Lansing with a streak intact, but it was a two-game losing streak.
"We just lost two in a row," MSU manager Ted Mahan said. "We don't like that feeling."
But Mahan said he felt the good streak was wearing on his team, and now they can get back to playing without that extra stress.
"Once we did lose, I thought about all the energy it took winning 12 in a row," Mahan said. "A lot of those came down to the last inning - the last pitch. Really, I think we spent too much energy trying to win those 12 games.
"But I'd like to do it again."
The Spartans didn't get back home until 1 a.m. Monday morning, so Mahan gave them the day off.
It might not seem foolish to assume a possible winning streak could start today against the Warriors. Then again, last year's results could sway opinions.
Last season, the Warriors led the Spartans in a slugfest, 12-9, in the eighth inning. And despite the contest being a non-league game, Alexander said with his team clinging to a lead, he was playing to win, not playing not to lose.
Alexander put in his closer and the last batter in the bottom of the eighth fanned on three pitches. All looked well for Wayne State. Then came the ninth.
After blanking the Warriors in the top of the ninth, the Spartans used their bats and a little luck to pull off the 13-12 comeback.
"We had a chance to win," Alexander said. "We put in our closer to do it and he didn't do it."
Alexander remembers it well, but also realizes playing great for 8 and 1/2 innings probably won't be enough to beat MSU, regardless of last year's result.
"Baseball is so fickle - sometimes kids do it, sometimes kids don't," Alexander said of teams playing great for an entire nine-inning game. "Any time you can be 6-2 in the Big Ten, you know that's pretty damn good.
"Hopefully, we play well, because if we don't, I don't think we have a chance."
At worst, Alexander's team will have been major leaguers for a day.
