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Baseball looking sharp, wrestlers get win

February 24, 2008

Baseball

The MSU baseball team looked in mid-season form during the season’s opening weekend, going 2-1 at the Stetson Invitational in DeLand, Fla.

The Spartans beat Connecticut, 11-1, Sunday behind three hits, including a grand slam from junior catcher Kyle Day.

After trading runs in the third and fourth innings, the Spartans exploded for a six-run fifth inning behind Day’s grand slam.

MSU added four more runs in the seventh, including a three-run home run by freshman shortstop Jonathan Roof.

The Spartans defeated host Stetson in Friday’s opening game in the top of the 10th inning, as senior outfielder Dennis Jones broke a 4-4 tie with a two-run home run. Jones led the Spartans with two hits and three RBIs, while senior pitcher Mike Monterey allowed just two runs in six and one-third innings.

Saturday’s game against No. 6 Missouri was an offensive slugfest, as the Spartans fell to the Tigers, 14-9.

After being down 4-0 after the first inning, MSU rallied back to make the score 5-3 until a six-run fifth inning by Missouri put them up 11-3.

Despite a pair of three-run innings, the Spartans failed to make up enough ground for a comeback.

Wrestling

After breaking a 10-match losing streak Friday against Eastern Michigan, the MSU wrestling team fell to rival Michigan, 24-11, Sunday in Ann Arbor in the regular season finale.

A win by sophomore heavyweight Alan O’Donnell and technical fall victory by No. 4 sophomore Franklin Gomez got the Spartans out to an early 8-3 lead, but U-M rallied to win the next six matches. Senior Joe Williams, No. 15 at 197 pounds, ended the skid in the dual meet’s final match with a 4-3 win over No. 19 Anthony Biondo.

In Friday’s dual meet against Eastern Michigan, the final home meet for seniors Freddie DeRamus, Clint Frutiger and Williams, the Spartans beat the Eagles, 24-6.

Junior Eddie Skowneski opened the dual meet with an 8-5 win in the 149-pound weight class, and after a setback at 157 pounds, the Spartans rattled off four straight wins.

Gomez defeated No. 15 Sean Clair, 4-3, in the night’s closest match, while Williams and the 125-pound Frutiger both won.

Postseason play begins March 8-9 with the Big Ten Championships in Minneapolis, Minn.

Softball

After sweeping the Seminole Classic in the season’s opening weekend, the MSU softball team tasted the bitter side of competition at the Palm Springs Classic, losing all five games this past weekend.

On Friday, the Spartans (4-5) lost 6-3 to No. 21 UNLV and 14-10 to No. 23 Cal State Fullerton. Down 6-2 to Cal State Fullerton, the Spartans put together a seven-run fifth inning to take a 9-6 lead, but the Titans answered back with four runs in both the sixth and seventh innings for the comeback win.

Senior utility player Traci Nicosia went 4-7 with 3 RBIs on the day, including a two-run home run against Cal State Fullerton.

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The game against Cal State Fullerton was as much offense as the Spartans would get on the weekend, as they were held to one run in each of their losses to Oregon, No. 14 Hawaii and Massachusetts.

Men’s tennis

The No. 67-ranked MSU tennis team improved to 11-3 on the season by beating Cornell and UW-Green Bay this weekend at home.

In Saturday’s first match against Cornell, senior Nick Rinks, junior Alex Forger, junior John Allare and senior Adam Monich each posted wins in singles competition as the Spartans won, 5-2.

In the afternoon contest, the Spartans swept each match against UW-Green Bay to win 7-0. In both matches, MSU swept the doubles competition, led by the No. 21-ranked duo of Rinks and Monich.

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