The MSU baseball team will have revenge on the mind tonight at Oldsmobile Park.
The Spartans (26-9 overall, 9-6 Big Ten) will travel to Lansing for the first time this season to host Central Michigan, which defeated MSU both times the two teams faced off last season. The game starts at 7 p.m. at the home of the Lansing Lugnuts.
Junior right fielder Bob Malek said the Spartans haven’t forgotten the 5-4 and 15-6 losses at the hands of the Chippewas (18-15, 7-5 Mid-American Conference).
“They kind of took it to us last year,” Malek said. “We knew they were good last year, but we have a lot more confidence in ourselves this year and we kind of expect to win, and we’re going to work hard and get the W.
“So we got a little payback.”
Senior right-hander Jon Huizinga will head to the mound for his second start of the season against Central. Huizinga (0-0, 8.03 ERA) has appeared in seven games this season for a total of 12.1 innings and 12 strikeouts.
“I’m just going to go out and try to win and throw strikes,” Huizinga said. “I’m going to do my best and hopefully it will get me a start this weekend, and I’m just going to go out and try to win.
“They beat us pretty bad last year. This year, I’m hoping we can return the favor.”
Spartan manager Ted Mahan said the team will follow the same plan it has all season, and that several pitchers will see action tonight. Junior right-hander Pat Gill, sophomore right-hander Adam White and senior left-hander Kyle Geswein will close out the contest.
Offensively, the Chippewas are led by first baseman Mike Gates. He leads all starters with a .370 batting average and 37 hits. He also has belted a team-high six home runs with 32 RBIs. Center fielder Tommy Grubb also hits at the .370 mark, with two home runs and 18 RBIs.
Once Chippewa third baseman Tim Bullinger gets on base, he is a constant threat to steal. Bullinger has scored a team-high 36 runs and is 12-for-21 in stolen-base attempts.
Junior catcher Brady Burrill is listed as doubtful for the Spartans after taking a foul ball off his left hand in Friday’s 11-0 win against Michigan.
Mahan said he has no intention of playing Burrill tonight.
“He definitely won’t play (today) and there’s still some concern for Friday,” Mahan said. “He’s made progress, but not as much as I would have liked, so hopefully he’ll be ready for the weekend.”
This weekend, the Spartans travel to Iowa City for a four-game series with the Hawkeyes. MSU is tied for second place in the Big Ten with Indiana, and is two games back of Ohio State.
The regular season Big Ten Champion will host the Big Ten Tournament May 23-26.
“We just want to keep rolling right now,” Malek said. “We’ve got something big going on right now and we just need to stay on top of our game.”
