With the intensity of March being too much for the ice hockey and men's and women's basketball teams, other MSU teams have the opportunity to shine. Here is a run down of other MSU teams and the Lansing Lugnuts:
Softball
The MSU softball team has had an excellent season thus far.
At one point this season, the Spartans (22-9 overall, 3-1 Big Ten) won 12 straight games and have won seven of their last 10. Results from Thursday's game with Western Michigan were not available at the time of press.
The team is off to a good start to make the Big Ten Tournament, as the top six teams in the conference advance. The Spartans are tied with rival Michigan for third-place.
The winner of the Big Ten Tournament receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships, with at-large bids going to teams who fared well throughout the regular season.
Through Wednesday, senior centerfielder Sandy Lewis leads MSU's offensive attack with a .371 batting average, 35 hits, a .456 on-base percentage and 24 runs. Freshman catcher Elizabeth Peterson provides the power for MSU as she leads the team with five home runs, along with 20 RBI, which is also good for first on the team.
Through 31 games, junior pitcher Jessica Beech has racked up wins at a blistering pace as she is 15-3 and 3-0 in the Big Ten, with a phenomenal 0.60 ERA. Beech has posted eight shutouts this season and has 118 strikeouts, which is more than double the total of the next closest Spartan.
MSU hosts Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne at noon and 2 p.m. Saturday, and welcome conference foe Iowa at noon and 2 p.m. Sunday. All games are at Old College Field.
Baseball
The MSU baseball team hasn't come close to meeting it's 2003 season expectations following last year's record-breaking season.
The Spartans (6-17 overall, 0-4 Big Ten) started with a 3-1 record, but went 2-16 in March. MSU won its first home game Wednesday, and host a four-game series against Northwestern starting at 2 p.m. today at Kobs Field.
"We've put ourselves in a position that we can't have a bad weekend the rest of the year," manager Ted Mahan said. "We've got to win some games this weekend and get ourselves in a position that if we do have a bad weekend later in the season, it won't cost us postseason."
The Spartans must finish in the top six of the conference to get an invite to the Big Ten Tournament. The winner of the tournament gets an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Lugnuts
All told, nine athletes featured on Lansing's 2003 roster have graced the Lugnuts lineup at one time or another last season, giving the squad a distinct advantage while most other teams are coping with new faces.
Three players - shortstop Buck Coats, second baseman Ryan Theriot and outfielder J.J. Johnson - return to the lineup after playing a full season on the Lugnuts squad that advanced to the final game of the Midwest League Championship before falling to the Peoria Chiefs.
The many new faces coming to Lansing also have something in common with the old - they know how to win.
Nineteen of 28 athletes on the roster boast championships in their rookie clubs last season.
"They bring experience from (the playoff) atmosphere, and that's great for us," pitching coach Mike Anderson said. "It's great to have the players that have come back to show the new guys around and set an example for them too.
The Lugnuts were rained out in their season opener Thursday, but will play a doubleheader against the South Bend Silver Hawks today starting at 5:05 p.m. at Oldsmobile Park, 505 E. Michigan Ave. in Lansing.
Women's tennis
To say MSU has struggled this season might be an understatement.
Soon after sophomore Dora Vastag underwent season-ending surgery, freshmen Shelley Brady and Jean Willmann fell victim to injuries and another player left the team for personal reasons, cutting the Spartans' active roster to eight.
Five games are left in the regular season, and the Spartans still are seeking their first conference win. MSU sports a 8-9 overall record and are 0-5 in the Big Ten. The Spartans are tied with Indiana at the bottom of the conference.
But head coach Tim Bauer said his team still is in high spirits and though the preseason goal of finishing as a top-30 team will not be reached this season, much has been learned.
"We've lost four of our top six players, but there have been an unbelievable amount of people stepping up and filling in those spots," Bauer said. "A lot of (next year's) success will come from what's happening right now and how they're handling it."
Men's tennis
Following a 9-2 start to the season, the men's tennis team dropped seven of eight matches in March to fall to 11-9 overall and 2-3 in the Big Ten.
The team needs to beat some top teams down the stretch to qualify for the national tournament, head coach Gene Orlando said. But he added the task isn't impossible.
"We can still have a good run, our energy and confidence is high," he said. "We've played some really good teams, we just weren't able to catch a break. The key thing is that we're continuing to improve, and I think we're peaking at the right time."
The squad is captained by Adam Hourani and Jimmy McGuire, seniors who have worked hard to improve the Spartans' record drastically (7-18, 1-10 two seasons ago). Wednesday, MSU downed Michigan for its first win against its rival in 10 years.
Gymnastics
@Info_Box_Text:The MSU gymnastics team is on its way to the NCAA Regional Championships to compete for a chance to advance to the NCAA National Championships.
The Spartans finished the regular season with a 15-7 record, 2-3 in the Big Ten.
In MSU's most recent event, it finished last in the seven-team Big Ten Championships. Freshman Sarah Alexander has been the standout performer this season. She has won 15 individual titles.
The No. 6 seed Spartans will compete with No. 1 seed Alabama, No. 2 seed Oklahoma, No. 3 seed Auburn, No. 4 seed Kent State and No. 5 seed Central Michigan in the Central Region. The two top teams in each region receive automatic bids to the national championships. The regionals begin at 6 p.m. April 12 in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Men's golf
Eight events down and two more to go for the MSU men's golf team before heading to the Big Ten Championship in Bloomington, Ind., on May 2-4.
And the Spartans are in pretty good shape, nabbing seven top-10 finishes in eight events this season. MSU finished first in both the Wolverine Invitational and Adams Cup of Newport.
The only blemish on its résumé is a 14th place finish in a field of 16 at the Oregon Duck Invitational last month.
Several individuals have also had impressive performances this season. Senior Eric Jorgensen leads the pack with a 73.10 stroke average and two other players have a top-ten finish. Senior John Koskinen tied for third place at the Wolverine Invitational.
Head coach Mark Hankins leads the nine men, who will try to continue their winning ways at the Kepler Invitational in Columbus, Ohio, starting April 12.
Women's golf
The MSU women's golf team has little time to ready itself for the Big Ten Championship. Only one tournament remains before the team heads to Iowa City, Iowa, to battle for the conference crown.
The Boilermaker Invitational is set for April 12-13 at Purdue, and senior Jessica Till will head into it on a high note. Till had her best showing of the season at last weekend's Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational - she finished in 13th place. Till has one top-20 finish and joins junior Allison Fouch, who is tied for the team lead with three. Fouch also leads the team with a 76.6 stroke average and has the team's only first-place individual finish, which occurred at the Mary Fossum Invitational in September.
Four golfers have stroke averages under 80, and the team had its highest finish at Mary Fossum, where it placed third. MSU has finished in the top ten in all but one competition.
Men's track and field
After spending a long winter in the cozy confines of indoor track facilities, it's finally time for the men's track team to go outside.
The Spartans begin their outdoor season with the Spartan Open at 11 a.m. Saturday in the revamped MSU Track Complex near Spartan Stadium. Head coach Darroll Gatson said it will be the team's first home meet in four years.
"It's out-of-sight for us because parents can come and watch and we can use our new home facility," Gatson said. "This is like an exhibition for us to see where we're at and what we have. We're just going to run and see how we measure up."
Gatson said he expects big things from junior Steve Manz (shot put) and senior Andy Lixey (middle distance) during the outdoor season. The men's team has meets scheduled every weekend through the end of finals.
Women's track and field
The women's team is also home for the Spartan Open this weekend - and it already has an outdoor meet under its belt this season. MSU went to the Raleigh Relays in North Carolina last week, where juniors Lynlee Phillips (javelin), Sarah Adelaine (hammer throw) and Sherita Williams (triple jump) all finished in the top 10. Senior distance runner Ann Somerville, who finished 14th in the 3,000-meter run at last month's NCAA Championships, is also a key contributor to the squad.
The Big Ten Championships for both the men's and women's track and field teams will be in Minneapolis on May 16-18.
Women's crew
The Spartans get to stay in the waters of mid-Michigan all month. MSU's only two April meets are on its home course, Lake Ovid in nearby Sleepy Hollow State Park.
Notre Dame visits MSU on April 12, and the Spartans host a Big Ten invitational the following weekend.
Then they're off to the Big Ten Championships in Columbus, Ohio, on May 3, and possibly the NCAA Championships.
MSU is coming off a successful regatta against California, Southern Cal and Stanford last weekend.
