It's not time to hit the panic button yet, but the MSU baseball team has drastically shrunk its margin for error the last two weeks.
Since a heartbreaking final-inning defeat to Penn State on April 15, the Spartans (15-18 overall, 6-9 Big Ten) have lost seven straight games, including a four-game sweep at the hands of Minnesota last weekend.
After starting the conference season 5-2, MSU now sits in eighth place in the Big Ten, with only the top six teams making the conference tournament.
A critical chance for a rebound comes tonight, as the Spartans open a four-game series with conference-leading Michigan. First pitch is 6:05 p.m. at Oldsmobile Park in Lansing.
"It's kind of a make-or-break point of the season," junior second baseman Steve Gerstenberger said. "I think everyone's rallying together, and we realize it's either now or never."
To reverse their fortunes, the Spartans will have to fight through a difficult stretch in their schedule the next two weeks. It starts with U-M (26-8 overall), which has dropped only one of its 12 Big Ten games and had a 16-game winning streak at one point this season. Throw in the intrastate rivalry, and the fact that the Wolverines have won seven of the last eight meetings, and the series has a lot of implications for the Spartans.
"Michigan's a great team, and I really respect the way they've put their program together the last couple years," senior pitcher John Dwan said. "But they are one of the teams I really like to beat."
After that, the Spartans will play at Ohio State, another of the Big Ten's elite squads.
Stumbling through those two series would put the Spartans at a huge disadvantage down the stretch.
"There's a lot of parity in the Big Ten," head coach David Grewe said, "but there's a lot of good teams."
There is at least some reason for optimism in the MSU dugout.
Three of MSU's losses in this skid have come by one run, and the Spartans feel like they've been one hit away in a lot of games.
"We're not worried," Dwan said. "We've got the talent to do it — it's not a lack of effort. Sometimes, you just don't play good baseball."
