After winning its first Big Ten Championship last season since 1979, the conference named the MSU baseball team the preseason favorite to win the 2012 Big Ten Championship, the conference announced Tuesday.
The Big Ten named the top six preseason teams, with Purdue and Minnesota as the runners up and No. 4 Nebraska, No. 5 Ohio State and No, 6 Illinois closing out the list.
Despite losing the eligibility of former Spartans outfielder Brandon Eckerle, first baseman Jeff Holm and pitcher Kurt Wunderlich — all of whom were drafted by the MLB — head coach Jake Boss Jr. opens his fourth season with 25 returning Spartans.
“We’ve got great leadership,” Boss said at his press conference Monday. “(Senior) Justin Scanlon, our shortstop, is a captain, as is (senior pitcher) Tony Bucciferro. They’ve done a pretty good job of setting the stage for our younger guys to go out and show them what it’s going to take to compete and be consistent throughout 56 games.”
Adding to the lineup, the Spartans welcome four incoming freshmen who were drafted out of high school but who turned down their offers to play at MSU.
Freshmen right fielder Jimmy Pickens, first baseman Ryan Krill and third baseman Kevin Goergen will start in MSU’s first game of the season Friday in Dunedin, Fla., against St. John’s in the Big Ten/Big East Challenge.
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