According to a preseason poll released by the Big Ten on Wednesday, the MSU baseball team is ranked sixth in the conference. Each coach in the Big Ten voted on the top six teams and also selected three students from each team to a “Players to Watch” list, according to a press release by MSU Spartans.
Last season, the Spartans finished with a 34-23 overall record and third in the Big Ten, tied with Maryland and in-state rival University of Michigan. Each team finished with a 14-10 conference record.
The three Spartans selected to the Players to Watch list include redshirt junior left-hander Cam Vieaux, junior right-handed pitcher Walter Borkovich and junior infielder Jordan Zimmerman.
Last season, Vieaux posted a 4-7 overall record but started all 15 games that he pitched in. Vieaux worked hard for MSU last season, tossing 90.1 total innings. In that time span, Vieaux racked up a 3.49 earned run average, while striking out 71 batters and only walking 32.
Also on that list is righty workhorse Walter Borkovich. In 2015, Borkovich tied MSU’s single-season record with 30 appearances in relief. Borkovich tallied a 3-0 record last season with a 2.73 ERA and a 0.939 WHIP in 52.2 innings pitched.
The last of the three Spartans named on the Players to Watch list is junior transfer Jordan Zimmerman. Zimmerman transferred to MSU from Mesa Community College in his home town of Mesa, Arizona. Zimmerman hit a whopping .396 last season for the Thunderbirds and was also the recipient of the Marucci Elite Hitter Award as the best hitter in the southwest. Zimmerman will be expected to start at second base for the Spartans this season.
The 2016 season will begin on Feb. 19 for MSU when they travel out to Greenville, South Carolina to take part in the First Pitch Invitational, where they will play Presbyterian in their first game. First pitch is slated for noon.
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