MSU baseball has seven commits poised to play for the Spartans in 2017. Let's meet these ball players.
“We’re extremely excited,” MSU baseball head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. “We’ve addressed a lot of issues that we needed to address, especially on the mound and we’ve got some really athletic kids that will be here as well … It’s going to be exciting to build off of the current freshman class and I think that the next class that will be here in the fall will greatly complement the current freshmen class.”
—Michigan State baseball head coach Jake Boss, along with all the other MSU sports teams, added new faces on the 2021 signing day this past week.
The four-player class features two right-handed pitchers, an infielder and a left-handed pitcher/outfielder.
All four of the recruits, call the state of Michigan home.
"We are extremely excited to add these four outstanding student-athletes to the Spartan baseball family,” Boss said in a release.
“We’re excited about their athleticism, and we feel like they will all be outstanding young men who will represent Michigan State Athletics in a positive way. They are all already very, very talented players, and yet, we feel like the sky’s the limit and they all have a very high ceiling. I’d also like to commend our recruiting coordinator, Coach (Graham) Sikes, and our pitching coach, Coach (Mark) Van Ameyde, for all their tireless, hard work on the road and everything behind the scenes that went into collecting a tremendous recruiting class that we’re very excited about becoming Spartans.”
Since 2009 when Boss was named head coach of the MSU baseball program, the Spartans are 131-128 in the Big Ten and 342-275 overall.
Here is what each recruit brings to the table for the Spartans:
Jacob Anderson
Anderson is an infielder and is listed at 6-foot-1-inch, 190 pounds out of Notre Dome Preparatory Academy in Pontiac.
"Jacob is a player that came on this past summer to really catch our eye. He can play multiple infield spots and handles the bat well. I look forward to having him on our infield," MSU baseball recruiting coordinator Graham Sikes said of Anderson in a release.
A four-year letter winner in high school, Anderson is rated the No. 36 overall player in Michigan by Prep Baseball Report.
Anderson, pitching coach Mark Van Ameyde said in a release, is a utility player who can multiple infield positions.
"We’re excited to have Jacob on board. He has shown an incredible desire and work ethic to make himself into as good a player as he can be. He can play multiple positions on the field, and he has a chance to impact the program early in his college career," Van Ameyde said in a release.
Aidan Arbaugh
Arbaugh is a lefty pitcher who is listed 6-foot-2, 175 pounds. Arbaugh, according to Perfectgame.org, tops out his pitching speeds in the mid to high 80s with his fastball but is around 70-72 MPH with his curveball, according to Prep Baseball Report.
"Aidan impressed me at our winter camp when he was a sophomore. He has continued to improve and made himself into a very good ballplayer. He is interesting both in the outfield and on the mound and reminds me a little bit of a young, former Spartan, Jeff Kinley. If he continues that trend of getting better each year, I would expect him to be a very good college player," Sikes said on Arbaugh.
Arbaugh has a little bit of a family legacy at MSU as well, his mother Laura was a tennis player for the Spartans from 1993-96.
A Saline High School senior, Arbaugh plans to pursue a career in education after his baseball career is over, a release states.
Micah Ottenbreit
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Our of Trenton, Michigan, Ottenbreit is a right-handed pitcher that's listed at 6-foot-4 and 190 pounds.
Ottenbreit is listed as the No. 1 pitcher in Michigan by Prep Baseball Report and chose MSU over Michigan, Eastern Michigan and Xavier.
"He already has a high-level arm, who still has a lot in the tank. He’s a very projectable, wiry body with an arm that works very easy, and he should make an impact immediately for us on the mound. He’s a former hockey player, so he will bring a competitive toughness every time he takes the ball," MSU pitching coach Van Ameyde said.
MSU baseball assistant coach Sikes, in the release, said that Ottenbreit's fastball has topped out as high as 94 MPH in high school.
Ryan Szczepaniak
Szczepaniak is from Woodhaven High School in Woodhaven, Michigan an has been a part of two 34+ win seasons in high school while playing for the Warriors.
He's listed as the No. 7 overall player in Michigan and No. 3 pitcher, according to Prep Baseball Report.
"Ryan is another arm that we are very excited about, who should help the program on the field very early in his career. He’s a multi-sport kid in high school, who is already a tough competitor with a great arm, but also has plenty of upside," Van Ameyde said on Szczepaniak.
The right-handed pitcher said in the release that he aspires to lead MSU to a College World Series Championship and complete his degree before playing in the MLB. His older brother Drew is a pitcher for Western Michigan University.
