Ann Arbor — Jimmy Pickens knew he would have a chance. In a game that lasted 13 innings Sunday, the freshman right fielder knew he would have enough at-bats to hopefully make a difference as the MSU baseball team looked to avoid the sweep against arch-rival Michigan.
Facing misdemeanor charges for operating a vehicle under the influence of drugs and marijuana possession, MSU basketball player Derrick Nix waived his right to an arraignment on Friday in East Lansing’s 54-B District Court, according to court records.
The MSU baseball team has assembled a pitching core to compete with any team in the nation. But great pitching is useless without offensive support. Jake Boss Jr. acknowledges that this much is true. But as the Spartans found out this weekend, there’s a fine line between the theory of scoring runs and the literal production of them.
When the MSU gymnasts headed into the NCAA Auburn Regional with the No. 6 seed this weekend, they were hoping for a similar result to last year’s tournament appearance, when the Spartans placed in third — falling just short of advancing to the next round. However, it was not to be, as the Spartans placed sixth overall with a team score of 194.050 as Georgia and Oregon State placed first and second, respectively, to advance to the NCAA Championships.
The MSU softball team took three losses this weekend in its three-game series against Penn State in University Park, Penn. The Spartans (11-26 overall, 0-9 Big Ten) just broke a seven-game losing streak with a win against Central Michigan last week before their losses this weekend.
On paper, the MSU baseball team has an offense to compete with any team in the Big Ten and many teams across the country.
After taking two out of three against Ohio State last weekend to open up Big Ten play, the MSU baseball fell to in-state rival Michigan 4-0 in the weekend opener on Friday in Ann Arbor. Senior pitcher Tony Bucciferro took the loss for the Spartans (18-9 overall, 2-2 Big Ten) and his record on the year falls to 3-2.
MSU basketball player Derrick Nix waived his right to an arraignment on Friday in East Lansing’s 54-B District Court, according to court records.
Lansing – With a weekend three-game series against Michigan approaching, Jake Boss Jr. saw an opportunity in the Crosstown Showdown to showcase the depth of his pitchers in his arsenal.
After a break from the usual grind Thursday at the Crosstown Showdown, the MSU baseball team gets back to Big Ten play Friday with the first of three games against arch-rvial Michigan. With Thursday’s 7-0 loss to the Lansing Lugnuts being a fun exhibition, the Spartans (18-8 overall, 2-1 Big Ten) will have to turn up the intensity for the series with the Wolverines (12-16, 0-3). And junior utility player Tony Wieber said that shouldn’t be a problem. “I don’t think you need much motivation,” Wieber said.
With the departure of leading wide receivers B.J. Cunningham, Keshawn Martin and Keith Nichol, along with tight ends Brian Linthicum and Garrett Celek, the receiving corps for the MSU football team is wide open. And with junior tight end Dion Sims as the only player with more than 10 receptions, the chances for the rest of the receivers are even greater.
The lights are a little brighter, the crowds are a little bigger and the competition is a little better, and although most of the MSU gymnasts have been there before, there’s still something different about NCAA Regionals.
After breaking its seven-game losing streak, the MSU softball team is feeling prepared for its three-game series against Penn State — and hoping for its first conference win of the season. The Spartans(11-23 overall, 0-6 Big Ten) beat Central Michigan (14-14) 6-1 on Wednesday in Mount Pleasant, Mich. The team will kick off its weekend at 2 p.m. on Saturday with a doubleheader at University Park, Penn.
The MSU baseball team continued its winning ways with a 6-1 victory against Eastern Michigan on Wednesday in Ypsilianti, Mich. With the Crosstown Showdown with the Lansing Lugnuts on Thursday at Cooley Law School Stadium in Lansing along with a three-game series this weekend with in-state rival Michigan, head coach Jake Boss Jr. limited the innings of his pitchers in the game.
Jimmy Pickens considers himself blessed to have played in professional baseball stadiums multiple times since he picked up the game as a kid. As a freshman out of Brother Rice High School in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., Pickens even has had the chance to play in the Detroit Tigers’ Comerica Park in the Catholic League Championship. Still, Pickens said he can’t wait to get a taste of his first Crosstown Showdown at 7:05 p.m. Thursday, when he and the MSU baseball team take on the Single-A Lansing Lugnuts at Cooley Law School Stadium in Lansing.
For the sixth-straight year, the Lansing Lugnuts will open up the season against the MSU baseball team. The Lugnuts — the Single-A affiliate of the MLB’s Toronto Blue Jays — made it to the Midwest League Championship series last season, a few months after the Spartans won the Big Ten championship. The annual Crosstown Showdown provides Greater Lansing baseball fans a chance to see two top-of-their-level teams face off at Cooley Law School Stadium.
The last time Anthony Rashad White took the field in a competitive atmosphere, he secured MSU’s first bowl win since 2001 with a blocked kick on the final play of a 33-30 victory over Georgia in the 2012 Outback Bowl. Three months later, the senior nose tackle is back on the field for MSU’s spring practices and working to fill the void left by the person who was lined up on White’s left during the play — defensive tackle Jerel Worthy, who elected to forgo his senior season and declare for the NFL draft just a few days after the bowl game.
Two weeks ago, Torey Krug led the MSU hockey team on the ice in the NCAA Tournament in the bright lights of college hockey’s biggest stage. On Tuesday, the stage might have been a little bit bigger. After forgoing his senior season in favor of signing a professional contract with the NHL’s Boston Bruins in March, the defenseman was called upon to play in his first official game Tuesday night at TD Garden in Boston.
The MSU softball team was able to snap a seven-game losing streak when it knocked off the Central Michigan Chippewas 6-1 at Varsity Softball Field in Mount Pleasant, Mich. Leading 1-0 heading into the top of the seventh inning, the Spartans (11-23 overall, 0-6 Big Ten) blew the lead open on a five-run rally kick-started by a single from junior outfield Kylene Hopkins that drove in a pair of runs.
MSU basketball player Derrick Nix was arrested on charges of operating a vehicle with the presence of drugs and marijuana possession at 12:20 a.m. Tuesday in East Lansing, according to East Lansing 54-B District Court records.