Lansing - The Lansing Lugnuts had plenty of chances to tie the Southwest Michigan Devil Rays, down one in the eighth and ninth innings, but couldn't get a run across in a 5-4 loss at Oldsmobile Park Wednesday afternoon. "When you outhit a team, you should probably win a game," manager Ken Joyce said.
The year-plus between December 2003 and spring 2005 for junior quarterback Drew Stanton has been well documented - serious knee injury, long rehabilitation process, and a shoulder injury during the 2004 season and then more rehab. After all those hurdles, Stanton seemed to hit a flat stretch with no obstacles. "They're both feeling real good," Stanton said of his injuries.
The city of Detroit has been selected to host the 2010 Frozen Four at Ford Field on April 8 and 10. "The Central Collegiate Hockey Association is extremely excited to be part of another major sporting event that is coming to Detroit," CCHA Commissioner Tom Anastos said in a written statement.
A total of 24 Big Ten players have been named to watch lists of four of college football's top awards, including MSU junior quarterback Drew Stanton, who is on the watch list for the Maxwell Award. Stanton is the only MSU player on any of the lists.
The MSU vs. Kentucky South Regional Final game, in which the Spartans won 94-88 in double overtime, has been named as one of three nominees for the ESPY Award in the Best Game category. The game featured 10 ties and 19 lead changes between two of the more recognizable programs in the country. Kentucky guard Patrick Sparks' 3-pointer at the buzzer of regulation hung on the rim for a few seconds before dropping in, but the question was not whether it was in time or not.
MSU cross country runners Michelle Carson and Nathan Egger were named to the 2005 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America teams for cross country/track and field. Carson was selected to the second team on June 22 by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
On Wednesday, MSU announced the award winners of the George Alderton Male and Female Athletes of the Year, the Chester Brewer Leadership Award and the Dr. James Feurig Achievement and Service Award, while the Big Ten announced the male and female Medal of Honor winners from MSU. Former women's basketball player and current WNBA player for the Sacramento Monarchs, Kristin Haynie, won the George Alderton Female Athlete of the Year Award and also was named the Chester Brewer Leadership Award winner. Haynie led MSU women's basketball to its first-ever Final Four in 2004-05, en route to ending her career as the program's leader in assists, with 574, and steals, with 346. "It's a great honor to get this award, especially since Michigan State has so many great female athletes," Haynie said in a written statement.
I'm not going to predict tonight's Game 7 of the NBA Finals, but I will remind people of just how impressive the Detroit Pistons have been in the playoffs over the last two years. With a record of 16-7 in the playoffs last year and a suspect 15-9 this season (compared to the Lakers 15-1 a few years back), one might not look at the Pistons as a dominant team. But looks can be deceiving - it's how the Pistons have accomplished two straight trips to the NBA Finals and possibly two titles, which has been almost unthinkable. In both 2004 and 2005, the Pistons disposed of an unworthy opponent in the first round, beating Milwaukee 4-1 last season and Philadelphia 4-1 to begin their current playoff run. In round two against the New Jersey Nets last season, Detroit faced a 3-2 deficit against a team with arguably the best point guard in the NBA - Jason Kidd.
In only its second year of existence at MSU, the club baseball team had a record of 15-13 overall and 14-5 in the conference. The club team was started in 2003 by then-junior Aaron Leong.
The Lansing Lugnuts will have four players in the Midwest League All-Star Game, which will be played at 7 p.m.
MSU men's basketball junior guard Shannon Brown accepted an invitation to attend the Under 21 National Team Trials in Dallas on July 21-23. The trials are used to choose the members of the 12-player team that will defend the gold medal for the United States in the 2005 FIBA U21 World Championship in Mar de Plata, Argentina in August. During his sophomore season, Brown averaged 10.9 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists.
The Lansing Lugnuts didn't have much to play for in their final two games of the first half of The Midwest League season, after being eliminated from the playoffs by virtue of losing 2-1 at Fort Wayne on Friday. However, Lansing (37-32) didn't let that get in the way of winning the final two games of the first half, including a 4-3 win Sunday afternoon.
With less than three months until the season opening game against Kent State, the $64 million Spartan Stadium addition continues to take shape. "This isn't only to benefit the people who can afford the (suite and club level seating)," Associate Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Greg Ianni said.
There's no question that baseball is an international sport, but most of the players who are not speaking English are conversing in Spanish instead. More and more, however, there are players coming from other areas, especially the Far East - home to Lugnuts pitchers Chi-Hung Cheng and Po-Hsuan Keng. "The biggest transition for some of the American players, English-speaking players, is that there are players from other cultures, and they have no idea what these guys are all about," manager Ken Joyce said.
MSU senior Mike Palmer ended in 13th place in the pole vault at the 2005 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Sacramento, Calif., on Friday. Palmer struggled through the competition.
MSU redshirt junior Mickie Rzepka finished 10th in the pole vault finals at the NCAA Track and Field Outdoor Championships in Sacramento, Calif.
At this year's National Athletic Trainers Association convention, June 12-16 in Indianapolis, MSU athletic trainers Dave Carrier and Dr. John Powell will receive the 2005 Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer Award. The award will be given to 18 trainers from across the country and is one of the NATA's highest honors. Carrier was just inducted into the Michigan Athletic Trainer's Hall of Fame on May 19 for his outstanding work as MSU Hockey's head trainer.
MSU freshman Ryan Sontag has been named to the Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American team by Collegiate Baseball newspaper.
With only seven games left before the end of the first half of the season, the Lansing Lugnuts needed all the wins they could get - and they got one Sunday against the Dayton Dragons, winning 7-2. "Hopefully we can get things put together and try to get more wins than the team we're chasing," Lugnuts' manager Ken Joyce said. The Lugnuts (33-29) started the day one game behind the Fort Wayne Wizards for the final playoff spot in the East Division.
After a grueling series in the Eastern Conference Finals, "The Champs" are still standing, after KO-ing a worthy challenger in Miami. Here are the mock letters, one from the fans of Miami to the fans of Detroit and one from Pistons fans to Heat fans: Dear Pistons fans, We wanted to congratulate you on your team's win Monday night here in the "Red Zone;" it was truly impressive. I guess we were foolish to think that just because we signed Shaquille O'Neal in the offseason that we would own the Eastern Conference title - at least at season's end.