The Spartans were the first to get a hit registered when senior infielder Ryan Richardson hit a single to lead off the second.
By Geoff Preston gpreston@statenews.com East Lansing is like many college towns in the United States, when the stress of finals week is over many of the students who populated the town leave for home or internships. For the students who are in town, many summers have included a night or afternoon at Cooley Law School Stadium for a Lansing Lugnuts game. The Lugnuts are the triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays and offer beer and other food deals throughout the week that radio broadcaster Jesse Goldberg-Strassler said are a key to attracting students on a budget. Thursday night is known as "Thirsty Thursday" where beers are two dollars.
For the MSU students that stay in East Lansing over the summer, finding something to do is not as easy when a majority of the student-body is away from campus. For sports fans that find themselves at MSU over the summer, going to a Lansing Lugnuts game is a fine option for a fun night. Journalism senior Luke Ferris had knowledge of the Lugnuts from just being a sports fans but says that driving past Cooley Law School and the team's social media pages connected him to the team. Ferris was staying in East Lansing over the summer and so he finally decided to check out a game. "It was very relaxing, the environment was welcoming and entertaining," Ferris said "The stands aren't always packed so some nights you can literally put your feet up and enjoy a summer evening in Lansing." For Ferris the Lugnuts games present an opportunity to go out and enjoy a live professional sporting event at an affordable price. "Tickets and food are cheap so it's very affordable to enjoy a sporting event," Ferris said.
Former MSU and Detroit Tigers great 57-year-old Kirk Gibson has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.
Continuing with the recent trend, the MSU baseball team (25-17 overall, 9-6 Big Ten) put together another strong weekend.
All season long baseball head coach Jake Boss Jr. has made clear the importance of his seniors. He's said before that much like the football and basketball teams, team success starts with the seniors. The MSU football team has had its fair share of important seniors and upper-classmen leading the way to the 2014 Rose Bowl and the 2015 Cotton Bowl, much like the basketball team had its juniors and seniors step up on their way to the Final Four.
On a cold and gloomy Tuesday afternoon the baseball team cruised to a 9-2 victory over the Toledo Rockets.
Since March 25, MSU baseball has gone 11-5, they now sit at 22-16 with a 7-5 record in the Big Ten after starting the season below .500. A key factor in the team's recent stretch has been the play of senior first baseman Ryan Krill.
For the MSU baseball team, head coach Jake Boss Jr. often talks about being the best of six Division I baseball teams in the state or “state champs”. “We talk about being state champs, it’s important to us,” Boss said.
A day after defeating the Michigan Wolverines by a score of 4-2 in the same stadium, the baseball team fell to Central Michigan on Wednesday night, 8-7. Leading 7-0 heading into the bottom of the eighth, the Spartans fell apart at the end of the game.
For some of the men's baseball team, Tuesday night's 4-2 victory over rival Michigan at Comerica Park will be a memory they carry with them for the rest of their lives.
On a beautiful Tuesday night in Detroit at Comerica Park, home of the Tigers, the baseball team the Michigan Wolverines by a score of. U-M was better early as the Wolverines starting pitcher junior Evan Hill retired the first seven MSU batters before a single from freshman outfielder Brandon Hughes with one out in the bottom of the third. Despite the strong start by Hill the Spartans were able to strike first.
MSU has a history of playing games at Comerica Park, but usually it has been a part of a series called “Clash at Comerica,” which was an annual event put on by Central Michigan.
The baseball team (18-15 overall , 4-5 Big Ten ) is prepared to play in one of it biggest games of the season.
The baseball team cruised to a 10-2 victory over the Northwestern Wildcats in the third game of a three game series on a beautiful sunny spring day in East Lansing in front of 1,305 fans on Sunday afternoon.
Despite not getting the desired result in the ninth annual Crosstown Showdown, the men's baseball team gained plenty from their exhibition game against the Lansing Lugnuts, the Toronto Blue Jays Class A minor league affiliate. The Spartans were able to get 19 different players involved in the showdown, many players who were getting some experience at a time in the year when they wouldn't be seeing much playing time. Junior infielder Justin Hovis got his first experience as a pitcher since coming to MSU.
After a 30 minute rain delay a night of fun began in downtown Lansing. At the Cooley Law School Stadium the MSU baseball team took on the Lansing Lugnuts, the Toronto Blue Jays Class A minor league affiliate in the ninth annual Crosstown Showdown. The game marks one of the first times of the year for students and members of the community to get out of the house as the weather begins to break. The night featured plenty of fun and antics, including both East Lansing mayor Nathan Triplett and Lansing mayor Virgil Bernero throwing out the first pitch, fans of all ages, other Spartan athletes coming out to enjoy the night and much more. The Spartans started the game on fire as the first four MSU batters hit through the cycle en route to a 3-0 lead after one inning of play. The Lugnuts answered with one in the bottom of the second, and four in the third to take a 5-3 lead over MSU through three innings of play.
After a three-game sweep at Oregon over the weekend, MSU baseball (16-14) returned to McLane Baseball Stadium to take on Western Michigan (11-16). The Spartans won in walk-off fashion after scoring two runs in the ninth to complete a 5-4 comeback victory.
As the school-year draws to a close and the weather begins to break people can go outside again after a relatively cold winter.
After a slow start to the season, the baseball team (15-14 overall, 2-4 Big Ten) seems to have finally kicked it into gear.