BASEBALL
Spartans drop game two against Michigan 4-3
On paper, the MSU baseball team has an offense to compete with any team in the Big Ten and many teams across the country.
BASEBALL
Baseball falls to Michigan 4-0, plays again Saturday in East Lansing
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.
BASEBALL
Lugnuts shutout MSU 7-0 in front of record crowd
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.
BASEBALL
Spartans have quick turnaround into three-game Michigan series
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.
FOOTBALL
Sims, receivers eager to step up, improve
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.
SPORTS
Spartans hope to repeat success at NCAA Regionals
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.
SOFTBALL
Softball looks to win at Penn State
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.
BASEBALL
Baseball tops Eastern Michigan, 6-1
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.
BASEBALL
MSU excited to play professionals in Crosstown Showdown
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.
BASEBALL
Lugnuts love energy at crosstown game
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.
FOOTBALL
Departing football seniors pass responsibility to new leaders
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.
ICE HOCKEY
Krug has strong performance in first NHL 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.
SOFTBALL
Softball ends losing streak, defeats Central Michigan 6-1
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.
BASEBALL
Spartans travel to Eastern Michigan Wednesday
After wrapping up a three-game series with Ohio State on Monday, the MSU baseball team doesn’t have a chance for much rest before a busy weekend. Two days after the Spartans (17-8 overall, 2-1 Big Ten) knocked off the Buckeyes 10-5 to take two of three games in their first Big Ten series of the season, MSU will hit the road for a 6:05 p.m. game Wednesday against Eastern Michigan (10-17, 3-3 MAC) in Ypsilanti, Mich.
ICE HOCKEY
Column: Foundation built to last under Anastos
When most people wake up in the morning, they’ll rub their eyes, begrudge the sound of their alarm clock and snag a cup of coffee before getting ready for the day.
SOFTBALL
Softball to play Chippewas, looks to end losing streak
Looking to snap a seven-game losing streak, the MSU softball team is headed to Mount Pleasant, Mich., on Wednesday to face Central Michigan in a one-off midweek game at 4 p.m. The Spartans (10-23 overall, 0-6 Big Ten) are out for revenge after suffering an 8-4 loss from the hands of the Chippewas in the Hoosier Classic earlier this season. The Chippewas lead MSU in the overall series 58-25 and have come away victorious in the last two meetings.
BASEBALL
Spartans take Ohio State series
After losing the first game of the Big Ten season 1-0 against Ohio State on Saturday, baseball head coach Jake Boss Jr. said his Spartans knew they had two chances to redeem themselves against the Buckeyes. And by scraping out a 2-1 win Sunday and 10-5 victory Monday, MSU did just that, capturing two-of-three to open conference play at McLane Baseball Stadium at Old College Field.
BASEBALL
Column: With pitching, team needs to be hot at plate
Nearing the midway point of the baseball season, head coach Jake Boss Jr. has grown certain of the strength of this year’s ball club — the pitching. In the first two games of a three-game weekend series against Ohio State, senior Tony Bucciferro and junior Andrew Waszak combined to surrender just a single run in 16 innings of work, picking up a no decision and a win, respectively.
FOOTBALL
Treadwell adjusting well to new position, noticeably improving
Blake Treadwell knows both sides of the line better than most — probably because he’s played three positions in four years for the MSU football team. Starting his Spartan career at defensive tackle, the now-junior made the switch from a defensive lineman to an offensive lineman during spring football last year and started at center in MSU’s first three games in 2011.
SOFTBALL
Softball swept in three games by Ohio State
For the second straight weekend, the MSU softball team suffered a weekend sweep at the hands of a Big Ten opponent. The Spartans (10-23 overall, 0-6 Big Ten) dropped both games of a doubleheader Saturday afternoon, 9-4 and then 14-1 in a game that ended after the fifth inning because of the mercy rule.