Thursday, April 23, 2026

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Sports | 1117

SPORTS

Mock draft part 1: Defense rules final 10 picks

Editor’s note: This is the first of a three-part mock draft. For Detroit Lions fans, this is the time of year our hopes are lifted and smashed all in the same weekend. Thanks to the NFL’s own version of the welfare state, the Lions consistently are awarded a top draft pick for being the league’s only professional Pop Warner squad.

BASEBALL

Spartans avoid Ohio State sweep

Senior right fielder Eli Boike and junior first baseman Jeff Holm are responsible both crushed long home runs over the fence and near the banks of the river in right field on Sunday to help propel MSU to a 14-7 victory over Ohio State.

SPORTS

Men's golf looking to finish strong

After coming up shy in the final rounds in each of its last two tournament matches, the MSU men’s golf team is looking to maintain the intensity for the final round as it prepares for this weekend’s Western Intercollegiate.

BASEBALL

Program's turnaround impressive

Once upon a time, if you wanted to go to an MSU baseball game, you had to weigh it against a sore back and fiberglass in the seat of your pants from a pathetic excuse for stadium seating. There was no regional Big Ten Network exposure, the media accommodations were akin to Marshall Mathers’ first trailer park home and player introduction music came from what sounded more like an iHome than a PA system. Nobody in the MSU baseball community longs for those days of yore.

BASEBALL

Midweek games crucial in hopes of NCAA at-large bid

For years, the MSU baseball team has been near or below .500 entering Big Ten play, needing a miracle run in the conference to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. But with a 22-6 record for one of the best starts in school history, every win counts toward a possible at-large bid to the tournament in June.

SOFTBALL

Far from finished

Early last week, Jacquie Joseph sat in Jenison Field House looking out her office window. Joseph, 47 years old and now in her 17th year as MSU’s softball coach, has won more than 500 games at MSU and, presumably, can stay at the helm for as long as she wants.

BASEBALL

Gophers win Sunday, MSU takes 2-of-3

Right-handed starter Tony Bucciferro was excellent on the hill for the Spartans through six innings, but racked up five earned runs combined in the seventh and eighth innings as the Spartans lost a late 3-2 lead.