After rankings were released on Wednesday, the MSU baseball team was ranked sixth in the Big Ten when the first coaches poll of the season was released. Three Spartans, Cam Vieaux, Walter Borkovich and Jordan Zimmerman were also added to a conference Players to Watch list
“With the 16th pick of the 22nd round, the Detroit Tigers select Christopher Luke Wilcox, outfielder from St. John’s High School.” Christopher Luke Wilcox himself heard a Detroit Tigers representative say those words on June 1, 1992. Playing for a hometown team like the Detroit Tigers must have been a dream come true, but Wilcox turned it down. He wasn’t ready for the big leagues yet.
With baseball season right around the corner, the MSU baseball team is looking ambitious and is hoping to achieve success this season in the Big Ten. The Spartans are looking to better last year's performance where they tied for third in the conference.
The Spartan baseball team hosted the Air Force Academy Falcons on Saturday in a 13 inning exhibition at McLane Baseball Stadium in which the Spartans defeated Air Force 9-3.
The MSU baseball team will host the Air Force Falcons on Saturday following the football game at McLane Baseball Stadium
Cam Gibson was always a Tiger at heart — even before it became official, when the MSU outfielder was selected by the Detroit Tigers in the fifth round of the draft, with the No. 160 overall pick.
The recent MLB draft saw eight MSU players get selected, a record for the program and a positive sign moving forward. The previous high was five draftees, which was set in 2002.
Junior outfielder Cam Gibson was drafted by the Tigers as a Fifth Round Draft pick, the Detroit Tigers announced on Twitter.
The MSU baseball team was a strong contender for the NCAA tournament but unfortunately didn’t make the cut after losing four of its five last games. The Spartans finished the season with a record of 34-23 and an RPI ranking of 51, according to D1Baseball.
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.