For the MSU baseball team, the hits didn’t just come early and often Wednesday afternoon at McLane Baseball Stadium at Old College Field. They also came at the right times, as the Spartans (23-12 overall, 5-4 Big Ten) registered 16 hits, including a trio of two-out RBI doubles, on the way to a 13-3 win over Western Michigan (16-18).
After taking care of business against Western Michigan on Tuesday, the MSU baseball team has little chance to rest before getting back to work for the rest of its week. Continuing a seasonlong pursuit of capturing midweek games against in-state opponents, the Spartans (23-12 overall, 5-4 Big Ten) hit the road for a 3:05 p.m. matchup with Central Michigan on Wednesday at Theunissen Stadium in Mount Pleasant, Mich.
In recalling the way his season ended a year ago, Justin Scanlon doesn’t want to overlook the importance of midweek games. The then-junior shortstop of the MSU baseball team was part of a group that was on the outside looking in as co-Big Ten champion Illinois nabbed the only Big Ten slot in the NCAA Tournament.
Looking to keep pace in the Big Ten race, the MSU baseball team took both games of a doubleheader Sunday against Indiana 6-0 and 20-10, in Bloomington, Ind. Although head coach Jake Boss Jr. was pleased with the Spartans for registering a big day at the plate with 26 combined runs and 38 hits, he was most excited his team won two of three games in its first series spent entirely away from East Lansing.
After dropping two out of three against Michigan last weekend and a lopsided loss at the hands of Eastern Michigan on Wednesday, the MSU baseball team will look to right the ship in Big Ten play on Friday with the first of three games against Indiana in Bloomington, Ind. With Wednesday’s 13-5 walloping by the Eagles in the past, the Spartans (20-11 overall, 3-3 Big Ten) are challenged to raise the level of fervency in their play against the Hoosiers (15-18, 5-4).
For the first four batters of Wednesday’s game against Eastern Michigan, the MSU baseball team appeared to be on the way to a solid day at McLane Baseball Stadium and Old College Field. After senior right-hander Tim Simpson retired the Eagles in order on nine pitches in the top of the first, junior outfielder Jordan Keur led off the Spartans’ half of the inning with a double to left-center field.
Even in understanding the nature of the game, Jordan Keur has grown tired of hearing about the faults of the MSU baseball team on offense. At some point, something had to give. After stranding 34 runners on base in the weekend series with Michigan, the junior left fielder and the Spartans’ (20-10 overall, 3-3 Big Ten) bats overcame frigid weather and an offensive slump to beat Notre Dame 8-2 on Tuesday at McLane Baseball Stadium at Old College Field.
For the MSU baseball team, last weekend was a disappointing one. Not only did the Spartans (19-10 overall, 3-3 Big Ten) drop two of three games, they did so against rival Michigan. MSU’s one win in the series came Sunday in a 10-8 thriller that lasted 13 innings, and junior Tony Wieber, who was the winning pitcher against the Wolverines, said he hopes that springboards the Spartans forward as they prepare for a 3:05 p.m. matchup with Notre Dame on Tuesday at McLane Baseball Stadium at Old College Field.
Ann Arbor — Jimmy Pickens knew he would have a chance. In a game that lasted 13 innings Sunday, the freshman right fielder knew he would have enough at-bats to hopefully make a difference as the MSU baseball team looked to avoid the sweep against arch-rival Michigan.
The MSU baseball team has assembled a pitching core to compete with any team in the nation. But great pitching is useless without offensive support. Jake Boss Jr. acknowledges that this much is true. But as the Spartans found out this weekend, there’s a fine line between the theory of scoring runs and the literal production of them.
On paper, the MSU baseball team has an offense to compete with any team in the Big Ten and many teams across the country.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.