BASEBALL
Lugnuts above .500 after taking series
The Lansing Lugnuts took three of four games against the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers this past weekend.
BASEBALL
Loss leaves Spartans out of postseason
Despite jumping out to a 7-0 lead, the MSU baseball team fell to Illinois 8-7, Sunday afternoon at Illinois Field, putting an end to the Spartans' hopes of playing in the postseason Big Ten Tournament.
BASEBALL
Hardball squad sets sights on tournament
The MSU baseball team hopes to ride a hot streak all the way to the Big Ten Tournament as they head to Champaign, Ill.
BASEBALL
Lugnuts infielder headed to the DL
The Lansing Lugnuts placed second baseman Chris Gutierrez on the 7-day disabled list after the infielder suffered a hamstring injury.
BASEBALL
Lugnuts squander early lead
Lansing — The Lansing Lugnuts' lineup was no match for a strong pitching staff Tuesday. South Bend Silverhawks starter Brett Anderson kept the Lansing offense quiet, leading his team to a 5-3 victory. Anderson did not allow a base runner through three innings but was the first to allow a run.
BASEBALL
Errors prove to be costly for Lugnuts
Lansing — The Lansing Lugnuts ended a four-game series against The Swing of the Quad Cities on a down note Friday night, falling 11-5.
BASEBALL
Spartans bring their brooms
Lansing — Chants of "Let's get some hits" filled the air at Oldsmobile Park on Sunday as MSU battled Northwestern in the final game of a weekend series. Going into the ninth inning with the game tied at three, freshman outfielder Chris Roberts stepped up to the plate and did just that.
BASEBALL
Spartans suddenly slumping
It's not time to hit the panic button yet, but the MSU baseball team has drastically shrunk its margin for error the last two weeks. Since a heartbreaking final-inning defeat to Penn State on April 15, the Spartans (15-18 overall, 6-9 Big Ten) have lost seven straight games, including a four-game sweep at the hands of Minnesota last weekend.
BASEBALL
Spartans to host Chippewas tonight
The MSU baseball team will look to end a six-game losing streak when it hosts Central Michigan at 5:05 p.m.
BASEBALL
MSU drops Monday finale
This was going to be the turning point, the rally that made all the pain from Sunday's heart-wrenching, final-inning loss disappear.
BASEBALL
Late-inning letdown
David Grewe sat at the end of the MSU bench, alone. The dugout was empty, except for a few pieces of equipment and some discarded sunflower seeds on the ground.
BASEBALL
Weather postpones baseball games
Because of inclement weather, the baseball series against Penn State has been postponed. Originally scheduled to begin at 3:05 p.m.
BASEBALL
Watching Dennis Jones? Try not to blink
Dennis Jones is fast. You can tell that much just by watching him patrol center field for the MSU baseball team. But it's hard to gauge just how fast he is unless you look at some of his cheetah-like statistics. Jones runs the 60-yard dash in 6.3 seconds — about the same pace as the MSU track team's all-time record holder in the 60-meter dash. He's stolen a team-high 10 bases in 11 attempts this season — only three players in the conference have stolen that many bases with better efficiency. Baseball scouts rate foot speed on a scale of 20 to 80.
BASEBALL
MSU tops Broncos in matinee
Lansing — Some people have to wait years to get redemption for their mistakes. Brandon Doherty only needed a few pitches. Moments after making a throwing error in the ninth inning that brought the go-ahead run to the plate, Doherty made a lunging grab on a line drive to preserve the MSU baseball team's 6-5 win against Western Michigan on Tuesday at Oldsmobile Park. "If that error cost us the game," a smiling Doherty said afterward, "I'm not going to be happy the rest of the night, that's for sure." The Broncos (8-16), who entered their final at-bat down two, had a runner on second with two outs when Chris Lewis grounded weakly to Doherty, a junior shortstop. "I kind of looked away right there because I thought it was an automatic," MSU head coach David Grewe said. But Doherty's throw was wild, allowing the runner from second to score and Lewis, the tying run, to move into scoring position. The next hitter roped one to Doherty's right, and for a moment, it appeared his error on the previous play would prove extremely costly.
BASEBALL
MSU splits doubleheader
Two runs. That's all that separates the MSU baseball team from a perfect start to conference play. The Spartans dropped the opener of Monday's doubleheader against Purdue, 1-0 — their second one-run loss in the conference — then blanked the Boilermakers, 3-0, in the back end to take the series at Kobs Field and improve to 13-10 overall, 5-2 in the Big Ten. Only once in the last decade have the Spartans gotten off to a better conference start — 2004, when they won their first six games. "The crazy thing is we're that close to being undefeated in the Big Ten," head coach David Grewe said, holding his fingers an inch apart.
BASEBALL
WEB EXTRA: Brookes stays hot on mound to help MSU beat Purdue, cold temperatures
How cold was it on Sunday at Kobs Field? So cold that junior second baseman Steve Gerstenberger wore four layers of Under Armour under his jersey to fight the game-time wind chill of 23 degrees. "I can hardly move," he said, "but at least I'm warm." So cold that despite the grounds crew's attempts to clear the field before the game with leaf blowers, snow was still piled along the fences — something home-plate umpire Bruce Doane said he has never seen in 35 years. So cold that Purdue rented a microwave from the hotel it was staying at and used it to heat chicken soup in its dugout. But not cold enough to cool down senior pitcher Craig Brookes, who threw seven innings and allowed two runs — one earned — to lead the MSU baseball team to a 3-2 win against the Boilermakers. "Good old Brookesy," MSU head coach David Grewe said of his ace, who kept his conference-leading ERA at 1.29 on an afternoon that felt more like Christmas Eve than Easter Sunday. What was supposed to be the finale of a four-game weekend set ended up being the series opener because of the weather.
BASEBALL
MSU pitcher off to sizzling start
Craig Brookes' statistical profile is the kind of thing that keeps opposing hitters awake at night. He leads the Big Ten with a paper-thin 1.29 ERA.
BASEBALL
MSU's Dwan scores pitching accolade
Senior John Dwan was named Big Ten Pitcher of the Week on Monday for his near-perfect performance in Sunday's win against Indiana. Dwan threw seven scoreless innings in MSU's 6-1 win, allowing three hits and a walk while striking out three.
BASEBALL
With the big boys
That Opening Day loss for the Detroit Tigers leave a bad taste in your mouth? Tonight offers a new opportunity to savor America's pastime. The MSU baseball team will face the Lansing Lugnuts, a Class-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, at 6:05 p.m.
BASEBALL
Baseball wins 3-of-4 against Indiana
Head coach David Grewe and the MSU baseball team took three of four games from Indiana and outscored the Hoosiers, 25-11, in a Big Ten-opening road trip this weekend. The Spartans (11-9 overall, 3-1 Big Ten) dropped only the opener, in which they outhit the Hoosiers, 15-5, but managed only one run in a 2-1 defeat.