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Sports | Baseball

BASEBALL

Tigers back to .500, can win American League Wild Card

Oct. 2, 2005 - The Detroit Tigers defeat the Minnesota Twins and win the American League Wild Card by one game. At the beginning of the season, the Wild Card spot was just a tiny thought in the minds of Tigers fans. The Chicago White Sox took control of the Central Division early and have run away with the title, while the Tigers slipped below .500 and into third or fourth place, out of contention for any playoff consideration. However, as of Sunday, the Tigers were back to the .500-mark at 49-49 and only four games out of the Wild Card lead, held by Minnesota and Oakland.

BASEBALL

Mason names former Notre Dame assistant as baseball coach

Megan Homanick
July 14, 2005

It took MSU athletic director Ron Mason four weeks to find the next MSU head baseball coach, but on Wednesday morning at the Kellogg Center he announced David Grewe will take over that position. "The final decision was mine, but I had some help along the way from some baseball people that I trust," Mason said.

BASEBALL

All-Star voting rules should be rewritten

Once again Major League Baseball's All-Star teams will be a concoction of some of the best players in the game - and a bunch of guys who had a good first half of the season. MLB's brilliant idea of allowing the fans to vote in the starters - America's biggest popularity contest - usually works out, but it's way too much power for the fans to have their hands on. The rest of the process involves the players getting to vote for the reserves for each team, the managers making sure each team is represented by one player, and finally, the last spot on each roster is voted by the fans from a list of five players. Right now, managers choose a few players, players choose the rest of the reserves, fans choose one reserve and all of the starters.

BASEBALL

Lugnuts take out Dragons with 7-2 win

Megan Homanick
June 13, 2005

With only seven games left before the end of the first half of the season, the Lansing Lugnuts needed all the wins they could get - and they got one Sunday against the Dayton Dragons, winning 7-2. "Hopefully we can get things put together and try to get more wins than the team we're chasing," Lugnuts' manager Ken Joyce said. The Lugnuts (33-29) started the day one game behind the Fort Wayne Wizards for the final playoff spot in the East Division.

BASEBALL

Lugnuts come back to sting Rattlers

Megan Homanick
May 17, 2005

Lansing - Down one run in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Lansing Lugnuts finally broke through against Wisconsin starting pitcher Jason Snyder, scoring three runs en route to a 5-3 win Monday night. "We do give up runs early, but these guys come back.

BASEBALL

Young team looks to get more at-bats

Megan Homanick
May 17, 2005

There's no question that the MSU baseball team was going to "take some lumps" this year, as freshman center fielder Ryan Sontag put it. With five games remaining, a team that has 15 freshman and nine sophomores is getting better and has a 20-28 overall record and 9-15 in Big Ten play, good for ninth in the current standings. "We're just looking to get some more at-bats before we go to Northwestern," said MSU manager Ted Mahan.

BASEBALL

Spartans split series against Nittany Lions

Megan Homanick
May 16, 2005

The Spartans split with Penn State after dropping the final game in a four game set, 3-2, to the Nittany Lions at Kobs Field on Sunday. The Spartans (20-28 overall, 9-15 Big Ten) scored a run in the bottom of the first inning on an RBI single by left fielder Ryan Basham.

BASEBALL

WEB ONLY: Spartans play Wolverines in Lansing

Esther Gim
April 29, 2005

Today's MSU baseball game against Michigan at Oldsmobile Park in Lansing at 7 p.m. will feature a "Study Break Special" at $1 for MSU students, faculty and staff with an MSU identification. In addition, MSU men's basketball players Tim Bograkos and Andy Harvey will throw out the first pitch. The Spartans are coming off a 9-8 comeback win against Central Michigan on Wednesday.

BASEBALL

MSU's offense runs in 14 in victory

Matt Bishop
April 27, 2005

It was a career day for MSU sophomore catcher Kris Morris. Morris hit his first two career home runs and drove in six runs in the MSU baseball team's 14-7 rout of Indiana Tech on Tuesday afternoon at Kobs Field. "It was probably one of the best offensive days of my life," Morris said "It was great." Morris' big game came in the wake of a season-ending arm injury to Sean Walker. MSU's offense was on fire in the first three innings, scoring eight runs and driving Indiana Tech pitcher Marc Caban out of the game. In the first inning, MSU sophomore left fielder Ryan Basham's double drove in sophomore right fielder Adam Tripp to give MSU (16-18 overall) a 1-0 lead. MSU scored two in the second on Morris' first career home run, a bomb to center field, but the Warriors cut the lead to 3-1 in the top of the third on an RBI single by second baseman Adam Storms. But the Spartans exploded in the bottom half of the inning, as RBI singles by designated hitter Alan Cattrysse and third baseman Oliver Wolcott put up two more runs before Morris connected on his second home run of the game, an opposite field shot to right field, putting MSU ahead 8-1. "He's been getting better, he's swinging the bat better," MSU head coach Ted Mahan said of Morris.

BASEBALL

Lugnuts lose to Silver Hawks, 5-1

Eric Fish
April 15, 2005

Lansing - Lugnuts manager Ken Joyce compared his team's hitting Thursday night to the power outage that briefly took place after the game - short circuited. It was another pitching duel for the first five innings at Oldsmobile Park between Lansing and South Bend until the Silver Hawks' bats came to life enough for a 5-1 victory.

BASEBALL

Playing catchup

The MSU baseball team was between a rock and a hard place for much of the four-game weekend series against Illinois at Kobs Field. The Spartans were blown out 12-3 in Friday's series opener, then fell both times in Saturday's doubleheader, 9-2 and 6-5. "We told them that they battled all the way through.

BASEBALL

Spartans swing to victory

Eric Fish
April 6, 2005

It was a game of season highs for the MSU baseball team, as the Spartans successfully swung the bat for a season-high 26 hits and scored a season-high 20 runs in a 20-9 win over Saginaw Valley State on Tuesday at Kobs Field. "I think we're confident now," MSU head coach Ted Mahan said.

BASEBALL

Team commits 6 errors, loses 9-4 in home opener against Wayne State

Steve Eder
March 31, 2005

The MSU baseball team dropped its second game in a row Wednesday against Wayne State in its home opener at Kobs Field. Wayne State led early 2-0 and never looked back to pull off the 9-4 win. With the conference season opener coming up Friday at Iowa, MSU manager Ted Mahan isn't happy with his team's efforts. Starting freshman pitcher Mark Sorenson gave up four runs on five hits in three innings.

BASEBALL

Student receives share of $15 million after internship with Boston Red Sox

Chris Meagher
January 25, 2005

Ben Dunn is thankful the Boston Red Sox shared. Dunn, who was an intern on the grounds crew at Boston's Fenway Park last summer, received a nice chunk of change after the team won the World Series championship last fall. Although Dunn, a 26-year-old sophomore in the two-year Sports and Commercial Turf Management program at MSU, wouldn't let on to how much money he received from the team, he did reveal that they "treated (me) well." In Major League Baseball, the teams that make the playoffs receive part of the money brought in from ticket receipts.

BASEBALL

Lugnuts announce new deal with Blue Jays

The Lansing Lugnuts officially ended their six-year relationship with the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday, announcing a new affiliation with the Toronto Blue Jays. With the new two-year agreement, the Lugnuts will be the Blue Jays' Class A minor league affiliate in the Midwest League effective for the 2005 season. Rumors about the switch have been circulating for about a week but Lugnuts officials declined to confirm them until Tuesday.