The MSU athletics department announced Tuesday the Spartan football team will play two prime-time games during the 2012 season. MSU’s Aug. 31 season opener against Boise State will be played at 8 p.m. and broadcast on ESPN, while the Spartans’ Sept. 15 game against Notre Dame also has been scheduled for 8 p.m. to be broadcast on ABC.
The MSU softball team gets a much needed break from Big Ten play today when it travels to South Bend, Ind., for a 6 p.m. matchup with Notre Dame.
Looking to repeat as Big Ten champions this season, MSU baseball head coach Jake Boss Jr. knew he would be relying on a relatively youthful roster to do so. With four incoming freshman turning down opportunities to play professionally, many of the young Spartans have been expected to contribute since day one, and they have done just that all year. As the regular season enters its final month now, those freshmen and other young players will be called on and asked to do more and more.
MSU wrestling junior heavyweight Steve Andrus’ bid to compete in the 2012 London Olympics ended Saturday night when he dropped the championship match in the 120 kilogram Greco-Roman wrestling Olympic trials to Dremiel Byers of the U.S. Army.
On a blustery Sunday afternoon at McLane Baseball Stadium at Old College Field, the third time truly was a charm for the MSU baseball team. In a close game with Minnesota, the Spartans loaded the bases with no outs in both the seventh and eighth innings, only to come out of each situation with no runs to show for their efforts. When the game went into extra innings tied at four, freshman right fielder Jimmy Pickens tripled to left-center field, and two straight singles later, the bases were loaded with no outs again.
The elusive first Big Ten win of the season escaped the MSU softball team once again Sunday as Iowa completed the weekend series sweep of the Spartans with a 4-1 victory at Secchia Stadium at Old College Field. In game one on Saturday, MSU (11-33 overall, 0-15 Big Ten) was shut out 6-0 and managed only four hits against a seven-strikeout performance by Iowa (20-22, 10-5) pitcher Kayla Massey.Only three Spartans got hits in the second game, a 7-1 decision, continuing a poor hitting streak for MSU.
Coming into the series with Minnesota, the MSU baseball team turned the momentum of hot bats into a four-game winning streak.
The offensive woes for the MSU softball team continued as the Spartans mustered just a single run between both games of a doubleheader against Iowa Saturday at Secchia Stadium at Old College Field. After being shutout 6-0 in game one thanks to a seven strikeout outing by the Hawkeyes’ pitcher Kayla Massey, the hitting slump continued into game two where MSU (11-32 overall, 0-14 Big Ten) fell 7-1.
In game one of a Saturday double-header at McLane Baseball Stadium, the MSU baseball team beat Minnesota 3-1 in 11 innings on a bases loaded, walk-off walk. With one out and the game tied at two in the bottom of the 11th, freshman right fielder Jimmy Pickens reached first on a fielder’s choice.
After a slow start on offense that carried up to the midway point in the season, it appears the MSU baseball team is starting to turn the corner. The Spartans (24-12 overall, 5-4 Big Ten) erupted for 44 runs within their last three games against Indiana, Western Michigan and Central Michigan, and they have gotten consistent offense at the top of the order for the first time this season.
The MSU softball team is going into its home series against Iowa with a positive mindset to hopefully end their Big Ten losing streak. The Spartans (11-30 overall, 0-12 Big Ten) face off against the Hawkeyes (17-22, 7-5) with a doubleheader at 1 p.m. Saturday at Secchia Stadium at Old College Field.
Although the MSU football team might have lost junior quarterback Andrew Maxwell for the remaining spring practices, the Spartans are beginning to see some injured players get back on the field.
Led by a four-hit, three-RBI day by freshman first baseman Ryan Krill, the Spartans defeated Central Michigan 11-1 on Wednesday at Theunissen Stadium in Mount Pleasant, Mich.
The MSU women’s tennis team (8-12 overall, 0-9 Big Ten) will travel to Ohio State on Friday to wrap up its regular season road matches. Friday’s match against the Buckeyes will begin at 2 p.m. in Columbus, Ohio.
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.
MSU junior heavyweight wrestler Steve Andrus received an invitation to compete in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in the 120-kilogram/264.5-pound weight class in the Greco-Roman division as one of two wildcard selections, USA Wrestling recently announced.
You don’t know John Jakubik. You might not notice the 6-foot-1, 190-pound Jakubik if you sat next to him on the bus, saw him at a party or even worked with him on a group project. But he’s getting noticed somewhere else. As a walk-on sophomore wide receiver, Jakubik quickly has made a name for himself within the MSU football coaching staff.
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.
Three up, three down. The MSU softball team remains the lone Big Ten team without a conference win as it was swept by No. 20 Michigan in a three-game weekend series in which the Spartans (11-30 overall, 0-12 Big Ten) were unable to score a single run.
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.