SOFTBALL
Softball team suffers injuries, still defeats Oakland
Despite sweeping Oakland in Wednesday’s doubleheader that lasted four hours, it was a rough victory for the MSU softball team.
BASEBALL
Playing ball in Beijing
Perry Costello says umpiring baseball games is like any other job — it’s nice to get noticed. So when Costello received a call from the International Baseball Federation, or IBAF, in November 2007 telling him he was selected as one of only two American umpires to work at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, it was only natural that the DeWitt resident felt a chill go up his spine. “I’ve worked a lot of big events,” said Costello, who has lived in the Lansing area his entire life. “But after (IBAF director of umpires Dick Runchey) talked to me and offered it to me, it made my neck hairs stand up and I said, ‘OK, that’s pretty cool.’
BASEBALL
After early season slump, Roberts gets control of his batting
There’s no denying it: Chris Roberts was slumping. Through the MSU baseball team’s first 10 games of the season, the sophomore left fielder was hitting .167 and he wasn’t feeling like himself.
BASEBALL
Senior pitcher gives MSU stability on mound
Before this season, Chris Cullen bounced around the MSU baseball team’s pitching staff without any firm role. But with a little help from pitching coach Tom Lipari and some offseason work, the senior right-hander has developed into arguably the team’s most dependable starting pitcher, a place head coach David Grewe plans to keep him.
SPORTS
Izzo gets second recruit for 2009
MSU men’s head basketball coach Tom Izzo has landed another recruit for the 2009-2010 season. Six-foot-9, 275-pound center Derrick Nix verbally committed to MSU, according to the scouting Web site Rivals.com.
FOOTBALL
Green slides by white
In an instant, it all changed — a positive swing for half of the MSU football team but a negative one for the other 40 Spartans. The Green team caught a late surge from senior kicker Matt Haughey’s two field goals Saturday afternoon at Spartan Stadium en route to a 23-21 victory over White in the intrasquad spring game that hosted about 27,000 fans.
BASKETBALL
Roe makes impact while injured; will arrive in June
A senior-year, season-ending knee injury followed by microfracture surgery is a situation most typical 18-year-old basketball players would have no idea how to bounce back from.
SOFTBALL
'Inconsistent' Spartans split doubleheader against Indiana
The MSU softball team doesn’t seem to follow any predictable pattern. The Spartans split a two-game series against Purdue and ended the weekend by splitting a doubleheader Sunday against Indiana.
FOOTBALL
Fans pay for opportunity to watch game from press box to benefit Webster Scholarship Fund
MSU football fans turned out in droves for the intrasquad game Saturday, but some fans had the chance to watch from a place few would normally expect.
BASEBALL
Spartans allow 52 U-M runs in four-game weekend sweep
MSU baseball coach David Grewe went into this weekend’s series with Michigan saying the matchup wasn’t a rivalry because one team — the Wolverines — always comes out on top.
FOOTBALL
See you in August
It wasn’t one wide receiver who stepped up in Saturday’s spring game — it was four. And that depth is important for a football team that lost eight touchdowns and 1,260 receiving yards when Devin Thomas declared for the NFL draft after last season. With Thomas watching from the sideline, the young receiving corps of sophomore Mark Dell, redshirt freshmen B.J. Cunningham and Chris D. Rucker and junior Blair White stole the show at MSU’s annual spring game.
SPORTS
Spartans hot, then cold; split weekend pair
The MSU men’s tennis team was as hot as the temperature on Saturday against Northwestern, but it went cold against Wisconsin on Sunday.
FOOTBALL
Late field goals lead to Green win in intrasquad game
It appeared that MSU football sophomore wide receiver Chris D. Rucker was going to steal the show with his two touchdowns — possibly leading the White squad to a intrasquad spring game victory and steak dinner, the reward for being victorious.
FOOTBALL
Redshirt freshman predicts 28-14 victory for veteran-laden White squad
It wasn’t trash-talking — senior defensive tackle Justin Kershaw wanted to make that clear — but there’s an air of confidence surrounding the White team as the MSU football team heads into its annual spring game.
BASKETBALL
Merchant adds to class of 2012
MSU women’s basketball head coach Suzy Merchant announced the signing of a third recruit for the 2008-09 season on Thursday. Joining Porsche Poole and Courtney Schiffauer in signing a National Letter of Intent is Taylor Johnson.
SPORTS
A shot at success
Walking by a Ping-Pong table, gaming consoles and shelves of shining trophies filled with Spartans history, Sam Puryear’s office sits with the door wide open. Upon accepting the head coaching job at MSU in August, Puryear left Stanford, a Pac-10 team that just won the national championship.
BASEBALL
MSU looks to turn U-M series into rivalry
When the MSU baseball team and Michigan meet for four games this weekend, they’ll travel a short distance to each other’s home fields, but MSU coach David Grewe won’t refer to the cross-state showdown as a “rivalry.”
SOFTBALL
Spartans hope to get on track against Boilermakers
The MSU softball team will try to bounce back from a lackluster weekend to battle Purdue in a two-game weekend series. But it won’t be easy, especially for a team that’s slumped as of late, MSU head coach Jacquie Joseph said.
FOOTBALL
Football team to battle in intrasquad game
If one team heavily beats up on the other during Saturday’s intrasquad spring game, MSU football head coach Mark Dantonio won’t be pleased.
BASEBALL
MSU thrives in heat, still loses to CMU
Though it may seem strange to admit, representing a northern school in the Big Ten, MSU baseball head coach David Grewe calls his a squad a “warm weather team.” So, with a temperature of above 60 degrees in the ninth inning of Wednesday’s game against Central Michigan, it was only natural for MSU’s bats to explode.