The MSU softball team's mental outlook all season long has been not placing any more or any less importance on one game. With that in mind, although the Spartans face intrastate rival Michigan at 6 p.m.
Division I 17 and 18-year-old ice-hockey players now can enter the NHL draft and still maintain college eligibility, the NCAA announced Wednesday. NCAA rules stated players less than 19 years of age were not able to enter the draft, slated for June 26-27.
The MSU women's tennis team ended its season Thursday with a 4-1 loss to Purdue in the first round of the Big Ten Women's Championship in Evanston, Ill. The No.
The No. 9 MSU men's tennis team fought through windy conditions and an early deficit to defeat rival No.
Lansing - The Spartans said they wanted a tune-up for their series against Michigan this weekend. Eastern Michigan provided it. The MSU baseball team (21-18 overall) used a seven-run third inning and a handful of pitchers to defeat the Eagles 12-8 Wednesday night in front of more than 2,100 fans at Oldsmobile Park. "We're swinging the bats well," said MSU manager Ted Mahan, whose team tallied 14 hits and scored 12 runs for the second-straight game.
This weekend, Hayley Techner will return to her home state and have the opportunity to face the school she almost attended. Techner, a California native, is part of the MSU women's water polo team, which will compete at California Polytechnic (CPU) in San Luis Obispo, Calif., in the three-day National Collegiate Club Championship - the Olympics of water polo. For her, the meeting will be personal: Techner grew up in Santa Cruz, a mere two hours north of CPU.
The MSU men's tennis team played its best tennis of the conference season at the end of league play, and the Spartans hope to ride that momentum into the Big Ten tournament today. "You can just tell by the way people are walking and carrying themselves and also in the way that they're playing," senior Chris Mitchell said. The ninth-seeded Spartans (16-12 overall, 3-7 Big Ten) face the eighth-seeded Wolverines (13-8, 4-6) in the first round of the 2004 Big Ten Men's Tennis Championships today at 10 a.m.
Jessica Beech pitched four perfect innings on the mound and chalked up three strikeouts as the MSU softball team defeated Eastern Michigan, 5-1, on Wednesday. Sophomore catcher Elizabeth Peterson knocked in two runs for the Spartans in this nonconference game.
The MSU baseball team faces Eastern Michigan tonight at Oldsmobile Park, home of the Lansing Lugnuts. Each year, MSU plays a couple of contests at the stadium, so does playing at Oldsmobile Park ever lose its luster? "No, not at all," MSU manager Ted Mahan said.
By now, Jeff Smoker is a day away from departing to St. Louis to pursue a career in the NFL. With Smoker gone, a vacancy has been left in the MSU football team's lineup at quarterback, and three potential starters have submitted their résumés to head coach John L.
After the 2004 NFL Draft ended Sunday, two former Spartans were contacted by pro teams and will pursue careers in the NFL this weekend as free agents. Offensive guard Joe Tate has signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars, and linebacker Mike Labinjo is working on a deal with the Philadelphia Eagles. Tate said he has signed a free agent contract with the Jaguars for the league minimum. "It's great to get an opportunity to continue playing," he said.
The MSU softball team expected to sit higher than sixth place in the Big Ten at this point in the season.
Junior Aaron Leong decided playing college baseball shouldn't require a scholarship - or the NCAA. After discovering that MSU didn't have a club baseball team, Leong, a finance major, contacted the National Club Baseball Association and an MSU adviser and arranged to have the Spartans added to the Great Lakes North Conference. "I still wanted to play baseball, like a lot of guys out here, because our careers basically end after high school, unless you go to a small school," he said. "This is another way for us to keep playing baseball." Leong started the MSU Baseball Club with some of his friends in September, passed out fliers and received permission to conduct tryouts at Kobs Field. "About 30 guys tried out and we currently have 17 players," said Leong, who now is the club's president.
Down by five at the top of the seventh inning Sunday, with one out and the bases loaded, the MSU softball team was hoping to pull off an upset against Indiana. Up to bat was senior third base Brittney Green, wanting to be the hero again after hitting a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th inning in the first game of the afternoon's doubleheader. Green faced Megan Roark, the same Purdue pitcher in the second game as she did in game one, when she hit her fifth home run on the year. But this time, Roark struck out Green and then sophomore catcher Elizabeth Peterson to hang on for an 8-3 Hoosiers win. "We continually have inconsistencies in our performances," MSU head coach Jacquie Joseph said.
The MSU football team concluded spring practice Saturday with the Green-White Spring Scrimmage at Spartan Stadium in front of about 16,000 fans. The two-hour, 115-play scrimmage was a game of two stories for the offense and the defense.
We often look at star athletes and dub them heroes. Whether hitting the game-winning shot, scoring a tying goal or leading a team to a championship, the "man of the moment" becomes a hero to his fans. But when it comes to the real meaning behind the word "hero", it is supposed to be connected with a person known for achievements of unparalleled courage and strength, especially those who sacrifice their lives. A true hero is someone who can (and does) give up everything for an honorable cause.
Jeff Smoker's possible successor and MSU's potential next power running back showed their potential and inexperience in their first competition before an MSU crowd on Saturday. Redshirt freshmen Stephen Reaves and Jehuu Caulcrick - both scout teamers last year - could be the starting quarterback and running back, respectively, in the fall for the Spartans. In Saturday's Green-White Spring Scrimmage at Spartan Stadium, Reaves eventually settled into a rhythm after struggling early, and Caulcrick ran the ball with power and speed most of the day. Reaves, who played with the first-string offense Saturday, was 15-of-26 for 184 yards and two interceptions, while Caulcrick rushed for 108 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries "Early on, I thought I could've done some things better throwing the ball, made a little better reads," Reaves said.
On paper, the MSU baseball team outplayed the Boilermakers this weekend. The Spartans scored more runs (17-15), had more hits (30-25) and slammed more home runs (4-1). All the numbers point to a successful weekend, right? Except for the fact the Spartans didn't light up the scoreboard until Sunday, when they scored 12 runs, had 15 hits and laced three of their four home runs. Sunday's 12-1 slaughter ended the weekend on a high note, but it didn't erase the fact MSU lost the first three games by a combined score of 14-5 and, in the process, had lost six straight Big Ten games. "It's definitely disappointing," said freshman first baseman Sean Walker, who went 6-for-14 over the weekend and was the only Spartan to record a hit in each game.
Lansing - On the first Thirsty Thursday of the season at Oldsmobile Park, the Lansing Lugnuts were hungry to get their third win in a row. The Lugnuts (9-5) did just that, beating the Beloit Snappers, 2-0, on the inaugural in-park cheap beer fest.
With less than a month left in the regular season, this weekend marks a crucial point in the MSU softball team's year. The Spartans' two opponents this weekend, starting at 4 p.m.