ALBANY, N.Y. - Ryan Miller’s season may have ended Thursday, but he still has a chance for one more win this weekend at the Frozen Four. Miller is one of 10 finalists for the Hobey Baker Award - college hockey’s most prestigious individual trophy - which will be awarded today at 2:30 p.m.
Yes, the season didn’t end the way fans had hoped, and yes, MSU will lose another talented class of seniors.
LANSING - Anyone who has lived in Michigan for a few years knows the old joke: Michigan has two seasons - winter and construction.
ALBANY, N.Y. - A year ago at this time, Joe Markusen was sitting on the edge of his couch, cheering as North Dakota claimed its seventh national hockey championship. A native of Grafton, N.D., a small town that adores the Fighting Sioux hockey team, he graduated from Park River High and naturally became a fan of the school down the road in Grand Forks, N.D. “There’s no professional league in North Dakota, so college hockey is pretty big,” said Markusen, a 6-foot, 186-pound freshman defenseman.
To say the MSU football team had a rough time on the offensive side of the ball last year would be like saying the stork in those Warner Brothers cartoons had a little too much to drink when it delivered babies.
MINNEAPOLIS - For all 65 Division I college men’s basketball teams that were eligible for NCAA Tournament play, this year’s road to the Final Four was at times a long bumpy trip because of the intense scheduling involved with March Madness. And local Minneapolis event coordinators, national media, Metrodome employees and more than 2,000 volunteers who helped set up this year’s nationally acclaimed event can share their pain. “It’s definitely a tough task to set up a Final Four,” said Marc Ryan, the University of Minnesota’s assistant athletic director for external relations. “Our biggest challenge was to put all the right people together, ranging from technicians, maintenance workers, support staff and merchants, to community groups and local businesses.
Head baseball coach Ted Mahan saw a reflection of the team’s entire season Tuesday at Kobs Field.The Spartans (13-12) split a doubleheader with Saginaw Valley State, losing the first game 9-2 and rallying to win the second 4-1.“One good; one bad - 13-12 - that’s what we’ve done all year,” Mahan said.The “good” showcased a Spartan team putting runs on the board, making plays defensively, and pitching well.After four shutout innings from freshman starter Bryan Gale, he yielded one run in the top of fifth.Mahan said Gale’s performance on the hill was nothing new from the rookie hurler.“It was outstanding,” Mahan said, “He can just flat out pitch.”With the win, Gale upped his record to 3-0 and maintained a team-leading 1.61 ERA.Facing the 1-0 deficit, freshman left fielder James Moreno led off the bottom half of the fifth frame with a homer to deep left-center field, evening-up the score.After a ground ball out by freshman first baseman Scott Koerber, junior third baseman Troy Bergman, junior second baseman Don Watchowski, sophomore right fielder Brett Wattles, junior shortstop Jared Koutnik and sophomore center fielder Bob Malek all consecutively singled.Wattles’ single scored Bergman, and Malek’s brought home Watchowski.Sophomore catcher Brady Burrill’s sacrifice fly and tag-up from Wattles gave the Spartans more insurance than they needed.The fifth inning Spartan rally keyed around Moreno’s solo shot.“The second game Moreno picked us with a home run, and we had some enthusiasm,” Malek said.“The home run by Moreno was the biggest hit of the game and of the day,” Mahan said.Moreno realized his home run helped spark a sputtering Spartan offense.“After one hit, if everyone’s picking each other up, it can lead to six or seven more hits,” he said.“Then you win the game, and in the second game it was huge.”Moreno had only appeared at the plate 21 times this season, and responded to the chance to play.“I was given a shot today, and I just got in there and took my hacks,” Moreno said.
MINNEAPOLIS - Minnesota legends Warren Moon and Kirby Puckett were familiar faces among Metrodome sports fans in the mid-1980s and early 1990s.
The basketball team wasn’t the only MSU sports team that had a rough time this past weekend. The MSU baseball team, which was on a four-game winning streak entering its three-game series against Purdue last weekend, now finds itself on a losing streak after dropping all three games played with the Boilermakers.
MINNEAPOLIS - Saturday’s semifinal loss to Arizona brought closure to the most decorated senior class in Spartan history, just not the ending it dreamed of.
MINNEAPOLIS - It’s Duke against Arizona, East against West and to the winner go the spoils. Another season of college basketball has come down to just one game, and the 2001 NCAA Champions will be crowned tonight. “We feel honored to be their opponent,” Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said.
Without MSU competing this evening for the NCAA title, Spartan fans and I need to decide which team to cheer for.Tonight’s championship game will feature two teams most Spartan fans are not so fond of.First, there is the Arizona Wildcats, who ran over the Spartans 80-61 Saturday.
Just as it appeared the MSU baseball team was on a fast track to going well above the .500 mark, the Spartans found themselves derailed by Purdue in their opening home series of the season this weekend.
Going up against defending national champion North Dakota in the Frozen Four this week, one might think MSU head coach Ron Mason would be poring over any tape of the Fighting Sioux he could get his hands on. But that’s not the case. “If you start too soon on the other team, you’ll forget about them by the time you get there,” Mason said.
After spending its first month of the season traveling on buses and planes to other teams’ diamonds, the MSU baseball team will finally get a chance to play on their home field today.
Stick around after an MSU men’s basketball game and you’ll see something like this:After the team beats its opponent, the players retreat to postgame interviews.
What’s it going to take for Ryan Miller to win the Hobey Baker Award? If the award truly recognizes college hockey’s most dominant player, Miller would run away with it on April 6 in Albany, N.Y.
College basketball is filled with McDonald’s All-Americans and blue chippers that should have been great.But when one blossoms, it’s truly something special.As a freshman, many demand to start, demand the ball and demand the spotlight.
It was a case of good news and bad news for the MSU softball team in its home opener Wednesday at Old College Field.
YPSILANTI - The Spartan baseball team glided to two easy wins over the Eastern Michigan Eagles Wednesday at Oestrike Stadium. MSU, now 12-8, forced Eastern’s season record to 4-17. The Spartans shot out to a comfortable lead during the first game of the doubleheader, working their way to a score of 7-2 going into the seventh inning. Then at the top of the seventh MSU drove home the victory when they doubled their score to 14-2, while the Eagles went through five pitchers with no success. An early lead in game two put the Spartans up 3-1 in the first inning.