March 20, 2008

MSU Baseball Game Notes in PDF Format

2008 Michigan State Baseball

vs. Oakland - March 21-23, 2008 - Kobs Field - East Lansing, Mich..
Friday, March 14 - Michigan State vs. Oakland - 3:05 p.m.
Saturday, March 22 - Michigan State vs. Oakland - 1:05 p.m.
Sunday, March 23 - Michigan State vs. Oakland - 1:05 p.m.

Michigan State Pitching Probables (Subject To Change)
Friday - Mike Monterey (0-1, 3.70 ERA, 24.1 IP)
Saturday - Chris Cullen (3-0, 3.18 ERA, 22.2 IP)
Sunday - Mark Sorensen (0-2, 4.02 ERA, 15.2 IP)

Spartans Open At Home Against Instate Foe Oakland
After playing the first 15 games of the season in Texas, Florida, Louisiana and South Carolina, the Michigan State baseball team (7-8) opens its home schedule with a three-game series against Oakland March 21-23. MSU has won four of its last six games, and each win has come against a team that posted a winning record in 2007. The Spartans took two of three against Quinnipiac last weekend in Greenville, S.C., winning the final two games of the series (4-2 & 6-4) after dropping a slugfest opener, 15-10. Michigan State is 16-2 all-time against Oakland, in a series that dates back to 1977.

Road Warriors
The Spartan baseball program just finished a stretch where it was on the road for 21 of 26 calendar days, spanning from Feb. 20-March 16. MSU left for Florida on Wednesday, Feb. 20 and returned on Monday, Feb. 25. Two days later, the Spartans embarked on the nine-game trip that lasted from Wednesday, Feb. 27-March 9 before leaving March 13-16 for South Carolina. Michigan State played its first 15 contests in five cities, four states and two time zones. This Friday's contest against Oakland starts a streak of eight consecutive home games for MSU to close the month of March.

Senior Starters Shutting It Down
Michigan State has been led in the starting rotation by three strong senior right-handers. Mike Monterey (3.70), Chris Cullen (3.18) and Mark Sorensen (4.02) have ERA's near 4.00 and are giving up less than 1.0 hits per inning. The trio is holding opponents to a collective .227 batting average with 39 strikeouts.

Scouting Oakland (2-9)
The Grizzlies, who have lost five straight since sweeping a March 9 doubleheader at George Washington, are coming off a stretch that saw them play Tulane and Michigan. Oakland has four starters hitting at least .311, led by Rob Merkle's .372 average. Merkle also leads the team in runs (12) and doubles (5). Pitching has been OU's downfall, as the staff has a 9.87 ERA while opponents hit .343 off Grizzly pitchers. Matt Trausch, Andrew Estes and Mike Takashima are the team's top starters.

Renewing The Oakland Series
Michigan State and Oakland are meeting for the first time since May 8, 2001, when MSU won a 6-4 contest at home. The two Michigan schools met at least once every season from 1995-2001. The Spartans lead the all-time series, 16-2, and haven't lost to the Grizzlies since April 12, 1995. MSU has also won 16 of the last 17 meetings since dropping the first contest on May 18, 1977.

Playing Well Day-After-Day
Junior catcher Kyle Day has been in the starting lineup in every game, and for good reason. The Fort Wayne, Ind., native leads Michigan State with a .333 batting average and 15 RBI. His RBI total is tied for third in the Big Ten. He is tied for the team lead with 19 hits, and his .400 on-base percentage is the best among all Spartan starters. For his career, Day is a .310 hitter and has 74 RBI. Day, who was drafted in the 19th round of the 2007 MLB Draft by the Chicago Cubs, was a preseason All-Big Ten pick by Baseball America and was a Cape Cod League All-Star last summer with the Harwich Mariners.

Roof Raising His Average
Freshman shortstop Jonathan Roof went 6-for-8 with four RBI last weekend to raise his batting average 68 points, from .260 to .328. His batting average is second on the team, right behind Day's .333 clip. The Paducah, Ky., native, who was drafted in the 39th round of the 2007 MLB Draft by Boston, has started all 15 of MSU's games at short and is tied for the team lead in hits (19) while ranking second in total bases (24) and RBI (8).

MSU Beating The Best
Considering the difficulty of Michigan State's non-conference schedule, the Spartans have had opportunities to defeat some of the nation's top programs. MSU opened the season with a 6-4, 10-inning win over Stetson on Feb. 22. At the Rice Invitational March 6-8, Michigan State posted a 5-3 win over Western Carolina on March 6 and a 9-3 win over No. 4 Rice the next day. Michigan State also has two wins over Quinnipiac and one versus Connecticut (11-1 on Feb. 24). Both of those schools from the Constitution State posted winning records in 2007. Connecticut was 34-27 last year and Quinnipiac finished 29-18-1.

Milestone Win For The Program
Rice is the highest-ranked team Michigan State has beaten this decade, and it is believed the Owls may be the highest-ranked opponent MSU has beaten in the program's history. The Owls were ranked No. 4 by Rivals.com and No. 6 by the NCBWA at the time of the game. The victory is the highest-profile win Michigan State has had under David Grewe. The Spartans did post a 13-11 win over Miami (Fla.) on March 8, 2000, one year after the Hurricanes won the College World Series.

Spartans Take 2 Of 3 On Back-To-Back Weekends
Michigan State enters this weekend's series against Oakland having won four of its last six games. At the Rice Invitiational, MSU defeated defending Southern Conference champion Western Carolina, 5-3, on March 6, setting the table for one of the team's biggest wins in recent years, a 9-3 victory over Rice, who was ranked No. 4 in the latest Rivals.com poll and No. 7 in the ESPN/USA Today poll. The Spartans dropped the finale at Rice, 15-1, to Creighton. Last weekend, MSU then took two of three games against Quinnipiac in Greenville, S.C.

Fielding Their Positions
Michigan State has been solid in the field, committing just 22 errors in the season's first 15 games. In comparison, MSU's opponents, many of which are nationally-ranked teams, have committed 31 errors. The Spartans are tied for second with Minnesota in the Big Ten Conference with a .961 team fielding percentage. Through Tuesday's games, the fielding percentage average for the 10 teams in the league is .955. So far this season, MSU has played four errorless games while its opponents have yet to notch one such contest.

Moody Provides Relief
Senior right-hander Nolan Moody has emerged this season as one of the team's top relievers. Moody boasts a 2-1 record with two saves and a 3.38 ERA in a team-best nine appearances this season. He appeared in each of last weekend's three games against Quinnipiac, picking up a win and a save in four innings of relief. His other win came March 1 against Arkansas and he also saves MSU's win over Western Carolina March 6. Additionally, the East Lansing, Mich., native has 12 strikeouts against just two walks and is holding opponents to a .211 batting average.

Two-Way Contributors
Head coach David Grewe has several players who can contribute both at the plate and on the mound. Four Spartans - Tyler Newsome, Brandon Eckerle, Tony Clausen and Seth Williams - have appeared on the mound and had at least one at-bat. Newsome is hitting 4-for-12 and has started three games at first base in addition to his five pitching appearances. Eckerle has made three relief appearances this season, and has appeared in 10 games in the outfield. Eckerle is batting 5-for-17 (.294) with five RBI.

Big Ten's Top Recruiting Class
MSU's 34-man roster features 12 newcomers which comprise the Big Ten's top-rated recruiting class, according to Baseball America. Those newcomers have made an impact already. Jonathan Roof has started every game at shortstop this season, while A.J. Shindler (3B) and Tyler Newsome (1B, P) have also seen extended action on the field. Kurt Wunderlich and A.J. Achter have also combined to pitch 17.0 innings.

On Deck For MSU
Michigan State will open Big Ten play and make its Oldsmobile Park debut on Friday, March 28 when it begins a four-game series against Illinois. The first contest is set for 3:05 p.m. The two teams will play a 1:05 p.m. doubleheader on March 29 before playing a single game at the same time on Sunday, March 30. As of Thursday, the Illini are 5-5 this season.