Hey, Spartan baseball fans!

I apologize for the lack of content in the second half of the season! I was finishing up the semester and was loaded up with my fair share of assignments and finals. But now I’m back and ready to go over the last month or so.

---

The Basics

The Numbers

• Record: 18-29 (9-11 B1G, 8-12 Home)
• Best Win: @ Minnesota (RPI: 18), W 6-5
• Worst Loss: @ Penn State (RPI: 235), L 1-13

Six-Game Winning Streak

• 4/18 — Western Michigan, W 10-7
• 4/20 — Northwestern, W 5-3
• 4/21 — Northwestern, W 4-2
• 4/22 — Northwestern, W 6-5
• 4/25 — Toledo, W 5-4
• 4/27 — Maryland, W 4-2

Alright so let’s go over everything I’ve listed above and more. Since April 14th the Spartans have gone on a six-game winning streak with signature wins against Maryland and Minnesota. The Gophers are ranked 16th in the nation and are first in the Big Ten heading into the last week of the regular season. By in large this was the best win for MSU all season long.

In the same breath, Michigan State has been able to remain .500 in the last month (8-8) while (at times) being one of the most competitive teams within the conference. No, this team isn’t anywhere near the top of the leaderboards, but as we’ve been saying for most of the 2018 season, the Spartans were never going to make any noise within the conference. At best, I thought they were a spot or two better than they were last year. As fans and writers of this site, all anyone could have hoped for was improvement across the board, and in my opinion, this team did get better over time.

Unfortunately, a lot of those things don’t show up in the box score/stat sheet. As we progressed further into the season fans saw this team develop a ton of chemistry, heart, grit, and the determination to become a better ball-club.

Spartans Staying The Course

As you guys know we love our “Spartans Staying The Course” segment because it helps fans keep up with some of their favorite players. It also allows us to see which guys are having great seasons.

That being said here are the top four guys on both sides of the ball!

• Justin Antoncic: .278 (45-162), 6 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR, 15 RBI, 13 SB
• Chad Roskelly: .269 (35-130), 3 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR, 24 RBI
• Ryan King: .259 (36-139), 3 2B, 12 RBI
• Bryce Kelley: .254 (45-177), 3 2B, 1 3B, 13 RBI, 28 SB

Here’s a quick look at the Spartan pitching staff:

• Mitchell Tyranski: ERA — 2.48, 2-1, 36.1 IP, 28 H, 10 ER, 49 SO
• Jake Lowery: ERA — 2.60, 4-3, 34.2 IP, 33 H, 10 ER, 39 SO
• Riley McCauley: ERA — 3.67, 2-4, 54.0 IP, 54 H, 22 ER, 59 SO
• Mason Erla: ERA — 4.06, 5-4, 68.2 IP, 56 H, 31 ER, 49 SO

What’s Next?

The Spartans biggest goal right now should be to extend their season as much as they can. Michigan State is currently ninth in the conference standings (tied with Maryland for the eighth seed) which means they are out of the Big Ten tournament as of now. The top eight teams in the conference will, of course, make it and have a shot at winning it.

Michigan State has one series left in the regular season against the Ohio State Buckeyes. They need to win at least two of those games if they want to qualify for the tournament.

Maryland has the head-to-head tiebreaker on MSU so beating the Buckeyes is extremely important if the Spartans want their season to continue.

Last Series

Michigan State will wrap up the regular season by hosting Ohio State in a three game series starting Thursday at 4:05 p.m.

If you have the time get over the Kobs Field and watch our Spartans finish their season strong!

Go Green!