Michigan State Baseball: Zaid Walker named Big Ten Player of the Week

The Big Ten baseball season is just underway, but the Michigan State Spartans have already picked up a significant honor. Michigan State won three games in a four-game series with the Maryland Terrapins this past weekend. A big reason why was do to the outstanding play of sophomore outfielder Zaid Walker. For his efforts, Walker was named the Big Ten Player of the Week.

Walker led the Spartans with a .462 (6-13) batting average for the weekend. He had at least one hit in all fours game and he went a perfect 3-for-3 in the second game of the series. He had five RBIs and one double, which equates to a slugging percentage of .538. For good measure, Walker also scored three runs.

The highlight of the weekend for Walker came in the third game of the series. With the Spartans trailing 4-0, Walker beat out a throw for an infield single to extend the Spartans’ seventh inning rally. A few minutes later, Walker crossed home plate with what would be the game-winning run.

This is the first time that Walker has received this award in his Spartan career and the first time that a Spartan has received it since Peter Ahn in early March of 2020. Walker, who hails from Homewood, Illinois and plans to study supply chain management, also was a member of the Big Ten All-Freshman Team in 2019 and was on the Preseason Player to Watch list in 2020 before the season was shut down due to COVID-19.

Michigan State will return to action on Friday evening at 5 p.m for the beginning of a four-game series at Flour Field in Greenville, South Carolina against the Northwestern Wildcats. The action can be followed either through a subscription to Big Ten Network+ or though live stats, both of which are linked through the official MSU Athletics website, MSUSpartans.com.