Michigan State Baseball: Pitcher Nick Powers named Big Ten co-Freshman of the Week

On Tuesday, Michigan State left-handed pitcher Nate Powers was named as Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Week. This is the first Big Ten Freshman of the Week honor for MSU since March of 2018, when current teammate and fellow pitcher Mason Erla earned the same award.

Sophomore outfielder Zaid Walker was named Big Ten Player of the Week on March 10, which makes Powers’ honor the second weekly honor of this young season for the Michigan State baseball program.

Powers earned the recognition due to his outstanding performance on the mound on Sunday against the first-place Indiana Hoosiers. Powers pitched 6.2 innings of shutout baseball before finally giving up a run with two outs in the seventh inning. The Spartans would hang on in the final two inning to secure the win for Powers.

Powers struck out three batters and finished the game yielding only four hits. No Hoosier runners advanced past second base in the first six innings of the contest. This performance also came on the heels of a four-hit, no-run winning performance at Michigan in his previous start.

The 3-0 win over the Wolverines was the first shutout win over Michigan for the Spartans in almost 20 years and it also snapped a 10-game losing streak for MSU in the series. Powers is the only pitcher in the Big Ten to have earned a victory over both Indiana and Michigan, who reside in first and second place, respectively in the current Big Ten standings.

Powers and the rest of the Spartans return to action on Friday, April 2 with a three-game weekend series in Minneapolis against the Minnesota Golden Gophers. The action can be followed with live stats, live audio from TCF Bank Spartan Media Network, and live streaming from Big Ten Network+ with links available at MSUSpartans.com.