Michigan State Spartans baseball: Cambria College Classic Preview

Last weekend did not turn out the way Michigan State’s baseball squad wanted. The team was swept in three-straight games versus Abilene Christian, by a total margin of 32-7.

In the final game, Michigan State was a sloppy mess, hitting seven batters, walking six and recording three errors in the field. It was a tough way to wrap up a bad weekend in Texas.

“It was a disappointing day and a disappointing weekend for us, we had big expectations coming down here and didn’t play well enough to win,” Michigan State head coach Jake Boss Jr. said after the game. “We hit seven batters, walked six batters and made three errors, and when you give away 16 opportunities for outs, it’s tough to win, even though we out-hit them, 10-9, and to lose 10-2. But we’ll get back to practice tomorrow, and get ready for a very, very good tournament field in Minneapolis next weekend.”

MSU hopes to rebound this weekend in the Cambria College Classic. It takes place at U.S. Bank Arena in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the indoor home of the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings and NCAA’s Minnesota Golden Gophers baseball (for early season games).

The teams involved in the invitational are Michigan State, Minnesota, Illinois, Notre Dame, West Virginia and Kansas. Tickets are only $10 per day.

None of the Big Ten teams involved will face each other. Instead, each non-Big Ten team will rotate to play each Big Ten team. Michigan State faces Kansas at noon on Friday, Notre Dame at noon on Saturday and West Virginia at 11 a.m. on Sunday. All times are in Eastern.

Michigan State is 3-4 after being swept by ACU last weekend. All of MSU’s wins came in its three-straight victories against UNLV during the opening weekend of the season.

Kansas is 3-4 as well after a 12-3 loss Wednesday night to Missouri State. The Jayhawks haven’t had much great pitching in the small sample size its played, but Cole Larsen and Ryan Vanderhei have been great in the innings they’ve pitched.

Vanderhei was electric in Kansas’ second game against New Orleans when he went 6.1 innings and only allowed two earned runs. Steven Andrews took the loss Wednesday against Missouri State, as he allowed five runs in three innings.

On Saturday, the Spartans face No. 12 Notre Dame, and the Fighting Irish are off to a 5-1 start. The only team to defeat Notre Dame so far this season has been Delaware in a neutral-site game down in Florida. Delaware walked it off against Notre Dame, 5-4. That will be a tough test against a good team and could be the start of a resume worth building if Michigan State is able to win.

Sunday’s morning affair will feature Michigan State and West Virginia (6-2). The Mountaineers are coming off of a major victory, which ended in a 17-3 win over Canisius. WVU’s Michael Kilker earned his first-career win as he pitched two innings in relief, allowed one hit and struck out three batters.

All three games will air on BTN+.