Baseball Heads To Florida State For Spring Break
2/28/2001 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 28, 2001
East Lansing, Mich. -
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TOP STORY: The Michigan State baseball squad heads to Florida State this weekend to take on the Seminoles in its first three games of its spring trip. After playing the Seminoles, MSU will head south to face six different teams in five days. The Spartans are coming off their season opening series against Troy State, where they went 0-2. The third game was cancelled due to severe weather.
SUPER SOPH: Sophomore centerfielder Bob Malek is again off to a fast start for the Spartans. This season he is tied for first on the team in batting average (.500) and hits (four). Last season, Malek led the team in RBI with 58, which was tied for third best in a single MSU season. He also led the team in home runs (nine), total bases (109) and slugging percentage (.545). As a rookie, he hit safely in 43 of MSU's 56 games, and posted a 13-game hitting streak earlier in the season.
SCOUTING REPORT: Florida State -As of Wednesday, Feb. 28, the Seminoles were x-x and in the middle of a two-game series with Appalachian State. Last weekend, FSU split a two-game series with intrastate rival Florida, with UF winning the first game, 3-2, and FSU taking the second game, 13-11. -Florida State's offensive attack is lead by junior outfielder John-Ford Griffin who is hitting .433 through the Seminoles first nine games. Griffin has 13 hits, 13 RBI and 19 total bases. Freshman Bryan Zech and junior Nick Rodgers also lead the Seminoles balanced attack. Each is hitting over .350.
-The Seminoles' probable rotation this weekend will be as follows: Game One: Blair Varnes (1-1) Game Two: Matt Lynch (1-1) Game Three: Robby Read (1-2)
A FAMILIAR PLACE: Junior Kyle Geswein again finds himself atop the Spartans leaders in offensive catergories, as he did last season. This year, Geswein leads the team in RBI (3), total bases (eight) and slugging percentage (1.000). He is tied for first on the team in batting average (.500), runs (two), hits (four) and on-base percentage (.500). In 2000, the Dayton, Ohio, native was second on the team in home runs (eight), third in total bases (77) and second in on-base percentage (.445).
MSU-FSU CONNECTION: Former Michigan State coach Danny Litwhiler, who coached the Spartans from 1964-85, coached at Florida State before coming to MSU. He also played 12 major league seasons with the Phillies, Cardinals, Braves and Reds. Litwhiler's career record at MSU was 488-362, while he went 189-81 with the Seminoles in nine seasons.
