Michigan State University Athletics
Spartan Baseball Hosts Michigan Friday Night At Oldsmobile Park
4/18/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 18, 2003
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THIS WEEKEND IN SPARTAN BASEBALL:
Michigan (16-15, 4-6 BT) vs. Michigan State (10-21, 3-7 BT)
WEEKEND SCHEDULE:
Friday, April 18 - Oldsmobile Park - Lansing, Mich. - 6 p.m.
Saturday, April 19 (DH) - Ray Fisher Stadium - Ann Arbor, Mich. - 1 p.m.
Sunday, April 20 - Kobs Field - East Lansing, Mich. - 1 p.m.
Broadcasts of Saturday's games at Michigan available at www.mgoblue.com
SPARTANS FACE ARCH-RIVAL MICHIGAN IN HOME-AND-HOME SERIES THIS WEEKEND: MSU will play intrastate rival Michigan in a home-and-home series this Easter weekend. The first game of the series is set for Friday, April 18 at Oldsmobile Park in Lansing, Mich., beginning at 6 p.m. The series then shifts to Ann Arbor as the two teams meet in a doubleheader at Ray Fisher Stadium on Saturday, April 19 at 1 p.m. The series finale on Easter Sunday will be played at Kobs Field on the MSU campus starting at 1 p.m.
New MSU head football coach John L. Smith is scheduled to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at Sunday's game.
Michigan State enters the series with a 10-21 mark and stands at ninth in the Big Ten race with a 3-7 record in league play. In mid-week action, MSU scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth to defeat Wayne State, 13-12, on April 15 at Kobs Field. The Spartan offense cracked a season high four homers against the Warriors, including two off the bat of Travis Gulick. Western Michigan topped the Spartans 4-2 at Oldsmobile Park April 16.
Michigan brings a 16-15 record into the weekend after defeating Hillsdale and Oakland earlier in the week. The Wolverines are eighth in the Big Ten standings with a 4-6 mark after losing three of four to Illinois last weekend.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT - MICHIGAN (16-15, 4-6 Big Ten)
HEAD COACH: Rich Maloney. Career record: 272-161-1 (Eighth year). Record at Michigan: 16-15 (First year).
SERIES NOTES:
* Michigan leads the series, 167-90-1. MSU has won six of the last eight meetings.
* First meeting: 1884 - Michigan 13, MSC 3 (Michigan State's second ever game in school history).
* Last meeting: April 21, 2002 - MSU 5, Michigan 3
* 2002: MSU won season series, 3-1
* Coach Mahan's record vs. Michigan: 12-17
* MSU's last series win: 2002 (3-1); MSU's last series sweep: 1969 (2-0)
* UM's last series win: 1999 (4-0); UM's last series sweep: 1999 (4-0)
This Weekend's Probable Rotation (Michigan starters games TBA):
Friday: MSU - RH Bryan Gale (4-4, 2.98 ERA, 57.1 IP, 29 K, OBA - .235) UM - RH Bobby Garza (3-1, 6.23 ERA, 39 IP, 33 K, OBA - .293)Sat. Gm. 1: MSU - RH Tim Day (2-5, 6.48 ERA, 50 IP, 33 K, OBA - .312) UM - RH Michael Penn (1-5, 5.36 ERA, 45.1 IP, 36 K, OBA - .257)Sat. Gm. 2: MSU - RH Patrick Gill (0-5, 4.86 ERA, 37 IP, 29 K, OBA - .308) UM - RH Phil Tognetti (3-2, 5.61 ERA, 25.2 IP, 17 K, OBA - .330)Sunday: MSU - RH Jeff Gerbe (1-1, 6.46 ERA, 23.2 IP, 9 K, OBA - .327) UM - LH Drew Taylor (3-1, 5.48 ERA, 42.2 IP, 20 K, OBA - .285)
SIMPLY AN ALL-AMERICAN: Senior catcher Brady Burrill has lived up to the preseason hype in his last season with the Green and White by leading the team with a .388 batting average and a .480 on base percentage. The captain is also perfect in the field (159 PO, 21 A, 0 E) and has thrown out 11 base stealers.
The Newhall, Calif., native is third in the Big Ten with a .452 average in conference games and fourth with a .514 on base percentage. He went an impressive 7-for-11 against confererece leader Minnesota.
Burrill was named a third-team preseason All-American by Louisville Slugger and a Fab 50 senior by Baseball America. He is also currently on the Rotary Smith Player of the Year watch list, which is the premier award given to college baseball's top player, and the Johnny Bench watch list, which is given to the nation's best catcher.
Burrill was drafted in the 34th round by the Seattle Mariners in the 2002 MLB First-Year Player Draft.
BRYAN'S SONG: Junior Bryan Gale moved up to a tie for fourth on the all-time MSU wins chart with his 21st-career victory at Indiana on April 12. Gale threw his fourth complete game of the season while only surrendering one run as he notched his fourth win in 2003.
The right-hander began the year with a two-hit, seven-inning gem on opening day at Centenary, and also retired the last 10 batters he faced. For his efforts, Gale was named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 25, marking the third time in his career he has won the honor. Gale followed that effort with a complete game win including seven strikeouts over No. 20 North Carolina on Feb. 28. Gale's career record is currently 21-9.
Gale, who threw an MSU season record 100.0 innings in 2002, is tied for first in the Big Ten in 2003 with 57.1 innings and his 221 career innings rank fifth all-time at MSU. The Decatur, Mich., native is also ninth in MSU history with 160 strikeouts. He struck out a season-high eight in a four-hit complete game win vs. Northwestern April 6.
GULICK IS GRAND: Travis Gulick leads the team in five offensive categories (at-bats, runs, hits, total bases, RBI) and is second in batting with a .361 average. Gulick belted two homers, both over the Kobs Field scoreboard in left field, to go along with a triple and four RBI vs. Wayne State April 15. In the home opener, he went 4-for-5 against IPFW April 2. Gulick, who started the first 26 games at second base, is now the starting right fielder. He hit .353 with six homers - including three grand slams - and 28 RBI during his rookie campaign.
The sophomore started his season off with a bang by going 6-for-14 (.429) at Centenary, including eight RBI and five runs scored. He also had a career-high five RBI in the second game of the series. Gulick is third in the Big Ten in hits and and fifth in homers.
ONE BRIGHT DAY: Sophomore pitcher Tim Day pitched his best game of the season with a three-hit complete game including a season-high eight strikeouts and no earned runs vs. Northwestern April 6. Day then came back to fan seven in six innings of work at Indiana April 13. While Day doesn't have a win to show in his last two games, they are easily the best back-to-back starts Day has thrown all season.
The right-hander finished the 2002 season with an 11-3 record, establishing a MSU single-season record for victories. Day, a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American, ended the season with a 3.21 ERA and five complete games.
G-O-L-E-M SPELLS RELIEF: Right-handed reliever Ryan Golem has been effective in his 12 appearances thus far in 2003 as he has limited opponents to a team-best .200 batting average.
Golem also leads the team with a 2.25 ERA and has collected 16 strikeouts in 20 innings of work. He earned his first win since 2001 with a victory at Bowling Green on March 25 and added another win with a perfect 1.1 innings of relief vs. IPFW April 2.
Golem is especially dangerous to left-handed hitters, as southpaws are only batting .074 (2-for-27) against the 6-foot-7-inch senior.
BACK TO FULL STRENGTH: The Spartans finally played their first game with starters Charlie Braun at second base and Scott Koerber at first base on April 13 at Indiana, the 29th game of the season. Braun, who had offseason shoulder surgery, played his first game in the field April 12 and was limited to designated hitter duties at the beginning of the season. Koerber was the starting first baseman for the first 10 games until he was hit by a pitch and broke his hand at North Florida March 8.
Travis Gulick, who filled in for Braun at second base, is now the starting right fielder. Freshman Alan Cattrysse will remain at shortstop for the Spartans.
BASEBALL AMERICA CAN'T BE WRONG: Shortstop Alan Cattrysse, who was selected as the preseason Big Ten Freshman of the Year by Baseball America, showed his potential in the first series of the season at Centenary by hitting 5-for-16 (.312) with two doubles and two runs scored in the leadoff spot. Cattrysse has also made some fine plays in the field leads the team with 84 assists. The Chatham, Ontario, product is second on the team with six doubles and also has eight RBI.
POWER WATTAGE: Center fielder Brett Wattles blasted his fourth homer of the season April 15 vs. Wayne State, tying his career bests set in 2001 and 2002. Wattles, who is playing center for the first time in his career, is posting a perfect fielding percentage to go with 57 putouts and one assist. Wattles has showed excellent patience at the plate this season, leading the team 20 walks while accumulating a .403 on base percentage. The senior is second on the team with 18 RBI and 21 runs.
PEANUTS: Senior co-captain Charlie Braun, who batted a career-best .394 in 2002, is back in the starting lineup as the starting second baseman. Since returning to the field, Braun has showed a spark at the plate, going 7-for-22 (.318). Braun had been the designated hitter for the last month, but one of his biggest contributions to the team is his defense.
He tied a career high with three RBI vs. IPFW April 2 by hitting a bases-clearing double that gave the Spartans a six-run lead. Braun also drove in the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth in MSU's 13-12 win over Wayne State April 15.
SOLID AT THE HOT CORNER: Junior James Moreno has been a mainstay in the Spartan lineup by starting his third consecutive year at third base. Moreno is fifth on the team with a .271 average and is third with 17 RBI. He tied a career high with four hits at Western Kentucky March 15.
LIVIN' THE HIGH LIFE: Left fielder David Miller is third on the team in batting with a .328 average after exploding for eight hits in the season-opening series at Centenary. The junior posted a career-high four hits in game two of the series. Miller had a career-best 10-game hitting streak snapped April 13 at Indiana.
PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS X 2: Two Spartans - senior catcher Brady Burrill and sophomore pitcher Tim Day - were named preseason All-Americans by two different baseball publications. Burrill was named a third-team All-American by Louisville Slugger, as selected by Collegiate Baseball newspaper, while Day earned third-team accolades from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. Burrill and Day are MSU's first preseason All-Americans since Mark Mulder in 1998.
BASEBALL AMERICA SPOTLIGHT SEVERAL SPARTANS: Baseball America, one of the most respected baseball publications in the country, spotlighted several Spartans in its annual college preview issue. Alan Cattrysse was tabbed as the Freshman of the Year in the Big Ten, while sophomore hurler Tim Day also earned preseason conference honors. Also highlighted was senior preseason All-American Brady Burrill, who was named the top defensive catcher in the Big Ten and the catcher with the best arm. Burrill was also named one of the Fab 50 seniors in the nation.
UNDER SURVEILLANCE: Senior Brady Burrill is on two of college baseball's most prestigious award watch lists for the 2003 season. Burrill is currently in the running for the Rotary Smith Award, which is annually given to college baseball's top player, and the Johnny Bench Award, which is given to the nation's top catcher.
