Spartan Sports Roundup
3/10/2009 12:00:00 AM | General
March 10, 2009
Spartan Sports Roundup provides a brief overview of the Olympic sports teams in action. Read a recap of last week's action, look ahead to this week's action and find key notes on each team in this weekly recap.
 | Baseball |
Roster | Schedule
Last Week: The Spartans dropped their first four games of their 10-game spring trip; MSU fell, 2-0, to Georgia State, 7-3 to Xavier and dropped a pair of close games to Bethune-Cookman (11-9 and 5-4).
This Week: MSU will travel to Clemson on Tuesday (March 10) and will play the Tigers on Wednesday (March 11) in Greenville, S.C. ... The Spartans will wrap up their spring trip in Greenville, S.C., with two games against Quinnipiac and two more games against Xavier.
Notes: Juniors Chris Roberts and Eli Boike paced the Spartan offense in four games last week as Boike hit .538 while Roberts had a team-leading five RBIs ... Boike hit two home runs this past weekend and now leads the team with three ... Senior Johnny Lee also homerd this weekend (vs. Bethune-Cookman 3/8) and now has two on the season ... Freshman Tony Bucciferro got his first collegiate start against Bethune-Cookman (3/8), going 4.2 innings and surrendering just three runs on 10 hits while striking out two.
| Softball |
Roster | Schedule
Last Week: The Spartans finished with a 2-2 record at the Tar Heel Invitational; MSU topped Princeton 5-4 on Saturday before falling to No. 15 North Carolina, 6-2 ... Sunday, the Spartans posted a 7-2 win over Georgetown and fell, 8-7, in eight innings to Elon ... Seniors Gina Mondo and Megan Hair and freshman Lauren Kramer were named to the Tar Heel Invitational All-Tournament team.
This Week: MSU continues its annual spring break trip with a doubleheader at NC State on Tuesday, March 10 before facing UNC-Wilmington for a game on Wednesday, March 11 ... The Spartans wrap up play with the Coastal Carolina Tournament on Friday and Saturday, March 13-14.
Notes: The win over Georgetown was the Spartan's second over the Hoyas this season ... Freshman Lauren Kramer (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) recorded the go-ahead home run in the sixth inning against Princeton to claim the 5-4 win, and was 3-for-3 at the plate ... MSU's two runs against No. 15 North Carolina were both homers ... Freshman Melanie Bensema (La Habra, Calif.) recorded the first home run of her collegiate career and sophomore Jessica Bracamonte (Hacienda Heights, Calif.) hit her first of the season ... Senior Gina Mondo (Orange, Conn.) led the team with four RBIs on Sunday, including three against Elon and sophomore Lindsey Hansen (Valparaiso, Fla.) notched three RBIs against Georgetown; both players recorded home runs on Sunday ... MSU recorded seven runs in the seventh inning against Elon to tie the game, but fell in extra innings ... Kramer posted a team-high .571 batting average in the four games at the Tar Heel Invitational, while Mondo registered a .429 clip and sophomore Heidi Purtzer (Scottsdale, Ariz.) notched a .417 average ... Mondo leads the team with a .444 batting average this season and 20 hits; she is second on the team in runs (13), doubles (4), RBIs (10), totals bases (32) and slugging percentage (.711) ... She also leads the team in stolen bases with eight this season ... Kramer has a second-best .415 batting average and senior Kara Weigle (Naples, Fla.) posts a .404 average ... Hansen, the Big Ten's Player of the Week on March 2, leads the team in runs (14), home runs (6), RBIs (16), total bases (40) and slugging percentage (.714) ... Freshman Rebecca Rogers (Haslett, Mich.) made her collegiate debut batting against Elon ... Senior Megan Hair (Torrance, Calif.) recorded two wins over the weekend to even her record at 2-2; she notched a 0.70 ERA through 10 innings at the Tar Heel Invitational ... Hair leads the team with a 3.29 ERA and is tied for the team-lead with 15 strikeouts ... The Spartans have a .315 team batting average ... MSU has recorded 141 hits and 88 runs in 16 games ... Last season, the Spartans tallied five home runs, 73 runs and 129 hits through their first 16 games while posting a .293 batting average.
| Wrestling |
Roster | Schedule
Last Week: Junior Franklin Gomez (Brandon, Fla.) won his second-straight Big Ten Championship at 133 pounds, winning four matches, two against top-10 opponents ... Gomez defeated fifth-seeded Reece Humphrey of Ohio State, 7-4, in overtime to clinch the title ... Redshirt freshmen Eric Olanowski (Virginia Beach, Va.) and David Cheza (Grand Blanc, Mich.) and sophomore Anthony Jones Jr. (Highland Park, Mich.) each took seventh place at 125, 149 and 157 respectively ... Redshirt freshman Ian Hinton finished eighth at 174 pounds. With their wins, Jones, Olanowski and Gomez receive automatic berths to the NCAA Championships ... Overall, the Spartans finished 11th with 40.5 points.
Notes: Gomez is the 16th MSU wrestler to win back-to-back Big Ten titles and is the first Spartan to record back-to-back conference titles in the same weight class since Nick Simmons did so in 2006 and 2007 ... In his final home meet, senior Rex Kendle (Edwardsburg, Mich.) recorded a 6-0 win over Oklahoma's Derek Peperas ... Kendle scored one of the biggest upsets of the season this year when he defeated Iowa's third-ranked 165-pounder Ryan Morningstar, 5-4 ... Jones, Hinton and senior Alan O'Donnell (Clarksville, Mich.) also picked up wins against Iowa ... Gomez was ranked No. 1 in the country for seven-straight weeks ... Jones continues to lead the team in wins as he has recorded 24 this season.
| Indoor Track & Field |
Roster | Schedule
Last Week: Five Spartans traveled to the Notre Dame Alex Wilson Last Chance Meet to try and improve their NCAA provisional marks ... Although no additional Spartan qualified, pole vaulter Katie Shaw (Lakeview, Mich.) tied her personal best in the event (3.97m) and was one of three Spartans to earn event titles ... The other two were Jay Gillespie (Allen Park, Mich.) and Becca Buchholtz (East Troy, Wis.), who won the weight throw and high jump, respectively.
This Week: MSU will send its NCAA national qualifiers to the NCAA Indoor Championships this weekend in College Station, Texas. The meet will begin Friday at 10 a.m. and resume Saturday at noon ... Making the trip for the Spartans will be milers Shane Knoll (Warren, Mich.), Lisa Senakiewich (Davison, Mich.) and Emily MacLeod (Cincinnati, Ohio) and 400m standout Jeremy Orr (Detroit, Mich.) ... Knoll is the top seed in the men's mile, Orr ranks 10th in the mile while Senakiewich and MacLeod rank 16th and 17th, respectively, in the women's mile run.
Notes: Freshmen Beth Rohl (New Buffalo, Mich.) and Becca Buchholtz (East Troy, Wis.) earned Big Ten titles in the weight throw and high jump, respectively ... Rohl and Buchholtz became the first Spartan freshmen to win individual Big Ten indoor titles in school history; the only other freshman to do win a Big Ten title was Michelle Brown as a member of the 4x400m relay in 1982 ... Rohl's toss is a new school record ... Both Rohl and Buchholtz were named to the All-Big Ten first team while Rohl was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year ... Sophomore Shane Wells (Romulus, Mich.) broke a school record in the 60m hurdles at the Big Ten Championships, finishing in 7.88 seconds, an NCAA provisional qualifying mark ... In all, three additional women, Buchholtz, Rohl and pole vaulter Katie Shaw (Lakeview, Mich.) provisionally qualified at the Big Ten Championships ... Sophomore Kyron Foster (Deltona, Fla.) also provisionally qualified in the triple jump ... The men's 4x400m relay team, consisting of Jeremy Orr (Detroit, Mich.), Keith Hewlett (Detroit, Mich.), Yury Ratomski (Novi, Mich.) and Michael Smoot (Trenton, Mich.), broke the school record after clocking in at 3:09.59, defeating a team from Western Kentucky that had run 3:07.61 earlier this season by nearly two seconds ... The mark is an NCAA provisional qualifying time and ranks 15th in the nation ... Lisa Senakiewich (Davison, Mich.) set an NCAA provisional qualifying mark by shaving nearly six seconds off of her personal-best time in the mile after finishing the race in 4:40.91 ... Her time breaks a school-record that was set by Anne Pewe back in 1982 when she ran the mile in 4:41.50 ... Knoll set the school-record in the mile run at the Meyo and became only the second Spartan in program history to run a sub-four-minute mile as he won one of the most prestigious mile events in the nation by clocking in at 3:57.36 ... Knoll also broke the school-record in the 800m run at the Grand Valley Big Meet, clocking in at 1:48.97, also an NCAA provisional qualifying time ... Orr broke his own school record in the 400m dash at the Meyo, running an NCAA provisional qualifying time ... His time is currently the seventh-fastest in the nation; the win marked Orr's second 400m dash title of the season ... Junior Leah Elenbaas (Greenville, Mich.) also broke a school record, topping her own mark in the 1,000m run after clocking in at 2:50.32 to win the event ... Jay Gillespie (Allen Park, Mich.) notched a weight throw record at the Big Ten Championships with a toss of 19.40m (63-7 ¾), topping his previous school-record toss ... The Spartans saw three athletes earn weekly conference honors following the season-opening MSU Open ... Davis took home the school's first ever Big Ten Female Track Athlete of the Week honor after claiming the 60m dash title with a personal-best time of 7.63 seconds; she is also the first Spartan in school history to win a Big Ten weekly honor twice in the same season since the league started weekly honors back in 1990 ... Buchholtz was the Big Ten Female Field Athlete of the Week after winning the pentathlon in her first collegiate event while Gillespie took home Male Field Athlete of the Week after his then school-record heave of 18.40m (50-6 ¼) in the weight throw.
| Gymnastics |
Roster | Schedule
Last Week: The Spartans posted a team-high 195.275 in a dual meet loss to No. 8 Auburn on Friday ... MSU hosted California and Ball State on Sunday, taking first with a team score of 195.050.
This Week: MSU will finish the regular season in Durham, N.H., on Sunday, March 15 with a dual meet against New Hampshire at 1 p.m.
Notes: The Spartans posted a 195.000 or better in both meets over the weekend for the first time this season ... Senior Katlyn Roggensack (Wheaton, Ill.) tied her career-high with a 39.100 in the all-around against Auburn; she has competed in the all-around for three-straight meets ... Sophomore Kelsey Morley (Elkhart, Ind.) posted a 9.900 on beam in both meets, taking first overall on Friday and Sunday; she has eight career beam titles and has seven top-three finishes this season on beam ... Morley ranks 20th in the nation on beam and is first in the Big Ten ... Junior Rochelle Robinson (Chesapeake, Va.) registered a season-high 9.875 on vault Sunday, to finish first overall; she also took top honors on uneven bars and was the Spartans top finisher on the two events Friday against Auburn ... Robinson now has 53 career top-three finishes, including 23 on vault and 14 on bars, both team-highs. She also leads the team with five individual titles this season ... Robinson ranks 24th nationally on uneven bars and is first in the Big Ten ... Junior Nicole Curler (Bay City, Mich.) finished second overall on beam against Auburn with a 9.875 ... MSU posted season-highs of 48.975 on beam against Auburn and 49.175 on floor against California and Ball State ... Freshman Jackie Berg (Tinley Park, Ill.) recorded a career-high 9.750 on balance beam against Auburn and a 9.750 on vault Sunday ... Berg competed in the all-around for the first time in her career against California and Ball State, posting a career-high 38.275, finishing third overall ... Junior Emily Lopatofsky (Waymart, Pa.) set a career-high on beam Sunday, recording a 9.800 and finishing third; she and sophomore Kathryn Mahoney (Western Springs, Ill.) posted a 9.875 on floor, finishing in a tie for second on the event against Auburn ... Mahoney set a career-high 9.925 on floor Sunday, Curler and Fanning both registered 9.850 and Roggensack notched a 9.800 ... Curler tied her season-high on the apparatus and Fanning set a career-high.
| Women's Tennis |
Roster | Schedule
Last Week: The Michigan State women's tennis team fell, 7-0, to No. 1 Northwestern at the MSU Indoor Tennis Facility on Saturday, March 7.
This Week: MSU will return to action when it travels to Seattle, Wash., for matches against Washington (Friday, March 13) and Gonzaga (Saturday, March 14) ... Play begins at 4 p.m. both days.
Notes: Sophomore Whitney Wilson (Evansville, Ind.) leads the Spartans with an 18-7 singles record on the season ... Wilson is 2-0 when in the No. 4 singles slot ... The doubles tandem of sophomores Manon Noe (Liancort, France) and Wilson is 7-3 in its last 10 matches together ... The tandem of senior Stephanie Kebler (Okemos, Mich.) and junior Christine Milliken (Traverse City, Mich.) is a perfect 2-0 when partnered together ... The doubles pairing of freshman Elena Ivanova (Moscow, Russia) and senior Stephanie Kebler (Johannesburg, South Africa) is 2-1 on the season, seeing action at No. 2 doubles ... As a team, Michigan State has a 39-35 singles record in dual play, and is 21-16 in doubles ... The team has won the doubles point in eight of its 13 matches this season, including all six of its wins ... The Spartans are 6-3 against regional opponents this season ... The team is 5-2 while at home this season, with both losses coming against ranked opponents, No. 54 Marshall and No. 1 Northwestern.
| Men's Tennis |
Roster | Schedule
This Week: The Spartans will travel to California where they will first face off against Santa Clara on March 11 at 3 p.m. ... The Spartans will then take on California the following day in Berkeley with play beginning at 1:30 p.m. MSU wraps up its spring break trip on March 13 against No. 18 Tulsa, with the match starting at 12 p.m. ... The Spartans will also take part in a community service initiative as the team will play tennis with inmates at San Quentin State prison in California on Saturday, March 7 ... The initiative was recently featured on ESPN's "Outside the Lines" and was started in 2000 by current head of recreation at San Quentin, Don DeNevi.
Notes: Senior John Allare picked up two wins in singles play over Illinois State and IUPUI to improve his overall record to 9-2; he is 4-2 at the No. 1 position and 5-0 at No. 2 ... The doubles team of Allare and junior Jason Norville improved to 9-0 in dual play after picking up a win over Illinois State on Feb. 28 ... Freshman Austin Brooks is 8-2 on the season in singles play ... Senior Alex Forger improved to 7-2 overall in singles play; he holds a 5-1 record at the No. 1 position and is 2-1 at No. 2 ... Freshman Ronnie Hulewicz picked up wins over Illinois State and IUPUI to improve to 10-1 on the season in singles play ... Junior Brendan Kinkopf now stands at 4-0 after posting a win over IUPUI at No. 6 singles, while senior Scott Rasmussen improved to 8-3 playing primarily at No. 3 and 4 singles ... The Spartans have taken the doubles point in 10 of their 12 matches so far this season ... On the road the team is 2-0 and 9-1 in action at home with the only loss coming from No. 25 Notre Dame.
| Rowing |
Roster | Schedule
This Week: The Spartans will open their spring schedule in Oak Ridge, Tenn. as they will take on crews from Virginia, Notre Dame and Boston University ... MSU is the defending Big Ten Champion.
Players Mentioned
