Spartan Sports Roundup
4/14/2009 12:00:00 AM | General
April 14, 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.
 | Community Service |
This Week: Student-athletes will participate in a reading activity at Riley Elementary in St. Johns on Thursday. Student-athletes will also make an appearance at the Bennett Woods Elementary School Carnival on Friday. Heading into the weekend, MSU will have student-athletes at the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation Kick-Off in Eastwood Towne Center at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday. There are two outreach activities scheduled on Sunday, the Safe Place Run at 12:30 p.m. and Spartan Student-Athlete Prom, benefitting the Children's Miracle Network, Sunday night.
| Baseball |
Roster | Schedule
Last Week: The Spartans dropped the weekend series at Ohio State, falling, 6-1 on Friday, 5-3 on Saturday and 6-1 on Sunday. MSU also lost to Western Michigan, 5-4, on Wednesday in Kalamazoo, Mich.
This Week: MSU hosts Western Michigan on Wednesday (April 15) before taking on the Lansing Lugnuts in the third-annual Crosstown Showdown on Thursday (April 16). The Spartans will then take on Michigan in the weekend series, hosting the games on Friday and Sunday at McLane Baseball Stadium. Saturday's game will be played in Ann Arbor.
Notes: The Spartans scored their most runs since 2007 in a 20-3 win over Central Michigan on April 1 at Olds Park and then swept Northwestern in their Big Ten home-opening series at McLane Baseball Stadium ... In the inaugural game at McLane Baseball Stadium on April 4, senior Nolan Moody threw the school's first no-hitter in more than 16 years in the Spartans' 2-0 win over Northwestern ... Moody's no-hitter was the first since Dan Garman recorded a no-no vs. Purdue on March 28, 1993, and it was the first no-hitter by a pitcher in the Big Ten since 2006 ... The no-hitter earned Moody Big Ten Pitcher of the Week, NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week, Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's Louisville Sluggers Top Performers List and the College Baseball Foundation's National All-Star Lineup ... The Spartans are a perfect 8-0 at home this season which is their best season start since 2004 when they began the season 12-0 at home ... Moody's 3.25 ERA sits in 10th place in the Big Ten ... Junior pitcher Kyle Corcoran leads the conference with four runners picked off ... Freshman Tony Bucciferro, who is 2-1 on the year, has 23 strikeouts and has issued just six walks in 32.1 innings of work ... MSU's 12 pickoffs this year leads the Big Ten and its 20 runners caught stealing is good for a tie for first in the conference ... Junior Eli Boike is tied for seventh in the conference with six home runs ... Boike has also drawn the fifth-most walks in the Big Ten, earning 21 free passes ... Sophomore Jeff Holm has stolen 11 bases this season, good for fifth place in the conference ... Sophomore reliever Kurt Wunderlich ranks second in the Big Ten with a 0.93 ERA in conference games.
| Softball |
Roster | Schedule
Last Week: Michigan State hosted Purdue in a doubleheader on Thursday, with the Boilermakers shutting out the Spartans, 12-0, in game one and posting an 8-3 win in the nightcap, completing the sweep. The Spartans then hosted Indiana for a two game series. The Hoosiers recorded a 3-1 win on Saturday and picked up a 5-2 extra-inning win on Sunday. Freshman Brett Williams recorded her first career home run in the second game against Purdue and continued her success against Indiana on Sunday, recording a career-high two RBI. Senior Megan Hair held the Hoosiers without a hit through the first four innings on Sunday, striking out a season-high six batters.
This Week: The Spartans host Central Michigan on Wednesday at Old College Field with the first pitch set for 4 p.m.
Notes: Four Spartans are hitting over .300, including Gina Mondo (.396), Lauren Kramer (.365), Kara Weigle (.354) and Kelly Confer (.303) ... Weigle has a team-high 113 at-bats, 40 hits and 11 doubles through the Spartans' 35 games ... Hansen leads the team in several categories including, runs (23), triples (3), home runs (10), RBI (23), total bases (73) and slugging percentage (.652) after starting all of MSU's games ... Kramer and Hair split most of the time in the circle for MSU, appearing in 25 games apiece ... Hair has pitched 90 innings for MSU, striking out 45, while Kramer has one more strikeout in 80.2 innings ... MSU is 38 of 43 in stolen base attempts this season as Mondo leads the team with nine steals ... Weigle has posted seven steals, Hansen has six and sophomore Karen Fox is 5-5 thus far in her attempts ... Three Spartans have started all 35 games, including Weigle, Hansen and freshman Ali Grant ... The Spartans have recorded 33 home runs through 35 games, the fourth highest number of home runs in a season ... MSU is now one homer short of tying last year's mark; the most home runs hit in a season was set in 2007 with 50 homers in 59 games ... Ten of MSU's 15 players have recorded at least one home run, and three Spartans (Gina Mondo, Kara Weigle and Lindsey Hansen) rank on MSU all-time career home runs list ... Hansen leads the team with 10 this season, while Mondo has five and Kramer has four ... The Spartans rank fifth in the Big Ten in batting average and several players are ranked in various categories; Weigle is second in doubles (11) and is third in sacrifice bunts (10) ... Hansen is tied for second in triples (3) and is tied for second in home runs (10) ... Mondo ranks third in the Big Ten in batting average (.396) while Kramer is seventh (.365) and Weigle is ninth (.354).
| Outdoor Track & Field |
Roster | Schedule
Last Week: The Spartans competed at the Joe Hilton Invitational in Chapel Hill, N.C., where they picked up seven event titles and qualified 10 student-athletes for the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships. Senior Kyle Strotbaum (Grand Rapids, Mich.) broke the school record in the hammer throw after tossing 58.42m (191-8), earning him top honors in the event, qualifying him for the regional championships.
This Week: MSU will head to a pair of meets, the Eastern Michigan Twilight and the Indiana Invitational. Both meets are two-day events, with competition scheduled for Friday and Saturday at both. The meet with Indiana is a scored meet, the second of the spring for MSU, and will feature Indiana, Indiana State and Southern Illinois.
Notes: In all, 10 student-athletes qualified for the regional championships at the Joe Hilton Invite, moving the team-total to 14 this season ... Sophomore Yury Ratomski (Novi, Mich.) qualified for the NCAA Regional Championships in the 200m dash; Ratomski posted a time of 21.31 in the event at the Joe Hilton Invite ... Three pole vaulters, Katie Shaw (Lakeview, Mich.), Ashley Smith (Ceresco, Mich.) and Logan Lynch (Lambertville, Mich.) all qualified for regionals at the Hilton; both Shaw and Smith cleared 3.85m (12-7 ½) while Lynch set a new personal-best vault of 5.05m (16-6 ¾) ... The Spartans qualified three distance runners for regionals on the women's side, two of which came in the 1,500m run ... Nicole Bush (Wyoming, Mich.) and Lisa Senakiewich (Davison, Mich.) qualified with their times in the 1,500m run at the Hilton while junior Leah Elenbaas (Greenville, Mich.) posted a time of 2:08.38 in the 800m run, qualifying her for regionals ... Both Shane Knoll (Warren, Mich.) and Ian Boyle (Pinckney, Mich.) posted regional qualifying times at the Hilton as well ... Both qualified for the men's 800m run, posting times of 1:49.78 and 1:50.22, respectively ... Two freshmen, Lonnie Pugh (Grosse Ile, Mich.) and Beth Rohl (New Buffalo, Mich.), have put up big marks in the discus throw ... Pugh has the men's top mark this season, posting a throw of 52.35m (171-9), just eight inches shy of a new school record ... Rohl's toss of 49.31m (161-9) at the Spartan Invite is also a team-best this season; she was competing unattached at the meet ... Both marks are personal-bests and Pugh's qualifies him for regional competition ... Shane Wells (Romulus, Mich.) has emerged as one the Spartans' top performers during the outdoor season as he has set regional qualifying marks in the 110m hurdles in two of three meets during the outdoor season ... Wells ran 14.28 at the USF Quad Meet and followed that with a 14.23 at the Spartan Invite.
| Men's Tennis |
Roster | Schedule
Last Week: Michigan State fell to No. 47 Michigan on Wednesday, 7-0, and then to Purdue on Saturday, 5-2. The Spartans stand at 12-11 in dual play and 0-8 in the Big Ten.
This Week: The Spartans will conclude the 2009 dual season at home this weekend, with Indiana on Saturday and Illinois on Sunday. Play begins at noon both days at the MSU Indoor Tennis Facility. The Spartans will honor their three seniors - John Allare (Maineville, Ohio), Alex Forger (Okemos, Mich.) and Scott Rasmussen (Moraga, Calif.) - during Senior Day festivities on Sunday.
Notes: Against Michigan, the doubles pairing of senior John Allare (Masonville, Ohio) and junior Jason Norville (Farmington Hills, Mich.) defeated the No. 51 tandem of Jason Jung and George Navaz, 8-6, at the No. 1 position ... The pair has posted wins over three nationally ranked doubles teams: Michigan, Iowa and Ohio State ... The duo improved to 12-7 on the season and 5-7 at the No. 1 position ... Allare and Norville hold a 7-0 mark at the No. 2 doubles position as well... Freshman Ronnie Hulewicz (Tequesta, Fla.) and senior Alex Forger (Okemos, Mich.) picked up the two points for the Spartans against Purdue ... Hulewicz defeated Roberto Cabrini in dominating fashion, 6-1, 6-1, at No. 5 singles; he holds a team-best mark of 18-4 and 4-4 in conference play, winning seven of his last 10 matches ... Forger picked up a win over Branko Kuzmanovic, 6-4, 6-2, at the No. 2 position, marking his ninth win in singles and fourth at the No. 2 spot ... Michigan State has picked up the doubles point 12 times this season, most recently against Iowa ... They are 12-11 in dual play with 11 of those wins coming at home and one on the road ... Nine of the 10 teams that MSU has fallen to are all nationally ranked - No. 25 Notre Dame, No. 29 Tulsa, No. 60 California, No. 37 Minnesota, No. 26 Wisconsin, No. 58 Northwestern, No. 5 Ohio State, No. 51 Penn State and No. 47 Michigan ... MSU has had four losses at home, all to nationally-ranked opponents - No. 25 Notre Dame, No. 5 Ohio State, No. 51 Penn State and No. 47 Michigan.
| Rowing |
Roster | Schedule
Last Week: No. 5 MSU defeated both No. 9 Wisconsin and No. 21 Iowa at the Big Ten Double Dual. In the morning session, MSU topped the Badgers, 39-30, after winning both varsity eight races. MSU continued its strong showing in the afternoon session, taking five of six races from Iowa en-route to the 44-25 win.
This Week: MSU will travel to Columbus, Ohio, for a meet with the Buckeyes and crews from Oregon State, Washington and Bucknell at Griggs Reservoir. Each team, with the exception of Bucknell, ranks in the nation's top 15. Bucknell sits just outside of the top-20, receiving two votes in the poll, ranking 25th.
Notes: Both varsity eight boats have not lost a race this spring, coming with a combined 10 wins ... The Spartans beat their first top-10 varsity eight boat in Wisconsin at the Big Ten Double Dual ... The varsity four boat posted a season-best time of 7:33.39 against Iowa at the Big Ten Double Dual, topping the Hawkeyes by nearly 21 seconds ... The varsity eight's best time of the season came at the Dale England Cup, when they clocked in at 6:40.80 in the first session, helping MSU take home the event title ... The second varsity eight clocked in its best time of the season at the Big Ten Double Dual, clocking in at 6:45.41 against Iowa ... The Spartans are ranked No. 5 in the nation and are the second-highest ranked team in the Big Ten; four other Big Ten teams, Michigan (4), Wisconsin (9), Ohio State (12) and Minnesota (18), rank in the top 20 this season ... The MSU rowing program has qualified for the NCAA National Regatta in 10 of the last 11 seasons and will look to make it 11 of 12 this season ... MSU tied its best finish ever last season, finishing sixth overall at the National Regatta ... MSU is also the defending Big Ten Champion.
| Women's Tennis |
Roster | Schedule
Last Week: The Michigan State women's tennis team fell, 4-3, to Purdue in the Spartans' final home match of the season. Extending her current singles winning streak to seven matches was freshman Dana Guentert (Lilburn, Ga.), who defeated Anna Dushkina, 6-4, 6-4. The Spartans finish the season with a 6-5 record at home.
This Week: The Spartans will return to action next weekend for matches against Illinois and Indiana on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Both matches are slated to begin at 11 a.m.
Notes: Sophomore Whitney Wilson (Evansville, Ind.) leads the Spartans with a 19-14 singles record on the season ... Freshman Dana Guentert (Lilburn, Ga.) is 8-2 in her last 10 completed matches, winning her last seven; she is now 18-6 on the season ... Guentert is second on the team in wins with 18 on the season and her .833 winning percentage is a team-best ... The doubles tandem of Stephanie Kebler (Okemos, Mich.) and Elena Ivanova (Moscow, Russia) is 7-3 in its last 10 matches, the best of any doubles pairing in that span ... The tandem of Kebler and junior Christine Milliken (Traverse City, Mich.) is a perfect 2-0 when partnered together ... The doubles pairing of Ivanova and senior Ana Milosavljevic (Johannesburg, South Africa) is 3-0 on the season when seeing action at No. 2 doubles ... The team has won the doubles point in 12 matches this season ... MSU has a .600 win percentage in both the No. 1 doubles and the No. 5 singles spots this season, the best of any of the nine positions.
| Women's Golf |
Roster | Schedule
Last Week: The Spartans did not compete.
This Week: MSU travels to Columbus, Ohio, Friday-Sunday for the Lady Buckeye Invitational. Live scoring of the tournament will be available at www.golfstat.com.
Notes: MSU enters the week ranked No. 21 in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings ... The Lady Buckeye Invitational is the final tuneup for the Spartans before the Big Ten Championships, April 24-26 in West Lafayette, Ind. ... Laura Kueny's scoring average of 74.00 is currently on pace to set the MSU single-season record ... Sara Brown set the record last season with a 74.09 average ... Kueny is ranked 18th in the country in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings.
| Men's Golf |
Roster | Schedule
Last Week: The Spartans did not compete.
This Week: The Spartans will compete in the Purdue Intercollegiate on Saturday and Sunday at the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex in West Lafayette, Ind. Live scoring will be available at Golfstat.com
Notes: MSU is ranked No. 28 in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin rankings, led by the play of junior Jack Newman ... Newman, who became the first Spartan to compete in the Masters last week, is ranked 34th in the Golfweek/Sagarin individual rankings ... MSU hosts the Fossum/Spartan Invitational next weekend (April 25-26) at Forest Akers Golf Course.
Players Mentioned
