Spartan Sports Roundup
4/28/2009 12:00:00 AM | General
April 28, 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: After dropping a mid-week contest to Central Michigan, 7-6, the Spartans scored 44 runs in three games to earn a weekend sweep at Iowa. MSU defeated Iowa 15-10 on Friday, 15-4 on Saturday and 14-5 on Sunday.
This Week: MSU will host Eastern Michigan for a doubleheader on Wednesday, April 29, before hosting Big Ten rival Penn State in a weekend series. Wednesday's games against EMU, both seven-inning games, are set for 2:05 and 4:30. Friday's game against Penn State will begin at 3:05, while Saturday and Sunday's games are set for 1:05. MSU will dedicate the brand new McLane Baseball Stadium on Saturday's game with Penn State. The ceremony is slated to begin 11:55 a.m.
Notes: With the weekend sweep at Iowa, the Spartans reached double digits in the runs column in three consecutive games for the first time since 2006 ... Senior catcher Eric Roof finished the weekend series at Iowa with two home runs and 10 RBI after hitting a grand slam with five RBI in April 26's 14-5 win ... Junior Chris Roberts set a career high and a team season high with six RBI, going 5-for-6 in the Spartans' 15-4 win over Iowa on April 25 ... After three innings of scoreless relief against Iowa on April 24, senior A.J. Dunn has not given up a run in his past four appearances, allowing just four hits, one walk while striking out six over 9.1 innings ... MSU earned its first win over Michigan since 2004 and its first series win over the Wolverines since 2002, taking two of three over the weekend of April 17 ... Freshman Tony Bucciferro struck out a team season-high nine hitters in seven innings of work against Western Michigan on April 15 ... 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 10-1 at home this season, their best season start since 2004 when they began the season 12-0 at home ... Bucciferro (fifth, 2.77) and sophomore A.J. Achter (10th, 3.51) are among the top 10 in the Big Ten in ERA ... Junior pitcher Kyle Corcoran sits in second in the conference with four runners picked off ... Bucciferro, who is 4-1 on the year, has 37 strikeouts and has issued just seven walks in 48.2 innings of work ... Achter is also among the league's top 10 in opposing batting average, sitting in fifth place with a .233 mark ... Peter Wolff's four saves this season are good for a tie for fourth in the Big Ten ... MSU's 13 pickoffs this year leads the Big Ten and its 23 runners caught stealing is good for a tie at second in the conference ... Junior Eli Boike is tied for 10th in the conference with seven home runs ... Boike has also drawn the fifth-most walks in the Big Ten, earning 28 free passes ... Sophomore Jeff Holm has stolen 14 bases this season, good for a tie for fifth place in the conference ... Sophomore reliever Kurt Wunderlich ranks second in the Big Ten with a 0.93 ERA in conference games, allowing just three runs in 19.1 innings.
| Softball |
Roster | Schedule
Last Week: Michigan State dropped both games of a doubleheader with Northwestern last Wednesday. The Wildcats posted a 9-1 win in game one and an 11-2 victory in the nightcap. Sophomore Lindsey Hansen (Valparaiso, Fla.) hit a solo home run in the first game and freshman Lauren Kramer (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) went 2-for-3 at the plate with an RBI in the second game.
This Week: Michigan State posted a 4-1 record beginning the week with an 8-0 win over Bowling Green. The Spartans then split a doubleheader with Oakland, winning 5-1 and falling 4-3 in eight innings. MSU wrapped up the week with a doubleheader sweep of Big Ten foe Minnesota, posting shutouts - 1-0, 3-0 - in both games.
Notes: Freshman Lauren Kramer recorded the decision in all five games last week, posting a 0.25 ERA while allowing just one run ... Kramer struck out 35 through 28.1 innings of work, and walked just three batters ... To begin the week, Kramer led the Spartans in a win over Bowling Green to record her first career shutout and through the first three games of the week, Kramer did not allow a walk ... She then led MSU to its first Big Ten win with a 1-0 victory over Minnesota; in seven innings, she tied her career-high with nine strikeouts ... She continued her streak, pitching the complete game in a 3-0 win over the Golden Gophers in the second game; she allowed just four hits and struck out seven in her second shutout of the season and second of the week ... MSU recorded three home runs in the game against Bowling Green, with freshman Ali Grant's solo homer in the fifth inning sealing the victory ... Sophomore Jessica Bracamonte hit a solo home run in the eighth inning of the first game against Minnesota to lead the Spartans, while sophomore Lindsey Hansen batted in a run in game two, as did senior Gina Mondo with her fourth home run of the season ... Three Spartans are hitting over .300, including Mondo (.398), Kramer (.351) and Weigle (.331) ... Weigle has a team-high 142 at-bats, 47 hits and 13 doubles through the Spartans 43 games ... Hansen leads the team in several categories including runs (27), triples (3), home runs (10), RBI (28) and total bases (82) ... Mondo returned to the lineup against Oakland for the first time since April 1 ... She leads the team with a .680 slugging percentage and nine stolen bases ... Kramer leads the pitching staff with 32 appearances, including 15 starts ... She has struck out 95 batters through 119.2 innings ... MSU is 41-for-50 in stolen base attempts this season, and Mondo (9) leads the team while Hansen (8), Weigle (7) sophomore Karen Fox (5) are right behind ... Three Spartans have started all 43 games including Weigle, Hansen and freshman Ali Grant ... The Spartans have recorded 40 home runs through 43 games, the second highest number of home runs in a season; the most home runs hit in a season was set in 2007 with 50 homers in 59 games ... To date, 10 of the 12 Spartans that have entered the batter's box this season have hit two or more home runs ... Three Spartans (Mondo, Wiegle and Hansen) rank on MSU all-time home runs list ... Hansen leads the team with 10 this season while Mondo has six ... The Spartans rank sixth in the Big Ten in batting average and several players are ranked in various categories ... Weigle is third in doubles (11) and is fifth in sacrifice bunts (10) ... Hansen is tied for second in triples (3) and is fifth in home runs (10) ... Mondo ranks fifth in the Big Ten in batting average (.396) and Kramer is eighth (.356).
| Outdoor Track & Field |
Roster | Schedule
Last Week: The Spartans competed at a pair of meets, the Hillsdale College Gina Relays and the 100th running of the Drake Relays over the weekend. No team scores were kept at either meet.
This Week: The Spartans will head to Columbus, Ohio for the Jesse Owens Classic, hosted by Ohio State. The two day event begins on Friday. Saturday's finals will air on the Big Ten Network on Sunday, May 10 at 4 p.m.
Notes: Freshman Cliff Miller placed sixth in the decathlon, the best finish by an underclassmen in the event at the Drake Relays ... Miller broke Paul Terek's MSU freshman record after posting 6,865 in his first collegiate decathlon ... Three other Spartans - Logan Lynch, Katie Shaw and Shane Wells - set personal-bests and regional qualifying marks in their events ... Lynch posted a mark of 5.20m (17-0 ¼) in the pole vault while Shaw vaulted 4.00m (13-1 ½) ... Wells ran 13.91 in the 110m hurdles, a career-best en-route to his fifth-place finish; the time is his third regional qualifying mark this season ... In all, MSU has qualified 17 student-athletes for NCAA regional competition in 20 different events during the outdoor season, with many coming in their past three weekends ... Nicole Bush leads the way for the Spartans, qualifying for regionals in three different events - the 1,500m run, the 3,000m steeplechase and the 5,000m run ... Senior Jeremy Orr made his outdoor debut at Indiana where he posted a regional qualifying time of 46.78 in the 400m dash; that time currently ranks second in the Big Ten ... Brad Wentzel has posted regional qualifying marks in two events, the shot put and discus; his mark of 53.06m (174-1) in the discus ranks fifth in the Big Ten ... Sophomore Yury Ratomski qualified for the NCAA Regional Championships in the 200m dash after running 21.31 in the event at the Joe Hilton Invite; his time ranks second in the conference ... Ashley Smith joins Shaw as a regional qualifier in the women's pole vault having posted a mark of 3.85m (12-7 ½) this season.... Lisa Senakiewich has posted regional qualifying times in the 1,500m run at back-to-back meets, highlighted by a season-best time of 4:23.23 at the Indiana Invite; Senakiewich's time ranks her fifth in the conference, just behind Bush who ranks fourth ... Junior Leah Elenbaas posted a time of 2:08.38 in the 800m run at the Joe Hilton Invite, qualifying her for regionals ... Both Shane Knoll and Ian Boyle posted regional qualifying times at the Hilton as well; Knoll tallied a 1:49.78 while Boyle posted a time of 1:50.22 ... Knoll improved his time at Indiana after finishing in 1:49.62, which currently ranks second in the Big Ten ... Senior Sarah Price qualified in the 3,000m steeplechase with a time of 10:30.12, ranking fifth in the Big Ten ... Two additional throwers, Ashley Lawrence and Anthony Agrusa have also qualified ... Lawrence posted a season-best toss of 14.52m (47-7 ¾) in the women's shot put at Indiana, qualifying her for regionals ... Agrusa set his mark in the hammer, turning in a throw of 56.89m (186-8) ... Joining Agrusa in the hammer at regionals will be senior Kyle Strotbaum, who qualified with his toss 58.42m (191-8) at the Joe Hilton Invite; his toss shattered the school record in the event ... Freshman Lonnie Pugh also set a record for the throwers, qualifying him for regionals in the discus; Pugh tossed 56.33 (184-10) at the Indiana Invite, a mark that ranks him first in the Big Ten.
| Rowing |
Roster | Schedule
This Week: MSU heads to the Big Ten Championships on May 2. The event will be hosted by Ohio State on Griggs Reservoir.
Notes: MSU's varsity eight boat has posted an undefeated regular season record, marking the first time in program history that the crew will head into to the Big Ten Championships with a perfect record ... The varsity eight won all eight of its races by open water during the regular season ... The varsity eight clocked a season-best time of 6:37.10 against Oregon State this past weekend ... In all, the three NCAA boats - the varsity eight, the second varsity eight and the varsity four - have combined to win 17 or their 21 races during the regular season ... The Spartans beat their first top-10 varsity eight boat in Wisconsin at the Big Ten Double Dual, posting a time of 6:43.66 ... 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 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 ... MSU tied its best finish ever last season, finishing sixth overall at the National Regatta ... MSU is also the defending Big Ten Champion ... Former Spartan All-American Kate Burdick will provide color analysis for the Big Ten Championships on the Big Ten Network's coverage of the event ... Laura Cowal, last year's Big Ten Freshman of the Year, will also be featured in the broadcast, providing fans with an inside look at Spartan rowing.
| Men's Golf |
Roster | Schedule
Last Week: The Spartans won the 41st Fossum Invitational last weekend at Forest Akers West ... MSU topped the field by 33 shots with a six-under par 714 (289-286-139) in the weather-shortened event ... Spartans occupied the top-three individual spots, led by Payne Gniewek's medalist finish ... Gniewek won his second tournament of the season with a three-under par 177 (69-71-37) ... Juniors Jack Newman (two-under 178) and Andrew Ladwig (one0under 179) placed second and third, respectively.
This Week: The Spartans travel to State College, Pa. for the 2009 Big Ten Championship ... MSU looks for its third-straight title at the Penn State Blue Course.
| Women's Golf |
Roster | Schedule
Last Week: The Michigan State women's golf team took second place at the 2009 Big Ten Championships, which concluded last Sunday at Purdue University's Kampen Course. Junior Laura Kueny, who tied for fourth with a 19-over 307 (76-78-78-75), was named first-team All-Big Ten for the second year in a row following the tournament, while sophomore Aimee Neff and freshman Lindsey Solberg were named to the second team. MSU has now placed in the top three at the Big Ten Championships the past six years.
This Week: The Spartans earned a berth in the NCAA Central Regional, the NCAA Division I Women's Golf Committee announced Monday afternoon. MSU will head to Ohio State University, host of the Central Regional, May 7-9 to play at the Scarlet Course. This marks the 11th consecutive year MSU has made postseason action.
Notes: Featuring one of the youngest lineups in the Big Ten with two freshmen, three sophomores and a junior, the Spartans posted their best score of the Big Ten Championships in Sunday's final round, shooting a 301 to finish at 1246 (316-313-316-301)...Eleventh-ranked and host Purdue won the championship with a team score of 1209 (309-300-300-300)...Kueny leads the team with a 74.24 stroke average and is ranked 17th nationally...Playing in her first Big Ten Championships, freshman Shannon Warner made an impressive debut, finishing in eighth place with a 21-over 309 (79-80-76-74).
Players Mentioned
