Michigan State University Athletics
Baseball Heads to Columbus For Big Ten Tournament
5/18/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 18, 2009
2009 Big Ten Tournament
No. 5 Michigan State (23-29, 13-11) vs. No. 4 Illinois (33-18, 16-8)
Huntington Park • Columbus, Ohio
Wednesday, May 20, 12:05 p.m.
Sr. RHP Nolan Moody (6-4, 4.04) vs. So. LHP Phil Haig (6-3, 4.90)
Pitching matchup probable and subject to change
Coverage
TV: Big Ten Network (Brian Barnhart, Danan Hughes, Shireen Saski)
GameTracker available at MSUSpartans.com
MSU Big Ten Tournament Preview
Spartans Making First Tournament Appearance Since 2004
After posting a 13-11 finish in the Big Ten and placing fifth, Michigan State is making its first appearance in the Big Ten Tournament since 2004. It is the eighth appearance for MSU in the conference post-season tournament where it is 7-14 all-time.
MSU takes on fourth-seeded Illinois, who swept the Spartans in a three-game series earlier this season in Champaign, Ill.
The Spartans and Illini have faced each other just once in post-season play, as MSU downed Illinois, 4-2, in the 1992 conference tournament.
MSU in the Big Ten Tournament
Michigan State is 7-14 all-time in the Big Ten Tournament and is making its eighth appearance in the tourney. The Spartans last made the tournament in 2004 where they went 1-2. That season as a No. 4 seed, MSU lost its first-round game to Purdue, 6-5, and then edged Penn State, 8-7, to stay alive before being bounced from the tourney by Ohio State, 8-3.
Spartans - Illini, Round Four
Wednesday's game will mark the fourth meeting this season between the two teams as Illinois swept the three-game set earlier this season in Champaign, Ill., in the first Big Ten series of the season.
The Spartans entered the series with a season-long five-game winning streak but Illinois downed MSU, 10-3, in game one with the help of back-to-back three-run innings as Nolan Moody suffered the loss for the Spartans while Lee Zerrusen earned the win. Poor weather conditions forced the two teams to play a doubleheader on Sunday where, with temperatues in the low 30s and snow in the air, Illinois won a pair of closely-contested games, 3-2, and 3-0. A bases-loaded hit batter gave Illinois the win in game one while MSU managed just four hits in the game two loss.
Boss No Stranger To Tourney Success
Spartan head coach Jake Boss Jr. is making his second consecutive conference tournament appearance. Last season, as head coach at Eastern Michigan, Boss led the Eagles to the MAC Tournament title, going 4-0 and winning all four games by a combined 21 runs, and gave EMU a berth in the NCAA Regional. EMU entered the tournament as MAC West Division Champions after winning 25 of its last 40 games.
Entering Wednesday's game with Illinois, Boss is in a similar position as last season as MSU has won 22 of its last 40 games with eight losses by two runs or less over that stretch.
Roof Leads By Example
Senior tri-captain Eric Roof currently leads MSU at the plate this season - posting team-leading numbers in several offensive categories, including: batting average (.339), RBIs (37), hits (65), doubles (13) and total bases (97).
Roof, who has started every game this season, hasn't once gone without a hit in consecutive games and enters Wednesday's game with a five-game hitting streak and has recorded a hit 23 of his last 26 games. His 20 mulitple-hit games are tied with Eli Boike for the most on the team this season. His best game at the plate came in MSU's 20-3 win over Central Michigan on April 1 where he went 5-for-5 with four RBIs and was a double away from hitting for the cycle.
Hoping For Another Streak
MSU downed Indiana, 7-3, in its final game of season on Saturday (May 16) to put the skids on a five-game losing streak. The Spartans are hoping Saturday's win will spark a new winning streak as three times this season MSU has followed a losing streak of at least three games with victory runs of five, four and three games.
Overall this season, MSU has had three, four-game winning streaks to go along with a three and season-long five-game victory run.
It Takes Two
With 53 double plays this season, MSU ranks in a tie with Illinois for third most in the conference. The Spartans turned a season-high four twin killings in their 8-7, extra-innings win over Michigan on April 17. MSU has turned three double plays in three other games this season (4/25 vs. Iowa, 4/26 vs. Iowa and 5/14 vs. Indiana).
No Strangers to Big League Parks
Huntington Park will be the fourth minor league ballpark the Spartans will have played in this season. MSU played four games at Jackie Robinson Ballpark in Daytona Beach, Fla. (Daytona Cubs), four games at Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C. (Greenville Drive) and five games at their second home, Oldsmobile Park in Lansing (Lansing Lugnuts).
Sophomores Swinging It
Sophomores Jeff Holm and Jonathan Roof have both come alive offensively for MSU over the last part of the season. Holm, MSU's starting first baseman, has picked up a hit in 16 of his last 17 games and 16 RBIs over that time. Roof has started all 52 games at shortstop this season and has a hit in 12 of his last 14 games.
Inside the Numbers - Pitching
The Spartan pitching staff ranks third in the conference in ERA at 4.97 and fourth in opposing batting average at .289, however, those numbers both dropped for MSU during conference play this year. The Spartan staff ended the year the with second-lowest team ERA in conference games at 4.34 and had the fourth-lowest opponent batting average at .273.
A.J. Achter ranked sixth in the league in conference games with a 3.61 ERA while Tony Bucciferro posted a 3.95 ERA, which was eighth-best in Big Ten games.
Booch Rolls
Freshman Tony Bucciferro improved to 5-2 on the year after tying a career-high with nine Ks and issued no walks in 7.1 innings of work in MSU's 7-3 win over Indiana on Saturday (May 16). Bucciferro began the season as one of the Spartans' mid-week starters but has started the final game of the last four Big Ten series where he has gone 2-1.
Bucciferro leads the team with 59 strike outs this season and has just 10 walks.
Spartans Suffer Injuries
Injuries have taken their toll on the Spartans this season as six players are currently out of the lineup for the remainder of the year. Curtis Fisher, Andrew Webb and Jared Hook have been out all season while third baseman Andrew Carpenter, pitcher Cody Huge and catcher Andy Johnson combined to play in 17 games early this season before injuries forced them out for the rest of the season.
Streak Ends
MSU's 9-8 loss to Purdue on Sunday (May 10) ended the Spartans' seven-game conference winning streak. The streak matched the 2004 squad's seven-game win streak and is the second longest Big Ten winning streak in school history; topped only by the 1968 team that won 12 in a row.
Friendly Confines
The Spartans finished their home slate 15-4, giving them their most wins at home since the 2004 team won 21 games. MSU started the season a perfect 10-0 at home, its best since 2004 when it went 12-0 to start the year.
Academic Honors
Senior pitcher Nolan Moody and junior outfielder Eli Boike were each named ESPN The Magazine CoSIDA Academic All-District IV second team. It is the first honor for each. Moody is a general business/pre-law major and is 6-4 in his first season as a starting pitcher for the Green and White. Boike is a supply chain management major with a 3.49 GPA and has been one of the Spartans' most productive offensive players this season, leading the team in home runs and on-base percentage.
