Michigan State University Athletics
Spartans Face Maryland in Big Ten Tournament First Round
5/18/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
| No. 4 Seed Maryland (36-20, 14-10 B1G) vs. No. 5 Seed Michigan State (33-21, 14-10 B1G) | |
| Date, Time | Wednesday, May 20 - 10 p.m. ET |
| Location | Minneapolis, Minn. | Target Field |
| Tournament Bracket | 2015 B1G Tournament Bracket |
| Game Notes | Michigan State | B1G |
| Probable Pitching Matchup | LHP Cam Vieaux (4-6, 3.64 ERA) vs. RHP Mike Shawaryn (11-2, 1.68 ERA) |
| TV | BTN |
| Coverage | Watch on BTN2Go | | Listen - Spartan Sports Network |
Entering the Tournament...
• The Spartans are making their second straight Big Ten Tournament appearance, 12th overall and fifth under head coach Jake Boss.
• MSU is 13-22 all-time in the Big Ten Tournament and 6-8 under Coach Boss ... As a No. 5 seed the Spartans are 2-4 all-time.
• MSU has reached the 30-win plateau for the sixth straight season with a 33-21 overall record ... Five of the 11 winningest seasons in program history have come under Jake Boss.
• Wednesday's game will be the first-ever meeting between Maryland and Michigan State.
• The Spartans are No. 48 in the most recent NCAA RPI, released on Monday.
• The Spartans continue to rank as one of the Big Ten's top offensive teams, ranking third in batting average (.291), second in slugging percentage (.426), fourth in runs scored (311), third in hits (537) and third in home runs (43).
• The Spartans' totals in runs, hits, doubles (96) and home runs are their best since 2012.
• The Spartan offense was even more potent in Big Ten play, posting a .306 team batting average, which ranked second ... The Spartans ranked in the top five in the league in Big Ten games in hits (259, first), slugging percentage (.457, second), on-base percentage (.372, fourth), runs scored (143, third), doubles (48, second) and home runs (24, third).
• Michigan State is 21-8 since the beginning of April and has lost back-to-back games only twice over the span ... The Spartans are hitting .313 over the stretch, averaging 11.1 hits and 6.9 runs per game.
• Spartan pitchers have combined for 390 strikeouts, which ranks fifth in the Big Ten and are tied for the most by an MSU staff in program history.
• Michigan State's 43 home runs are the 11th most in program history and the most since the 2005 team hit 44.
• Ryan Krill enters Thursday's game with a career-high 19-game hitting streak ... The streak is the longest by a Spartan since Ryan Jones' school-record 33-game hitting streak in 2011 ... A hit in Wednesday's game would make him just the fifth player in MSU history to have a hitting streak of 20 or more games.
• The Spartan bullpen has a 1.54 ERA over the last 11 games (since April 29) ... Spartan relievers have combined to allow just seven earned runs and 28 hits over the 41.0-inning span while racking up 37 strikeouts and 11 walks ... The bullpen is holding opponents to a .197 batting average over the 11-game stretch.
• The Spartans are outscoring opponents by a combined margin of 108-63 over the seventh, eighth and ninth innings, including 43-20 in the seventh inning and 46-18 in the eighth inning ... MSU did not allow a run in the seventh, eighth or ninth innings in its final regular season series at Minnesota.
• The Spartans are 31-13 this season when committing no more than one error.
Player Notes
• The Spartans' leading hitter is senior Ryan Krill, who ranks third in the Big Ten in batting average (.363) and second in RBIs (53), slugging percentage (.627) and home runs (12) ... In Big Ten games, Krill leads the league in nearly every category, including: batting average (.451), slugging percentage (.857), on-base percentage (.545), RBIs (36) and home runs (10).
• Krill brings a season-high and team-long 19-game hitting streak into Wednesday's game ... Krill has a .436 batting average and 23 RBIs over the streak.
• Cam Gibson's 52 runs scored are fourth most in the Big Ten ... His 52 runs scored are the most by a Spartan since Ryan Jones had the same amount in 2012.
• Mark Weist leads MSU with 22 multi-hit games ... He has been held without a hit in just 10 of the Spartans' 54 games this season ... He is currently on a seven-game hitting streak and has at least one hit in 24 of the last 27 games.
• Weist's .335 batting average ranks 10th in the Big Ten and his 17 doubles lead the team and rank fourth in the conference.
• For the first time since 2012, the Spartans have five players with at least 30 RBIs: Krill (53), Blaise Salter (38), Weist (36), Cam Gibson (31) and Chad Roskelly (30).
• Freshman Brandon Hughes has seen the most action of any freshman this season, starting 52 games in the outfield and making seven appearances on the mound ... He has a .272 batting average, 27 RBIs and six home runs, while on the mound he has a 7.11 ERA.
• Reliever Anthony Misiewicz has the third-lowest opponent batting average in the Big Ten at .207.
• Walter Borkovich has a team-high 28 appearances out of the bullpen this season, which ranks fourth in the Big Ten and are the fourth most in a season by Spartan pitcher - two shy of Jeff Kinley's school-record 30 in 2014.
• Cam Vieaux's team-leading 66 strikeouts rank eighth in the Big Ten.
Spartans Go 21-8 Since April 1
Michigan State has been one of the hottest teams in the conference since April 1, posting a 21-8 record over the span. The Spartans have lost back-to-back games just twice during the stretch and won at least four straight on four occasions, including a season-long six-game winning streak from April 26 - May 2. Thirteen of the 21 wins have been by three or more runs as they have outscored opponents by a combined total of 200-127.
Offensively, the Spartans improved their batting average by .027 to .291, which ranks second in the Big Ten. MSU has had 61 of its 96 total doubles and 31 of its 43 total home runs over the 29-game span.
Four starters are hitting .314 or higher since April 1, including Ryan Krill (.433), Anthony Cheky (.400), Mark Weist (.342) and Cam Gibson (.314). Krill leads the team with 38 RBIs over the span.
Krill's Career Year
Ryan Krill is having his best season in the Green and White and brings a season-high .363 batting average and career-long 19-game hitting streak into the tournament. He has at least one hit in 29 of the last 32 games, raising his average by .150.
His team-high 53 RBIs are tied for the 10th most by a Spartan in a single season and are 25 more than his previous career high (28, 2012). He hit three home runs last weekend to bring his season total to 12 - one shy of cracking the MSU single-season top-10 list.
He was named Big Ten Player of the Week for the first time in his career after a 5-for-6, six-RBI performance in the series finale vs. Northwestern on April 12.
Seniors Rising
The eight-man senior class of Anthony Cheky, Jeff Kinley, Ryan Krill, Ryan Richardson, Blaise Salter, Chase Toth, Mick VanVossen and Mark Weist has combined to appear in 1,020 career games. The class has been a part of 134 wins over four seasons, which is the third most by a senior class in school history, and helped lead the Spartans to the 2012 NCAA Tournament.
Offensively this season, the class has combined for 57% of the team's hits and 60% of the total RBIs. On the mound, Kinley and VanVossen have combined for eight wins and 120.1 innings pitched.
The National Picture
Michigan State has played 11 games against ranked teams this season and 16 vs. teams currently in the NCAA RPI top 50. The Spartans are 7-9 against the RPI top 50, picking up wins over Illinois (10) Coastal Carolina (20), Ohio State (31) Notre Dame (35), Southeastern Louisiana (42) and two vs. Indiana (34). The Spartans' RPI is currently No. 48.
Here's a look at how the Spartans fared against ranked teams: swept then-No. 23 Oregon (April 3-4), fell to Oregon State in 10 innings, 4-3, (Feb. 14); lost three games to consensus top-10 UCLA (Feb. 27-Mar. 1); defeated Coastal Carolina, 6-5, (March 8) and went 1-2 vs. Illinois (March 28-30).
Mockbee Leading the `Pen
Sophomore Joe Mockbee has been one of the team's go-to arms out of the bullpen this season. He has the team's best ERA at 1.79 and has thrown the most innings of any full-time Spartan reliever with 45.1. He is 5-2 and picked up his first-career save in the second game of a doubleheader sweep at Indiana, getting the final two outs of a 3-2 win.
Mockbee had his best performance of the season in the series opener at Oregon (April 3). The lefty struck out a career-high nine batters and held the Ducks hitless in 4.2 innings of work to earn the win in the Spartans' 2-1 11-inning victory. Mockbee also has wins over Clemson (3.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K) and at Ohio State (3.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K).
Weist Taking Advantage
Senior Mark Weist, who sat out last season after transferring to Michigan State from Spring Arbor University (NAIA), has been the Spartans' most consistent hitter this season. Weist, who has started every game at third base, ranks second in batting average (.335) and leads the team in hits (73) and doubles (17). Weist has at least one hit in 44 of 54 games this season and has gone hitless in consecutive games just twice (last: Feb. 27-28 at UCLA). His 22 multi-hit games lead the team.
Freshmen Doing it on Both Sides
The Spartans have a pair of true freshmen in Brandon Hughes and Alex Troop that have seen action both at the plate and on the mound this season.
Hughes has started 52 games in the outfield and currently has a .270 batting average; his 27 RBIs are the seventh most on the team and his six homers are tied for second. The native of Sterling Heights, Michigan, has at least a hit in 12 of the last 14 games. On the mound, he has made seven appearances (6.1 IP) and has a 7.11 ERA.
Troop has made 25 appearances, including 14 starts in the outfield. He has a .231 batting average with five doubles. He has made seven starts on the mound, posting a 4-2 record and a 5.27 ERA. The Batavia, Illinois, native has pitched 42.2 innings in 13 total appearances.
