Michigan State University Athletics
Baseball Continues Spring Break Trip in Port Charlotte
3/7/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -The Michigan State baseball team continues its Spring Break trip this week with five games in Port Charlotte, Fla., as part of the Snow Bird Classic. The Classic will close out the Spartans' run of eight games in 10 days, starting with two midweek games vs. Illinois State on Tuesday and Florida Gulf Coast on Wednesday. The week will then wrap up with games against Butler on Friday, Saint Joseph's on Saturday and North Dakota State on Sunday.
MSU is off to a historical start to the season, as the 8-1 record is the best start in school history since the 1992. The Spartans are now chasing the 1971 team that started 10-1.
The trip started with Michigan State going 2-1 in the Cox Diamond Invitational. MSU allowed only two runs all weekend, both coming in a loss to Southern Miss. After the loss, the Spartans threw two consecutive shut outs in victories over Auburn and Troy.
Spartan Pitching Staff
After allowing just one earned run all weekend, the MSU pitching staff's ERA dropped to 1.58, the fourth lowest in the country. In 80 innings of work, Michigan State has allowed just 14 earned runs and in the last six games has allowed more than one earned run just once.
Opposing batters are hitting .199 with just 57 hits and 24 runs. All three are good for second in the conference.
Starting Strong
The MSU starting rotation is 4-1 with a combined 1.56 ERA.
Friday starter Cam Vieaux sports a 1.10 ERA, having allowed just two earned runs in 16.1 innings of work with 14 strikeouts and two walks. Vieaux returned to MSU for his junior season after being drafted by the Detroit Tigers following last season.
Saturday starter Ethan Landon is a transfer from Kansas State who picked up his first collegiate win last Sunday vs. Auburn. After allowing four earned runs in his first start of the season, Landon hasn't allowed one in his two starts since over the span of 11.2 innings.
Sunday starter Walter Borkovich leads the way for the rotation. The junior is 3-0 with a 0.93 ERA that ranks fourth in the Big Ten. Borkovich pitched 7.1 shutout innings against Troy in his last outing and has allowed just two earned runs in 19 innings of work on the season. Opposing hitters are batting .161 against him.
Lockdown Bullpen
If MSU held a lead in the late innings last season it meant good things, as the team went 23-2 when leading after six innings, 26-2 when leading through seven and 28-1 after eight.
The bullpen will attempt to replicate that success again this year and is off to a solid start. In 28.2 innings of work, they've given up just six earned runs, good for a 1.91 ERA. Spartan relievers are yet to give up more than one run in a game and have struck out 40 batters and issued just 10 walks.
Michigan State has only trailed in one game after the sixth inning and it came in a 2-0 loss at the hands of Southern Miss. The bullpen hasn't given up the lead yet this season.
Closer Joe Mockbee picked up his first two saves of the year last weekend. The junior didn't allow a hit in 2.2 innings and owns a 1.59 ERA on the season.
Dakota Mekkes has been the first option out of the bullpen for head coach Jake Boss Jr. and its showing why early on in the season. The walk-on junior has been lights out, striking out 18 batters in 10.1 innings while allowing just two hits. That converts to a 15.68 strikeouts per nine innings rate that ranks second in the nation.
His 0.87 ERA is the third best in the conference and he's holding opposing batters to a Big Ten-best .071 average.
Hot Bats Lead to Hot Start
A big part of the hot start has been the offensive output from the Spartan bats. MSU is second in the Big Ten in both batting average (.309) and slugging percentage (.454). The Spartans have scored 57 runs to average 6.3 runs per game and rank fourth in the conference.
MSU recorded double digit hits in four of its first six games that led to the first 6-0 start in school history since 1964. In seven of their nine games, the Spartans have recorded eight or more hits and have out hit their opponent in all eight wins.
MSU has outscored its opponents 57-24 this season.
Sensational Sophomores
Sophomores Alex Troop and Brandon Hughes highlight the young Spartan core. Troop and Hughes have both reached base safely in eight of nine games so far. Troop is fourth in the Big Ten in both slugging percentage (.688) and on-base percentage (.513), while also ranking in the top five in RBIs (5th) and walks (4th). His six doubles are tied for the 16th most in the country.
Hughes leads the team and is third in the Big Ten with 10 RBIs. He has had multiple RBIs in four games this season.
Troop has also had an impact on the mound. In all three Saturday games so far this season, Troop has entered the game in relief from first base or the DH spot. Twice he came on with runners in scoring position. Each time, he worked out of the jam and later went on to earn the win. With a 1.00 ERA, Troop has allowed one run in nine innings of work with 13 strikeouts to get to 2-0 on the year.
Immediate Impact from Zimmerman
Second basemen Jordan Zimmerman has made an immediate impact as a transfer from Mesa Community College. The junior does it all for the Spartans as he has started in all nine games and appears on the Big Ten leaderboard in several categories.
Zimmerman is second in the conference with 11 runs scored and fifth with six doubles. His six stolen bases are second in the conference and he leads a team that has swiped the most bags in the Big Ten. Zimmerman is also tied for fifthin the Big Ten with six doubles and is 12th in assists with 25.
New Look Spartans
The Michigan State roster consists of three seniors, eight juniors, 14 sophomores and nine freshmen. Highlighting the sophomore-heavy roster is 2015 All-Big Ten Freshmen team members OF Brandon Hughes, C Chad Roskelly and RHP Andrew Gonzalez.
After going 34-23 during the 2015 campaign and finishing tied for third in the Big Ten with a 14-10 mark in conference play, the 2016 Spartans are a new-look team. Spartan returners account for just 27% of the team's RBI total and 24% of the team's hit total in 2015 with Brandon Hughes being the only returning every day starter in centerfield.
Four underclassmen have started in every game for MSU. The group has combined for 31 runs and 28 RBIs while hitting .335.
Junior Matt Byars is another newcomer who has started in all nine games. The transfer from Heartland Community College has been solid behind the plate, picking off all four attempted base stealers this year. Byars is hitting .242 with six RBIs.
Two other starting spots are held down by transfers as well, with Zimmerman at second and Kris Simonton in right field. Simonton, a senior from Akron, is hitting .333 and has earned a start in six of the last seven games.
Taking Extra Bases
The Spartans have been producing runs by taking a base wherever they can get it. The team leads the Big Ten with 19 stolen bases so far in 2016, guided Jordan Zimmerman (6) and Brandon Hughes (5), who rank second and third in the Big Ten, respectively.
Extra base hits have also been a source of increased offense. MSU leads the Big Ten in triples with five, three of which have come from freshman shortstop Royce Ando, who leads the nation.
The Spartans are third in doubles with 21, with Troop atop the conference and ninth in the country with six.
Mockbee Moves to Closer
Junior Joe Mockbee will fill the role as the Spartans' closer to start the year. He looks to step in for Jeff Kinley, who graduated this past spring as the all-time saves leader at Michigan State with 20. Mockbee was the first arm out of the bullpen last year and was named the team's Most Valuable Pitcher.
The lefty posted a team-best 1.78 ERA, which was the lowest by a Spartan since Duane Bickel's 1.71 ERA in 1974. He also led the team in wins with a 6-2 record. His 25 appearances totaling 50.2 innings were tied for the second most on the team and he struck out 50 batters while walking just 17.
Mockbee earned wins in relief against Clemson, Ohio State, Oregon, Western Michigan, Rutgers and Nebraska. He recorded a season-high in innings pitched (4.2) and strikeouts (9) at Oregon. He had saves in victories over Indiana and Penn State.
Bechina B1G Freshman of the Week
Third baseman Marty Bechina was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week for the week of February 22. The Chicago, Ill., native hit .538 in his first weekend of collegiate baseball, going 7-for-13 with six runs and four RBIs.
In the season opener, Bechina went 3-for-5 and scored a run in each of the first three innings. His first hit in the Green and White was a three-run homer to tie the game in the second inning. He followed that up with a four-hit, three-run performance on Saturday and finished the weekend with a .923 slugging percentage and .600 on-base percentage.
He is the first MSU position player to be named Freshman of the Week since Jimmy Pickens in 2012.
Head Coach Jake Boss
In his eighth season as head coach, Jake Boss Jr. has led MSU to six straight 30-win seasons on top of winning his 200th game in the Green and White last season.
MSU had eight players drafted in the 2015 MLB Draft, the most in school history. The previous high for Spartans selected in one MLB Draft was five, which last happened in 2002.
B1G Predictions
The Big Ten Conference released its preseason poll based on coaches' votes and the Spartans were picked to finish sixth. Coming in ahead of the Spartans was Michigan, Maryland, Indiana, Iowa and Illinois. Michigan State tied for third in the Big Ten regular season standings in 2015, going 14-10 in conference play.
The Spartans' Players to Watch in the Big Ten includes pitchers Walter Borkovich and Cam Vieaux and second baseman Jordan Zimmerman. Borkovich tied the single-season school record with 30 appearances and posted a 2.73 ERA. Vieaux tallied a team-high 15 starts on the mound in 2015, pitching 90.1 innings and recording 71 strikeouts. Zimmerman joins the Spartans this season, after transferring from Mesa Community College.
Draft Prospects
Junior right-hander Walter Borkovich was picked as the 6th best prospect in the Big Ten by D-1 Baseball while Cam Vieaux was selected ninth. In addition to having prospects for the 2016 draft, sophomores Alex Troop (5th), Jake Lowery (9th) and Ethan Landon (10th) were listed as top prospect for the 2017 draft. Freshman infielder Marty Bechina was also ranked 8th on the list of Impact Freshman in the Big Ten.
Schedule Breakdown
The Spartans' 55-game slate will include 20 games against teams that played in last year's NCAA Tournament. Following its 17 games on the road to start the season, Michigan State will begin a nine-game homestand on March 23 against Central Michigan. Two days later, MSU will host Rutgers in its first Big Ten series of the season, March 25-27.
