Michigan State University Athletics
Baseball Hosts Toledo in Midweek Matchup
4/26/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
| Michigan State (27-10, 8-4 B1G) vs. Toledo (9-31-1, 4-8 MAC) | |
| Probable Pitching Matchup | MSU - LHP Keegan Baar (0-2, 2.92 ERA) vs. Toledo - TBD |
| Date, Time | Wednesday, April 27 - 3:05 p.m. |
| Location | East Lansing, Mich. | McLane Baseball Stadium |
| Overall Stats | Michigan State | Toledo |
| Coverage | | Listen - Spartan Sports Network |
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- The Michigan State baseball team welcomes Toledo to East Lansing for a midweek matchup on Wednesday at 3:05 p.m. The Spartans are 27-10 on the year and 8-4 in the Big Ten, while the Rockets bring a 9-31-1 record to town with a 4-8 mark in the MAC.
Midweek Quick Hitters
• MSU is currently in the midst of a six-game homestand and a stretch of 14-straight games that will take place in the state of Michigan. After five games at home last week, the Spartans take on Michigan in a home-and-home series this weekend before playing host to Nebraska next weekend.
• Michigan State leads the Big Ten and is third in the country with a 2.43 ERA. In Saturday's win over Indiana, MSU pitched its sixth shutout of the season and third in as many weekends. The Spartan pitching staff has 22 games this season in which they've held opponents to two or fewer earned runs. Michigan State is 27-3 this season when scoring more than two runs in a game.
• The Spartan pitching staff ranks third in the conference with 317 strikeouts and MSU has posted 10 or more strikeouts in 13 games this season to average 8.6 per game. For comparison, the 2015 Spartans that set the school record for most strikeouts in a season (409) had 264 through 37 games.
• Matt Byars enters the game with a 13-game hitting streak. The junior is hitting .365 during that span with eight doubles, good for a .558 slugging percentage. Sophomore Brandon Hughes also enters Wednesday's game having reached base in 11 straight games with multiple hits in five of those contests.
• Junior Jordan Zimmerman ranks in the top five of the Big Ten in several offensive categories, including second in batting average (.400), on base percentage (.488) and doubles (15), while ranking third in slugging percentage (.621) and total bases (90). The transfer from Mesa, Arizona is tied for third in the conference with 58 hits and his 36 runs are the fifth most in the Big Ten.
• With 390 hits on the season, Michigan State is averaging 10.5 hits per game to rank third in the Big Ten. MSU is 22-2 when outhitting its opponent this season.
• Wednesday's probable starter Keegan Baar will be making his fourth start of the season. The lefty has allowed just three earned runs in 15.1 innings in starts, good for a 1.72 ERA.
About Toledo
All-time series: MSU leads, 14-3
Last Meeting: MSU 9, Toledo 2, April 21, 2015 -- East Lansing, Mich.
Deoin Tansel leads the way on offense for the Rockets with a .293 average and 17 RBIs. Dalton Bollinger and John Martillotta also join Tansel for the team lead in RBIs with 17. Toldeo hits .216 as a team and average 3.4 runs per game while the staff ERA is 5.24.
The Rockets stopped a five-game skid on Sunday by defeating Central Michigan, 4-3, as Toledo head coach - and former Spartan assistant - Cory Mee picked up his 300th career victory.
Up Next
Michigan State heads to Ann Arbor on Friday to take on Michigan at 6 p.m. in a game that will air live on BTN. The teams will then play in East Lansing on Saturday at 1:05 before returning to Ann Arbor for the series finale on Sunday at 1 p.m.
