Michigan State University Athletics
Spartan Baseball’s 2021 Team Captains Announced
1/28/2021 4:37:00 PM | Baseball
MSU names Benschoter, Kelley, Peterson and Proctor as team captains.
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan State baseball head coach Jake Boss Jr. announced on Wednesday that Sam Benschoter, Bryce Kelley, Bailey Peterson and Adam Proctor have been named the Spartan team captains for the 2021 season. The four Spartan captains were voted on by the team.
"Our four captains are voted on by our players, it's their decision as to who our leaders are and I think they got it right as they usually do," Boss said. "All four of these guys are tremendous students, they're tremendous baseball players, that are outstanding representatives of our baseball program and Athletic Department, and they will do a tremendous job leading our team in the 2021 season."
Both Benschoter and Proctor are two-time team captains after being selected as captains in 2020, while Kelley and Peterson are first-time captains.
Benschoter, a senior pitcher from Tecumseh, Mich., ranked third in the Big Ten and tied for 24th in the NCAA with 14.73 strikeouts per nine innings. He also ranked second on team, fifth in the Big Ten and tied for 93rd in the NCAA with 30 strikeouts. Benschoter made five total appearances, with four starts, sharing the team lead and ranking tied for second in the Big Ten. He also logged a 1-1 record and was third on team with 18.1 IP, ending with 6.87 ERA. The Spartan hurler chalked up a career-high nine strikeouts in just 5.0 innings of work, in the nightcap vs. Morehead State (Feb. 15) and matched that in an inning less with nine punchouts in 4.0 IP vs. Merrimack (Feb. 23), part of posting six or more strikeouts in three of his four starts. Benschoter yielded three or fewer hits in three of five outings.
Off the field, Benschoter was an Academic All-Big Ten honoree for the third season in a row.
Kelley, a native of Rockford, Michigan, collected the 2020 MSU SASS Scholar-Athlete Award for having the highest GPA on the baseball team, as well as being named to the 2020 Google Cloud Academic First-Team All-District® Baseball Team, and also earning the Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award and Academic All-Big Ten accolades.
On the diamond, Kelley started in center field in 13 games, while starting in left in first two games. He posted a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage, with 19 putouts and two assists, along with using his speed to cut down several hits, turning several doubles into singles. His highlight outfield assist was his throw to Gabe Sotres for the tag at the plate in top of ninth for defensive walk-off vs. Western Carolina on Feb. 29, to preserve a 4-3 win. Kelley's other outfield assist came vs. Morehead State on Feb. 16 with a double play on a flyout and doubling-up the runner at second.
Kelley joined Peterson as the only Spartans to play and start in all 15 games, and one of three players to play in all 15 contests, along with Ahn. He was second on the team with a .400 average, ranking tied for fifth in the B1G and tied for 88th in the NCAA, along with ranking sixth in the conference with a .486 on-base percentage, and added a .417 slugging percentage. Kelley ranked second on the team, along with tied for fourth in the B1G and tied for 74th in the NCAA with 24 hits. He shared the team and Big Ten lead with eight stolen bases with Peterson, ranking tied for 45th in NCAA, and also ranked tied for second in the conference and tied for 44th in the country with 0.53 stolen bases/game.
He was tabbed as the Big Ten Conference Co-Player of the Week on Feb. 17, for his performance in the opening weekend for his first career Big Ten Player of the Week award. Kelley hit .647 (11-of-17) for the weekend, which led the Big Ten by over .100, as well as ranking 15th in the NCAA after the first weekend of the season, leading Michigan State to a four-game sweep of Morehead State in Charleston, South Carolina at Shipyard Park, as the Spartans were the only Big Ten team to win all four of their games on the weekend. Kelley's 11 hits also led not only the Big Ten, but shared the lead for the most in the NCAA, and was three hits more than any other player in the conference. He had at least two hits in all four games played, including going 4-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored, adding one stolen base in Michigan State's 15-3 win in the series and season-opener on Feb. 14.
Kelley led the team with the longest hitting streak of the season, getting a hit in the first 13 games of the season, before going hitless in game 14, but had a hit in the 15th game, giving him at least one hit in 14 of the 15 games of the season. He also shared the team-lead with reaching base in all 15 games, joining Peterson.
Peterson, a native of Grandville, Michigan, played and started in all 15 games, one of only two Spartans to start in every game, along with Bryce Kelley and was one of only three players to play in all 15 contests, along with Kelley and Peter Ahn. He led the team and ranked second in the Big Ten and tied for 22nd in the NCAA with a .441 average, also ranking second in the Big Ten and 35th in the NCAA with a .528 on-base percentage and second on the team and 15th in the league with a .542 slugging percentage.
The Spartan infielder also led MSU, while ranking second in the B1G and tied for 35th in NCAA with 26 hits. Peterson also shared the team and Big Ten lead in stolen bases with Kelley, swiping eight bags, ranking tied for 45th in the NCAA, which also ranked tied for second in conference and tied for 44th in country with 0.53 stolen bases/game.
Additionally, Peterson tied for the team-lead and tied for eighth in B1G with 15 RBI, while ranking tied for ninth in league with 1.0 RBI/game. Defensively, Peterson started all 15 games at second base, making 35 putouts and 21 assists, and led team being a part of five double plays.
Proctor, a native of St. Johns, Mich., collected Big Ten Distinguished Scholar honors, as well as earning Academic All-Big Ten recognition last season. He played in eight of 15 games in the shortened season, starting six games, with five starts at catcher and one at designated hitter, while missing seven games due to injury.
The Spartan catcher was 1-for-1 with three runs and three walks in season-opener vs. Morehead State (Feb. 14) and followed that up with 1-for-3 with run scored next day vs. Morehead State (Feb. 15). Proctor added RBI and run scored vs. Merrimack (Feb. 21). Behind the plate, Proctor threw out three potential base stealers, which ranked tied for eighth in B1G, along with 54 putouts and five assists on way to perfect 1.000 fielding percentage.
Entering the 2021 season, Proctor is the Spartans' active home run leader, with 11 for his career, bashing nine in 2019.
Michigan State finished the 2020 season with a 9-6 record, before the rest of the season was canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.
MSU's 2021 schedule has yet to be announced, stay tuned to MSUSpartans.com for more updates and information.
"Our four captains are voted on by our players, it's their decision as to who our leaders are and I think they got it right as they usually do," Boss said. "All four of these guys are tremendous students, they're tremendous baseball players, that are outstanding representatives of our baseball program and Athletic Department, and they will do a tremendous job leading our team in the 2021 season."
Both Benschoter and Proctor are two-time team captains after being selected as captains in 2020, while Kelley and Peterson are first-time captains.
Benschoter, a senior pitcher from Tecumseh, Mich., ranked third in the Big Ten and tied for 24th in the NCAA with 14.73 strikeouts per nine innings. He also ranked second on team, fifth in the Big Ten and tied for 93rd in the NCAA with 30 strikeouts. Benschoter made five total appearances, with four starts, sharing the team lead and ranking tied for second in the Big Ten. He also logged a 1-1 record and was third on team with 18.1 IP, ending with 6.87 ERA. The Spartan hurler chalked up a career-high nine strikeouts in just 5.0 innings of work, in the nightcap vs. Morehead State (Feb. 15) and matched that in an inning less with nine punchouts in 4.0 IP vs. Merrimack (Feb. 23), part of posting six or more strikeouts in three of his four starts. Benschoter yielded three or fewer hits in three of five outings.
Off the field, Benschoter was an Academic All-Big Ten honoree for the third season in a row.
Kelley, a native of Rockford, Michigan, collected the 2020 MSU SASS Scholar-Athlete Award for having the highest GPA on the baseball team, as well as being named to the 2020 Google Cloud Academic First-Team All-District® Baseball Team, and also earning the Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award and Academic All-Big Ten accolades.
On the diamond, Kelley started in center field in 13 games, while starting in left in first two games. He posted a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage, with 19 putouts and two assists, along with using his speed to cut down several hits, turning several doubles into singles. His highlight outfield assist was his throw to Gabe Sotres for the tag at the plate in top of ninth for defensive walk-off vs. Western Carolina on Feb. 29, to preserve a 4-3 win. Kelley's other outfield assist came vs. Morehead State on Feb. 16 with a double play on a flyout and doubling-up the runner at second.
Kelley joined Peterson as the only Spartans to play and start in all 15 games, and one of three players to play in all 15 contests, along with Ahn. He was second on the team with a .400 average, ranking tied for fifth in the B1G and tied for 88th in the NCAA, along with ranking sixth in the conference with a .486 on-base percentage, and added a .417 slugging percentage. Kelley ranked second on the team, along with tied for fourth in the B1G and tied for 74th in the NCAA with 24 hits. He shared the team and Big Ten lead with eight stolen bases with Peterson, ranking tied for 45th in NCAA, and also ranked tied for second in the conference and tied for 44th in the country with 0.53 stolen bases/game.
He was tabbed as the Big Ten Conference Co-Player of the Week on Feb. 17, for his performance in the opening weekend for his first career Big Ten Player of the Week award. Kelley hit .647 (11-of-17) for the weekend, which led the Big Ten by over .100, as well as ranking 15th in the NCAA after the first weekend of the season, leading Michigan State to a four-game sweep of Morehead State in Charleston, South Carolina at Shipyard Park, as the Spartans were the only Big Ten team to win all four of their games on the weekend. Kelley's 11 hits also led not only the Big Ten, but shared the lead for the most in the NCAA, and was three hits more than any other player in the conference. He had at least two hits in all four games played, including going 4-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored, adding one stolen base in Michigan State's 15-3 win in the series and season-opener on Feb. 14.
Kelley led the team with the longest hitting streak of the season, getting a hit in the first 13 games of the season, before going hitless in game 14, but had a hit in the 15th game, giving him at least one hit in 14 of the 15 games of the season. He also shared the team-lead with reaching base in all 15 games, joining Peterson.
Peterson, a native of Grandville, Michigan, played and started in all 15 games, one of only two Spartans to start in every game, along with Bryce Kelley and was one of only three players to play in all 15 contests, along with Kelley and Peter Ahn. He led the team and ranked second in the Big Ten and tied for 22nd in the NCAA with a .441 average, also ranking second in the Big Ten and 35th in the NCAA with a .528 on-base percentage and second on the team and 15th in the league with a .542 slugging percentage.
The Spartan infielder also led MSU, while ranking second in the B1G and tied for 35th in NCAA with 26 hits. Peterson also shared the team and Big Ten lead in stolen bases with Kelley, swiping eight bags, ranking tied for 45th in the NCAA, which also ranked tied for second in conference and tied for 44th in country with 0.53 stolen bases/game.
Additionally, Peterson tied for the team-lead and tied for eighth in B1G with 15 RBI, while ranking tied for ninth in league with 1.0 RBI/game. Defensively, Peterson started all 15 games at second base, making 35 putouts and 21 assists, and led team being a part of five double plays.
Proctor, a native of St. Johns, Mich., collected Big Ten Distinguished Scholar honors, as well as earning Academic All-Big Ten recognition last season. He played in eight of 15 games in the shortened season, starting six games, with five starts at catcher and one at designated hitter, while missing seven games due to injury.
The Spartan catcher was 1-for-1 with three runs and three walks in season-opener vs. Morehead State (Feb. 14) and followed that up with 1-for-3 with run scored next day vs. Morehead State (Feb. 15). Proctor added RBI and run scored vs. Merrimack (Feb. 21). Behind the plate, Proctor threw out three potential base stealers, which ranked tied for eighth in B1G, along with 54 putouts and five assists on way to perfect 1.000 fielding percentage.
Entering the 2021 season, Proctor is the Spartans' active home run leader, with 11 for his career, bashing nine in 2019.
Michigan State finished the 2020 season with a 9-6 record, before the rest of the season was canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.
MSU's 2021 schedule has yet to be announced, stay tuned to MSUSpartans.com for more updates and information.
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