Michigan State Hosts Iowa In Final Home Series With MSU Alumni Day Saturday and Spartan Senior Day Sunday

MICHIGAN STATE (22-25, 6-12 B1G) vs IOWA (28-16, 12-6 B1G)
Location	McLane Stadium at Kobs Field \|\| East Lansing, Mich.
Tickets	MSU Ticket Office
Weather	High/Low - Fri: 85^° / 63^° \| Sat: 82^° / 59^° \| Sun: 75^° / 52^°
Game Notes	MICHIGAN STATE \| IOWA
Social Media	@MSUbaseball \| MichiganStateBaseball @msu_baseball
Television	None
Game 1	Friday, May 13 - 6:35 p.m. ET
Probable Pitching Matchup	IOWA: #33 R-SO RHP Adam Mazur (6-2, 2.37 ERA) MSU: #31 JR RHP Conner Tomasic (3-3, 4.61 ERA)
Coverage	Live Stats \| Watch Live Through Big Ten Network+ \| Listen Live through Spartan Media Network
Game 2	Saturday, May 14 - 4:05 p.m. ET - MSU ALUMNI DAY
Probable Pitching Matchup	IOWA: #24 G-SR RHP Connor Schultz (2-2, 4.38 ERA) MSU: TBA (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Coverage	Live Stats \| Watch Live Through Big Ten Network+ \| Listen Live through Spartan Media Network
Game 3	Sunday, May 15 - 1:05 p.m. ET - 1:05 p.m. ET - SPARTAN SENIOR DAY
Probable Pitching Matchup	IOWA: #27 SO RHP Ty Langenberg (5-1, 3.16 ERA) MSU: TBA (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Coverage	Live Stats \| Watch Live Through Big Ten Network+ \| Listen Live through Spartan Media Network

Leading Off... Michigan State Hosts Iowa In Final Home Series With MSU Alumni Day Saturday and Spartan Senior Day Sunday

• Fresh off its hectic stretch of five games in four days playing in three different states, Michigan State baseball returns home to host Iowa in a three-game Big Ten Conference weekend series, Friday-Sunday, May 13-15 at McLane Stadium at Kobs Field in MSU's final home games of the season ... The Spartans and Hawkeyes open the series on Friday evening at 6:35 p.m., before Saturday's Alumni Day 4:05 p.m. first pitch and the series finale on Spartan Senior Day with a 1:05 p.m. start time ... The weekend schedule is subject to change based on weather.

• Saturday is MSU's Alumni Day, and will be recognizing returning alumni, as well as honoring the 1971 MSU Baseball team, that won the Big Ten Conference crown and advanced to the NCAA Regionals ... Sunday will be the Spartans' Senior Day, honoring their three senior players, Peter Ahn, Kyle Bischoff and Zach Iverson, along with two student managers, Aaron Boise and Tommy Merlo.

• Fans can follow this weekend's action from McLane Stadium at Kobs Field with "Watch Live," "Listen Live" and "Live Stats" links at MSUSpartans.com, with video streaming available through Big Ten Network+ with a subscription fee.

• For the sixth straight year, the Spartan Media Network will carry a live audio stream for all home and select road Spartan baseball games this season ... The broadcast will be available exclusively at MSUSpartans.com by clicking on "Listen Live" on the baseball schedule ... Broadcast veteran Scott Moore calls the action, with Spartan baseball alum Jim Cotter providing analysis.

• MSU finished up a stretch of playing five games in four days in three different states... The Spartans played three games in just over 24 hours after the weekend schedule at Penn State was altered to a doubleheader on Sunday starting at 1 p.m. and a single game on Monday with an 11 a.m. start time to accommodate MSU's travel schedule ... Michigan State arrived home in East Lansing late Monday night, then had a quick turnaround heading to South Bend via bus Tuesday afternoon to play at Notre Dame on Tuesday night, then returned home afterwards, before bussing to Kalamazoo Wednesday afternoon play Western Michigan, returning home Wednesday night.

• Michigan State has seven games left on its regular-season slate, and this weekend's games the only three home games in a stretch of the final 12 games of the regular season.

• After this weekend's action, the Spartans close out regular-season action with a single game at Michigan on Tuesday, May 17 at Ann Arbor, then heading to Lincoln, Neb. for a three-game set at Nebraska, May 19-21.

PROFESSIONAL STADIUM EXPERIENCE
• Last weekend's games at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park, home of the State College Spikes minor league team, were the Spartans' 10th, 11th and 12th official games plus one exhibition, in playing in their fifth professional stadium ... The Spartans have played at US Bank Stadium, home of the Minnesota Vikings, for the Minnesota Cambria Classic, for the first meeting with Notre Dame on March 5, along with Kansas (March 4) and West Virginia (March 6), going 2-1 ... MSU also played at its home-away-from-home, Fluor Field, in Greenville, S.C., home of the Greenville Drive, March 9 & 10-13, going 2-2 ... The Spartans played the Lansing Lugnuts in the Crosstown Showdown on April 6 at Jackson Field (L, 3-2 in exhibition), and then Michigan State returned to Jackson Field on April 15 to take on Michigan in the Capital Clash, losing the in-state battle ... MSU also played No. 12 Notre Dame at Comeria Park, home of the Detroit Tigers on April 26, winning 6-2 ... The Spartans are now 5-7 in their 12 games in professional stadiums so far ... MSU has three games left this season in professional stadiums, playing Nebraska at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park in Lincoln, Nebraska on May 19-21 to close out regular-season action.

400 FOR BOSS
• MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. collected career win No. 400 on April 24 in the Spartans' 11-7 Victory for MSU at Northwestern ... Boss now has 406 career wins, with 381 wins in his 14th season at MSU (2009-pres.), and 25 wins in his lone season at Eastern Michigan (2008)).

QUICK HITTERS
• Michigan State had it's season-long six game win streak snapped with last Sunday's loss at Penn State ... MSU's six-game win streak matched the Spartans' longest since a six-game win spurt April 18-27, 2018 ... The loss at Penn State cooled off the Spartans, who had won eight of their previous 10, and MSU is now 6-4 in its last 10 games and have won eight of its last 13, including a 6-2 upset of No. 12 Notre Dame on April 26 at Comerica Park in Detroit.

• MSU's recent six-game win streak came against four different teams with the 11-7 win at Northwestern on April 24, a 6-2 victory over No. 12 Notre Dame at Comerica Park in Detroit on April 26, a 7-4 win over Purdue Fort Wayne on April 27, then a three-game sweep (8-4, 2-1, 9-7) over Minnesota on April 29-May 1.

• The 2-1 win over Minnesota on April 30 was the Spartans' sixth one-run win of the year, and Monday's 10-9 loss in 11 innings at Penn State was Michigan State's 10th one-run game ... MSU is now 6-4 in one-run games ... Michigan State won three one-run games in all of 2021 in 44 games, and already posted three one-runs wins in first 17 games this season.

• MSU came from behind in the 9-7 win over Minnesota on May 1, marking the Spartans' fourth comeback win in the last two weeks, along with the 11-7 win at Northwestern on April 24, as well as both of the previous week's wins in the 8-7 win over Oakland on April 19 and the 7-6 victory over Eastern Michigan a night later ... The Spartans now have eight come-from-behind wins on the season.

• Michigan State's 11 runs in the April 24 win at Northwestern improve the Spartans to 8-0 when posting double-digit runs this season ... The 11 runs on April 24 was MSU's first 10+ outing since plating 10 runs in its last B1G come-from-behind win on April 10 at Ohio State.

• The Spartans are also 16-3 when leading after seven innings and 19-1 when leading after eight innings, suffering the first loss when doing so Monday at Penn State, as the Spartans had an 8-6 lead heading into the ninth ... MSU has out-scored its opponents, 38-36 in the eighth inning and 25-20 in the ninth inning, the only two innings that MSU has more runs than the opposition.

• Graduate senior closer Kyle Bischoff was named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Stopper of the Year Award Midseason Watch List ... Bischoff currently shares the B1G lead in saves and ranks tied for 10th in the NCAA with 10 saves.

• Bischoff collected one save in MSU's win over Minnesota on April 30, for his 10th save of the season, taking over sole possession of No. 3 on the Spartans' single-season saves list, the most since 2014 when Jeff Kinley fired a school-record 13 saves ... Bischoff is just one behind Jeff Ericson with 11 in 1990.

• Bischoff also picked up two saves and a win in three appearances in the span of a week ... He earned his eighth save of the season on April 20, earning back-to-back saves in MSU's wins over Oakland on April 19 and over Eastern Michigan a night later ... Bischoff then collected the save in MSU's win over Purdue Fort Wayne on April 27 for his ninth of the season ... He then came on in early relief in MSU's win at Northwestern on April 24, coming on in the first inning with the bases loaded and pitched a career-high 6.1 IP of relief to earn the win.

• Junior outfielder Casey Mayes rejoined teammates sophomore outfielder Jack Frank and junior outfielder Zaid Walker for the active player HR lead after Mayes mashed his eighth HR of his career on Monday at Penn State ... Frank bashed his seventh HR of his career in the April 19 win over Oakland and added his eighth in the April 29 win over Minnesota ... Frank leads the team with seven HR this season ... Walked also belted his eighth career HR in the April 29 win over Minnesota for his third round-tripper of the season ... Mayes now has four homers on the season after Monday's shot, as he also knocked two HRs in consecutive days in the weekend at Northwestern on April 23-24.

• Sophomore infielder Mitch Jebb leads the Big Ten and ranks 30th in the NCAA in toughest to strikeout - with just one K every 12.0 ABs - on just 16 Ks in 192 ABs ... Jebb also has 32 walks, for a 2.0 walks-strikeout ratio, as well as drawing a free pass in 16.7 percent of his at bats, with one walk every 6.0 ABs.

• Jebb hit .500 (7-of-14) in the three games at Penn State, with four RBI ... Boosted by going 4-for-5 in Monday's game, Jebb had multiple hits in two of the three games, adding a 2-for-5 outing in the series opener ... With two hits in both the Notre Dame and Western Michigan game, Jebb now has an eight-game hitting streak, the longest active streak on the Spartans, and has six multi hits during the current hitting streak, as part of his 19 games with multiple hits, sharing the team lead ... Jebb also tops the team with 12 multiple RBI outings, including three during his current six-game hit streak, led by three ribbies on Monday ... Jebb has a team-best 14 RBI over the last 12 games.

• Junior outfielder Casey Mayes has an active seven-game hit streak, as part of multiple hits in seven of the last 12 games ... Mayes is hitting .341, going a palindromic 14-for-41 over the last 10 games ... Mayes has hit for the double cycle over the last 15 games, with a team-leading seven extra base hits with two doubles, two triples and three HRs in those 15 games ... He also tops the team with a .587 slugging percentage over the last 15 games, adding 11 RBI.

• Sophomore infielder Brock Vradenburg was as hot as the Spartans were during their six game win streak, as he hit a scorching .571 (12-for-21) in the six games, along with a .654 on-base percentage and a .667 slugging percentage ... Vradenburg posted multiple hits in five of the six games, highlighted by a season-best and a career-high tying three hits vs. Minnesota on April 29 ... Additionally, Vradenburg had eight RBI over the six games, including three-straight multi-RBI outings, paced by three vs. Purdue Fort Wayne (Apr. 27), after two each vs. Notre Dame (Apr. 26) and Northwestern (Apr. 24), adding one vs. Minnesota (Apr. 29) ... Despite limited to 3-for-12 over the weekend at Penn State, Vradenburg is still hitting a team-best .417 (15-for-36) over the last 10 games, with eight RBI, along with .472 slugging percentage.

BISCHOFF NAMED TO NCBWA STOPPER OF THE YEAR MIDSEASON WATCH LIST
Michigan State reliever Kyle Bischoff was named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Stopper of the Year Award Midseason Watch List.

Bischoff is a graduate senior transfer from Toledo and a native of Macomb, Michigan (Eisenhower HS) ... He currently shares the lead in the Big Ten Conference and ranks tied for eighth in the NCAA with nine saves ... The Spartan reliever collected save number 10 on April 30 vs. Minnesota, his second save of the week after picked up his ninth save on April 27 vs Purdue Fort Wayne, ringing up his second strikeout of the ninth inning to end the game and seal the Victory for MSU ... For the season, Bischoff has a 2-1 record with a 1.88 ERA in 18 appearances, registering 28 strikeouts and nine walks in 28.2 IP.

Bischoff recently picked up a pair of saves and a win in three appearances during less than a week of action ... He collected two saves in as many days, against Eastern Michigan on April 19 and Oakland the next night on April 20 ... He then came on in relief in the first inning of the April 24 game at Northwestern and went on to throw a career-high 6.1 IP and earned the win ... The 6.1 IP was more than three times longer than his season-high of 2.0 IP and nearly double of his previous career-long outing of 3.1 IP during his time at Toledo.

AN EYE ON THE HAWKEYES
• Iowa brings a 28-16 overall and 12-6 Big Ten ledger into the weekend, having won 12 of its last 16 games and 13 of its last 18 outings ... The Hawkeyes didn't have a midweek contest ... In its last B1G series, Iowa took two of three from Purdue last weekend, winning 5-2 on May 6, before dropping a 10-6 ballgame on May 7, but then took the rubber match, 9-1, to clinch winning the fourth series in a row as part of six of the last seven sets ... The Hawkeyes have also won their last three road series, winning at No. 8 Rutgers, Nebraska and Michigan ... Iowa's series success is boosted by winning the opener in each of the last seven series, starting off on March 27 in a three-game set with Central Michigan ... The Spartans are the third team from the state of Michigan to match-up with the Hawkeyes, having taken two of three from CMU March 25-27, and winning two of three at Michigan (April 2-3).

Redshirt-sophomore first baseman Peyton Williams leads Iowa and ranks seventh in the B1G with a .370 average, also leading the Hawkeyes in slugging percentage and home runs, ranking third in the conference with a .673 slugging percentage and ranking tied for 11th in the league with 10 HRs ... Williams is also second on the team and tied for fifth in the B1G with 16 doubles ... freshman utility player Keaton Anthony is close behind Williams with a .352 average, good for 10th in the league in average, leading Iowa and ranking third in the B1G in doubles (18) ... Anthony is also ranked tied for 13th in the conference with 44 RBI and also matching Williams with 10 HR to rank tied for 11th ... Anthony is the reining Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Week, after helping the Hawkeyes to the series win over Purdue, slashing .400/.867/.500 for the weekend, hitting safely in all four games, including two HRs and posting seven RBI.

On the mound, the Hawkeyes' weekend rotation of sophomore right-hander Adam Mazur, graduate-senior righty Connor Schultz and sophomore right-hander Ty Langenberg, have each earned the Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honor this season ... Friday's starter Mazur, has a 6-2 ERA with a 2.37 ERA in 12 starts, with 82 Ks against just 23 walks in 79.2 IP, styiming the opposition to just .154 BAA ... Mazur leads the B1G in BAA and ranks third in the league in Ks, along with tied for fourth in wins ... Schultz is 2-2 with a 4.38 ERA in 12 appearances with seven starts, logging 41 Ks and 17 BB, registering a .178 BAA in 37.0 IP ... This week's reigning B1G Co-Pitcher of the Week is Langenberg, after scattering five hits against just one run, with seven strikeouts and one walk, in a career-long 7.0 IP to clinch the series win on Sunday ... For the season, Langenberg is 5-1 with a 3.16 ERA with 64 Ks and 15 BB in 11 appearances with nine starts, notching a .245 BAA.

Iowa head coach Rick Heller is his ninth year at Iowa, posting a 268-170 ledger, while amassing a 958-737-4 overall record in his 35th year as a head coach.

400 FOR BOSS
• MSU head coach Jake Boss picked up career win No. 400 on April 24 with the Spartans' 11-7 Victory for MSU at Northwestern ... Boss now has 406 career wins with 381 in his 14th year at MSU (2009-pres.) after 25 wins in his lone season at Eastern Michigan (2008) ... Boss became the seventh active Big Ten head coach to reach 400 career wins, as well as the second NCAA Division I head coach in the state of Michigan, joining close friend and former assistant coach Billy Gernon at Western Michigan, now with 407 (248 in 12 seasons at WMU (2011-pres.) and 157 in nine seasons at Purdue Fort Wayne (2000-08) ... Boss also became the 103rd active Division I head coach to reach 400 career wins.

This weekend against Iowa is the third-straight weekend against fellow active Big Ten head coaches with 400+ career wins, after facing the facing the coach with the most in the Big Ten with 1,345 in Minnesota's John Anderson on April 29-May 1, followed by last weekend at Penn State and Ron Cooper, now at 456 wins, and now this weekend against Rich Heller with 958 career wins.

Current Big Ten Head Coaches By Career Wins
John Anderson - Minnesota    1,345
Steve Owens - Rutgers            978
Rich Heller - Iowa        958
Greg Beals - Ohio State           585
Dan Hartleb - Illinois   502
Rob Cooper - Penn State         456
Jake Boss Jr. - Michigan State           406

THIS IS SPARTA... 300 Ks FOR SPARTANS
• The Spartan pitching staff topped the 300 strikeouts mark with six punchouts in the April 27 win over Purdue Fort Wayne, now with 344 strikeouts this season, marking the 19th time in program history to reach the 300-K plateau.

SINGLE-SEASON STRIKEOUTS
            1.         2016    466
            2.         2019    445
            3.         2017    420
            4.         2015    409
            5.         2018    407
            6.         2002    390
            7.         2012    389
            8.         1998    380
            9.         2004    378
            10.       2014    355
            11.       2021    346
            12.       2022    344
            13.       2010    335
            14.       2011    332
            15.       1987    324
            16.       1971    322
            17.      1993    315
            18.       2001    312
            19.       1988    306

BISCH-SAVE, BISCH-WIN
• MSU graduate-senior reliever Kyle Bischoff posted back-to-back saves in MSU's wins on April 19 and 20, registering his seventh and eighth saves of the season at the time ... Bischoff then earned the save in Michigan State's 7-4 win over Purdue Fort Wayne on Wednesday night for his ninth save ... The nine saves are the most by a Spartan reliever since Riley McCauley had nine in 2017 ... Bischoff is also now tied for No. 3 on MSU's single-season saves list ... With the nine saves, Bischoff shares the B1G lead and is also tied for 10th in the NCAA.

The saves on April 19 and 20 marked Bischoff's first saves in back-to-back games, while he picked up a save and a win in back-to-back games with both coming in the same day, in a doubleheader vs. Houston Baptist on March 20, picking up the save in the opener and earned the win in the second game.

Bischoff then came on early in MSU's game at Northwestern on April 24, entering game in the first inning with no outs and the bases loaded ... Bischoff went on to pitch a career-high 6.1 IP, more than three times longer than his previous season-high outing of 2.0 IP and nearly double of previous collegiate career-high of 3.1 IP during his time at Toledo.

Bischoff did not yield a run until his 10th appearance of the season, now with 19 appearances, ringing up 31 strikeouts in 33.2 IP (8.29 K/9).

ACTIVE HR LEADERS
• Junior outfielder Casey Mayes rejoined teammates sophomore outfielder Jack Frank and junior outfielder Zaid Walker for the active player HR lead after Mayes mashed his eighth HR of his career on Monday at Penn State ... Frank bashed his seventh HR of his career in the April 19 win over Oakland and added his eighth in the April 29 win over Minnesota ... Frank leads the team with seven HR this season ... Walked also belted his eighth career HR in the April 29 win over Minnesota for his third round-tripper of the season ... Mayes now has four homers on the season after Monday's shot, as he also knocked two HRs in consecutive days in the weekend at Northwestern on April 23-24.

HITS AND RUNS AND HITS AND RUUUUUNNNNNSSSSS
• Michigan State knocked 10+ hits in both midweek games with 11 at Notre Dame and 10 at Western Michigan and the Spartans have posted double-digit hits in three games in a row as part of the fifth occurrence in six games and six times in eight outings overall ... MSU now has 24 games with double-digit hits, as the Spartans are now 16-8 when registering 10 or more hits, winning seven of their last nine contests with double-figures in the hits column.

• The Spartans' 11 runs in the April 24 win at Northwestern was MSU's eighth contest this season with 10 or more runs ... Michigan State improved to 8-0 when scoring double-figure runs.

WALK-OFF SPARTANS TIMES THREE
• Michigan State has three walk-off wins, including two walk-off home runs ... The Spartans started their walk-off ways with a 10-8 win over Cincinnati on March 11 in Greenville on sophomore infielder Mitch Jebb's 2-run walk-off home run, then continued it the next Friday, with a solo home run by sophomore infielder Dillon Kark for a 4-3 Victory for MSU over Houston Baptist on March 18, when won the second game of a twinbill with HBU on Sunday, March 20 on an error on the play off the bat of junior outfielder Casey Mayes, scoring redshirt-freshman catcher Christian Williams.

The three Spartan walk-offs in a season is the most since the 2015 season, when MSU beat Western Michigan, 5-4, on April 8; Northwestern, 7-6, on April 11, and Penn State, 5-4, on May 9.

SPARTANS IN THE CLOSE ONES
• Michigan State edged Minnesota, 2-1, on April 30, after winning a pair of midweek games over Oakland and Eastern Michigan, respectively, by one-run each, beating Oakland, 6-5, on April 19 before edging Eastern Michigan, 8-7, on April 20.

With those three recent one-run wins, Michigan State has a total of six one-run wins overall this season, improving to 6-3 in one-run contests this season, before Monday's 10-9, 11-inning loss at Penn State moved MSU to 6-4 in one-run games.

The Spartans also swept the three-game series with Houston Baptist in their home-opening series March 18-20, winning all three games by one run, 4-3, 1-0 and 6-5 ... Those three 1-run wins through the first 17 games of the season already exceeded last season's 1-run wins in 44 games, as MSU only had two 1-run wins, 5-4 over Maryland on March 6 in game three of the season, and 7-6 over Minnesota on April 2 in game 16 ... MSU also has three other 1-run losses, 2-1, vs. No. 3 Notre Dame on March 5 in Minneapolis, and 5-4 in 10 innings at Evansville on April 3 and 8-7 at Ohio State on April 10.

MSU is also 5-3 in 2-run games, most recently a 9-7 come-from-behind win over Minnesota on May 1, and MSU's 3-1 victory at Western Michigan on May 11.

DOUBLE PLAYS A PLENTY
• Michigan State turned six double plays in the three games at Penn State, adding one each in the games at Notre Dame and Western Michigan, now with 43 total double plays turned on the season ... MSU leads the Big Ten and is tied for 13th in the NCAA with 43 total double plays, as well as also leading the league and ranking tied for 15th in the nation in double plays per game (0.91).

With the six DPs in the Penn State series plus two in midweek action, the Spartans have turned 18 double plays in the last 16 games ... MSU has had at least one double play in a total of 26 games, including 13 contests with multiple double plays, highlighted by three a total of four games, on March 20 vs. Houston Baptist, April 9 at Ohio State, April 17 vs Michigan and May 8 at Penn State.

THREE-BAGGERS GALORE
• Michigan State is second in the B1G and ranked 35th in the NCAA in triples with 15 ... The Spartans also rank second in the league and 42nd in the nation in triples per game with 0.32.

Individually, junior outfielder Casey Mayes is back atop the B1G stats, now tied for the league lead with five triples, including two over the weekend at Penn State ... Mayes is now tied for 11th in the NCAA.

Junior outfielder Peter Ahn, sophomore infielder Mitch Jebb, sophomore outfielder Jack Frank and redshirt-freshman catcher Christian Williams are all tied for seventh in the league with a pair of three-baggers each.

NO Ks IN MITCH JEBB
• Sophomore infielder Mitch Jebb leads the Big Ten and ranks 30th in the NCAA in toughest to strikeout - with just one K every 12.0 ABs - on just 16 Ks in 192 ABs ... Jebb also has 32 walks, for a 2.0 walks-strikeout ratio, as well as drawing a free pass in 16.7 percent of his at bats, with one walk every 6.0 ABs.

JEBBIN' ON THE BASEPATHS
• Jebb leads MSU and ranks tied for fourth in the B1G with 18 stolen bases ... Jebb's 18 swipes are the most by a Spartan since 2019 when Bryce Kelley also had 18.

HOME RUNS UP
• MSU's home runs per game average is almost twice as much as last season's total, as the Spartans have bashed 33 home runs in 47 games, an average of 0.70 home runs per game ... Last season, the Green & White had 21 round-trippers in 44 games, an average of 0.47 HR/game.

A total of nine different Spartans have hit a home run in 2022 Spartans, topping last year's squad of eight different players ... Additionally, this year's Green & White roster has eight different players with multiple home runs, while last year's squad only had five different players hit multi-round trippers.

Ks UP, ERA EVEN
• On the mound, the Spartans' strikeouts per game is also up from last year, currently with 344 Ks in 47 games, an average of 7.3 K/game, compared to 346 strikeouts in the 44 Big Ten games played last season, an average of 7.86 K/game.

MSU's ERA is also nearly even from a season ago, posting a 5.92 ERA through 45 games in 2022, after a 5.84 ERA in 44 games in 2021.

AHN MADE FIRST START AT HOME
• Senior outfielder/infielder Peter Ahn is in his fourth season in a Spartan uniform and has made 32 starts in his career, however, of those 32 starts, none had come at home, until he started last Friday, March 18 vs. Houston Baptist ... Ahn was a reserve in 2019, making 13 appearances off the bench ... In 2020, Ahn started in 14 of the 15 games played, all on the road, as the remainder of the season was cancelled due to COVID-19 before MSU played at home ... Last season, Ahn started the first five games of the season, all played at neutral sites, before suffering an injury and was on limited action the rest of the season.

MSU BASEBALL TO WEAR "JP" UNIFORM PATCH TRIBUTE TO JIM PIGNATARO
Michigan State baseball head coach Jake Boss Jr. announced on Feb. 17 that the Spartans will be wearing a "JP" patch on all of their jerseys during the 2022 season as a tribute to long-time MSU administrator Jim Pignataro, who passed away this past August.

Pignataro served as the Executive Associate Athletic Director for Student-Athlete Services at Michigan State, and he was the sport administrator for Spartan baseball.

"Jim was just a special guy to our program," Boss said. "His leadership was phenomenal, and his passion for Michigan State and our baseball program was second-to-none. He poured his heart and soul into everything that he did with our program. We're proud to honor him and his legacy. His family, his wife Alana, and his kids Alison and Jimmy, will always have a special place in our hearts and in our program. We're proud to carry Jim's spirit with us onto the field."

The JP patch is located on the back collar of all of the Spartans' game jerseys that they will wear throughout the season.

Prior to being elevated to his most recent position, Pignataro served as the Associate Athletic Director for Student-Athlete Services (2008-15) and Director of Student-Athlete Support Services (SASS) from 2002-17. He oversaw the directors of Student-Athlete Engagement, Academic Services, Athletic Training, Strength and Conditioning and Sports Nutrition in addition to serving as a sport administrator for several Spartan programs.

Pignataro served as the Assistant to the Director and Athletics Academic Coordinator at Michigan State from 1996-2000. He left MSU to serve as the Assistant Athletics Director for Academics at Eastern Michigan University from June 2000 to June 2002. Prior to his arrival at MSU he worked in Athletic Academic Services at Florida State University (1995-96) and the University of Tennessee (1994-1995).

SPARTAN LEGEND BOB APISA TALKED TO TEAM PRIOR TO UNLV SERIES
Michigan State football legend Bob Apisa met with and spoke to the MSU baseball team on Thursday, Feb. 17 after the Spartans' practice at UNLV's Earl E. Wilson Stadium, and also posed for several pictures, then met each player.

Recruited by Duffy Daugherty, Apisa was a two-time All-American in 1965 and 1966 during his time at Michigan State. He was the starting fullback on back-to-back Big Ten and National Champion teams in 1965 and 1966, scoring a combined 18 touchdowns over the two seasons, and was a 1966 consensus first-team All-Big Ten selection. Apisa finished his career as MSU's most prolific rushing fullback with 1,343 yards, in addition to being a great blocker for Spartan tailbacks.

Apisa was born in American Samoa as part of eleven children, moving to Hawaii at the age of seven, and went on to earn a football scholarship at MSU, and became the first player of Samoan ancestry to be named All-American. He played in the 1966 "Game of the Century" against Notre Dame, which was also the first-ever live television sports broadcast in Hawaii. Apisa was also part of Daugherty's integration of college football, and will be part of a statue tribute as part of the upcoming renovations to the Duffy Daugherty Building for MSU Athletics in the upcoming.

In 2017, Apisa was inducted into the Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame. In 2018, he was inducted into the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame.

After football, Apisa went into acting, and was in the Sandlot (home plate umpire), as well as many other roles, including movies (Hard Target and The Nutty Professor), and television (Magnum P.I., Hawaii 5-0 and Airwolf).

Apisa's grandson, Jacob Isaia, was a three-year letterwinner on the Spartan football team, playing offensive line. Apisa resides in Las Vegas.

SPARTANS EARN BACK-TO-BACK B1G AWARDS
• Michigan State players garnered weekly Big Ten Conference honors in consecutive weeks, as sophomore infielder Mitch Jebb was tabbed the Player of the Week on March 16, while freshman pitcher Ryan Szczepaniak was named the Freshman of the Week on March 9.

MITCH JEBB TABBED BIG TEN PLAYER OF THE WEEK
• Michigan State baseball sophomore infielder Mitch Jebb was named the Big Ten Conference Player of the Week, announced by the conference office on March 16.

Jebb, a native of Saginaw, Michigan, earns his first career B1G weekly honor and his third overall B1G accolade, as he was on was this year's Big Ten Preseason Players to Watch list, as well as being named to Big Ten All-Freshman Team last season.

This is MSU's second B1G honor in as many weeks, as pitcher Ryan Szczepaniak was tabbed as the B1G Freshman of the Week on March 9.

Jebb was recognized for his performance during MSU's four games during the week of March 7-13, in Greenville, South Carolina, at Fluor Field, home of the Greenville Drive.

He belted two HR in the same game, including a two-run walk-off HR to cap MSU's comeback in a 10-8 win over Cincinnati on Friday, March 11, as the Spartans rallied from an 8-5 deficit entering the ninth. Jebb bookended the game by also bashing a HR to lead off the Spartan home half of the first inning. He finished 3-for-4 with four RBI and two runs scored.

The walk-off was MSU's first walk-off HR since Feb. 23, 2020, also in Greenville, also by a left-handed hitter, by Peter Ahn, vs. Merrimack, and also over the right field wall of Fluor Field. Jebb's two-home run game was also the first Spartan with two HR in the same game since Bailey Peterson bashed a pair of round-trippers last season on May 23, 2021 at Rutgers.

For the week, Jebb registered a .412 average (7-for-17) in the four games, highlighted by going 3-for-4 with four RBI and two runs scored vs. Cincinnati. He added a double as part of 2-for-5 outing vs. Western Carolina. He also notched at least one hit in all four games, as he now has at least one hit in all 14 games this season and a 21-game hitting streak dating back to last season, tied for the third-longest hitting streak by a Spartan in the last 20 years.

RYAN SZCZEPANIAK NAMED BIG TEN FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
• Michigan State baseball pitcher Ryan Szczepaniak was named the Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Week, for games played Feb. 28-March 6, the conference office announced on Wednesday, March 9.

Szczepaniak, a native of Woodhaven, Michigan, earns not only the first Big Ten accolade of his Spartan career, but also the first B1G honor of the season for Michigan State, for his performance last Sunday, March 6. He earned the win on the mound in the 9-3 Victory for MSU over nationally-ranked West Virginia in Minneapolis at the Cambria Classic played at U.S. Bank Stadium, home of the Minnesota Vikings.

The Spartan right-hander fired 5.0 IP with four strikeouts, yielding three hits and one earned run to improve to 2-0, stymieing WVU bats. After a leadoff single and later a hit batter in the first inning, settled in and retired seven Mountaineers in a row.

Szczepaniak improved to 2-0 with the victory and is the first B1G freshman pitcher to earn two wins this season, and only one of 11 pitchers in the league overall with two or more wins.

THREE SPARTANS TABBED TO CAMBRIA COLLEGE CLASSIC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
• Three Michigan State baseball players were tabbed to the Cambria College Classic All-Tournament Team, announced late Sunday night following the conclusion of the three-day tournament.

Sophomore infielders Trent Farquhar and Mitch Jebb, along with junior outfielder Zaid Walker were the three Spartan representatives on the 13-player list, as MSU went 2-1 in the Classic, with the lone loss to No. 12 Notre Dame, 2-1, on Saturday. The Fighting Irish finished 3-0 and were the tournament champion.

The three Spartan players tied host Minnesota for the second-most on the All-Tournament Team list, while tournament winner Notre Dame had four players, including pitcher Austin Temple earning MVP honors.

UP NEXT:
• After this weekend's action, the Spartans close out regular-season action with a single game at Michigan on Tuesday, May 17 at Ann Arbor, with first pitch set for 6:30 p.m.

MSU then heads to Lincoln, Neb. for a three-game set at Nebraska, Thursday-Saturday, May 19-21, to wrap-up regular-season action, with Thursday and Friday's games starting at 7:35 p.m., before Saturday's regular-season finale at 1:05 p.m.

The Spartans' schedule is subject to change based on weather.

Along with any further schedule updates, fans can follow the games with links for live stats, live audio (when available) and live streaming of home games from Big Ten Network+ at MSUSpartans.com.

Michigan State Hosts Iowa In Final Home Series With MSU Alumni Day Saturday and Spartan Senior Day Sunday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Peter Ahn

Kyle Bischoff

Trent Farquhar

Jack Frank

Zach Iverson

Mitch Jebb

Dillon Kark

Bryce Kelley

Casey Mayes

Bailey Peterson

Ryan Szczepaniak

Conner Tomasic

Brock Vradenburg

Zaid Walker

Christian Williams

Michigan State Hosts Iowa In Final Home Series With MSU Alumni Day Saturday and Spartan Senior Day Sunday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Peter Ahn

Kyle Bischoff

Trent Farquhar

Jack Frank

Zach Iverson

Mitch Jebb

Dillon Kark

Bryce Kelley

Casey Mayes

Bailey Peterson

Ryan Szczepaniak

Conner Tomasic

Brock Vradenburg

Zaid Walker

Christian Williams

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