Spartans Spending Spring Break In South Carolina, Starting In Charleston

MICHIGAN STATE (4-3, 0-0 B1G) at College of Charleston (4-3, 0-0 Colonial), at Charleston Southern (3-6, 0-0 Big South), vs Air Force (2-7, 0-0 MW)
Teams	Michigan State, College of Charleston, Charleston Southern, Air Force
Location	Baseball Stadium at Patriots Point \|\| Nielsen Field at CSU Ballpark \|\| Shipyard Park // Charleston, S.C.
Tickets	College of Charleston Tickets \| Charleston Southern - Free Admission \| Shipyard Park
Weather	High/Low - Fri: 79^° / 62^° \| Sat: 78^° / 53^° \| Sun: 71^° / 55^° \| Mon: 76^° / 62^°
Game Notes	MICHIGAN STATE \| COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON \| CHARLESTON SOUTHERN \| AIR FORCE
Social Media	@MSUbaseball \| MichiganStateBaseball @msu_baseball
Television	None
Game 1	MSU at College of Charleston \| Friday, March 3 \| 4 p.m. ET
Probable Pitching Matchup	CofC: #24 SR RHP Ty Good (0-1, 6.48 ERA) MSU: #16 FR LHP Joseph Dzierwa (2-0, 4.22 ERA)
Coverage	Live Stats \| Watch Live
Game 2	MSU at Charleston Southern \| Saturday, March 4 \| 1:30 p.m. ET
Probable Pitching Matchup	CSU: TBA (0-0, 0.00 ERA) MSU: #17 SR RHP Andrew Carson (1-0, 4.00 ERA)
Coverage	Live Stats \| Watch Live
Game 3	MSU at College of Charleston \| Sunday, March 5 \| 1 p.m. ET
Probable Pitching Matchup	CofC: #26 FR LHP Andrew Duval (1-0, 4.50 ERA) MSU: #8 JR RHP Harrison Cook (0-0, 5.79 ERA)
Coverage	Live Stats \| Watch Live
Game 4	MSU vs. Air Force \| Monday, March 6 \| 12 p.m. ET
Probable Pitching Matchup	AF: TBA (0-0, 0.00 ERA) MSU: TBA (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Coverage	Live Stats \| Watch Live - None

• Michigan State baseball returns to South Carolina for the second of three-straight weekends in the Palmetto State, heading to Charleston, to take on College of Charleston, Charleston Southern and Air Force over four days, Friday-Monday, March 3-6 ... MSU opens against College of Charleston on Friday, March 3 in a 4 p.m. ET first pitch at the Baseball Stadium at Patriots Point ... the Spartans then play at Charleston Southern on Saturday, March 4 in a 1:30 p.m. contest at Nielsen Field at CSU Ballpark ... MSU then returns to Baseball Stadium at Patriots Point on Sunday, March 5 to face College of Charleston for the second time in the weekend, in a 1 p.m. game ... Michigan State then wraps up the extended weekend meeting Air Force on Monday, March 6 in an neutral site match-up at scenic Shipyard Park.

• Fans can follow this weekend's action with "Watch Live" and "Live Stats" links at MSUSpartans.com ... Friday and Sunday's games will streamed on flosports, while Saturday's game will be streamed on ESPN+, all three with a subscription fee.

SPARTAN STRONG
This is MSU's third weekend following the mass shooting on the East Lansing campus on the night of Monday, Feb. 13, when three MSU students were killed and five were hospitalized. Michigan State University canceled classes the remainder of the week following the deaths of the three students – juniors Arielle Anderson and Alexandria Verner and sophomore Brian Fraser.

Michigan State players are wearing "Spartan Strong" stickers on their helmets in a tribute of the three lives lost and for the five students still hospitalized, and several players have personal tributes as well.

Classes resumed on Monday, Feb. 20.

MEDIA ADVISORY (when discussing the events of Monday, Feb. 13)
• Can describe the shooting that happened on Feb. 13 as "The violence the Michigan State community experienced."
• Refrain from or be spare with the use of adjectives: Horrific, senseless, devastating, etc.
• Please use "students" instead of "victims."
• Referring to this event as "a tragedy" is okay. Saying "tragic loss of life" is also okay.

CAROLINA IN MY MIND AND TRAVEL ITINERARY
• MSU's travel theme music for the last week and the next two weeks is James Taylor's "Carolina In My Mind" as this weekend's opening weekend of Michigan State's Spring Break trip marks the second of three-straight weekends the Spartans will be playing in the Palmetto State.

Last week, MSU was in the OneSpartanburg, Inc. Baseball Classic Friday-Sunday, facing three different teams in three days, rotating with fellow visiting teams Northwestern and Toledo in playing at USC Upstate, Gardner-Webb and Presbyterian ... MSU opened the weekend in an all-Spartans clash vs. USC Upstate, winning, 13-6, followed by heading to Boiling Springs, N.C. to take on Gardner-Webb on Saturday, dropping a 7-3 contest in the first-ever meeting between MSU and GWU ... Michigan State concluded the weekend in the Spartanburg area with an 8-6 loss at Presbyterian on Sunday, in MSU's first visit to Clinton since 1948.

After the Air Force game Monday afternoon, Michigan State will head back to Greenville for the remainder of the week, playing at the Spartans' home-away-from home, Fluor Field, home of the Greenville Drive, where MSU will meet Wofford on Wednesday, March 8 at 1:30 p.m., prior to a day-night green and white-clad Spartan doubleheader at Fluor Field, as USC Upstate plays South Carolina in the nightcap at 6:30 p.m. ... Michigan State then hosts the First Pitch Invitational, taking on Western Carolina and Kansas in a rotating schedule March 10-12 ... MSU opens the weekend against Western Carolina on Friday, March 10 in a 2 p.m. first pitch, before a twinbil on Saturday, March 11, squaring off with Kansas at 2 p.m. and Western Carolina at 6 p.m. in the nightcap ... The Spartans then wrap up the First Pitch Invitational and its South Carolina action against Kansas on Sunday, March 12 at 12 p.m.

SPARTANS IN CHARLESTON
Michigan State is making its fourth-ever trip to Charleston, S.C., and first trip since 2020, when the Spartans played Morehead State in an all-MSU match-up for a four-game series to open the 2020 season, at Shipyard Park ... this weekend will be MSU's 12th through 15th games played in Charleston.

• The Spartans will be playing their fifth neutral site game in Charleston, having played four games at Shipyard Park, along with six previous games at Charleston Southern and one at College of Charleston ... MSU is 4-2 at Charleston Southern and 0-1 at College of Charleston, along with 4-0 at Shipyard Park, going 8-3 overall in Charleston:
            at Charleston Southern - March 14-16, 1997 - 1-2
            at College of Charleston - March 16, 1997 - 0-1
            at Charleston Southern - March 8-9, 2002 - 3-0
            at Shipyard Park - Feb. 14-17, 2020 - 4-0 vs. Morehead State

SHIPPIN' UP TO SHIPYARD PARK
• 20 acre facility surrounded by the beautiful Wando River
• Including three youth-size fields and two collegiate-size fields
• Riverfront walking path with pavilions throughout the park
• Nautical themed playground for children
• State-of-the-art indoor training facility, press boxes, scoreboards, field surfaces and covered stands
• Fantastic concessions area run by local restauranteurs

ABOUT FLUOR FIELD
Opened in 2006, Fluor Field is a 5,700-seat stadium, home of the Greenville Drive, the A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox ... Fluor Field nearly replicates the dimensions of Fenway Park, home of the Red Sox ... The ballpark has its own "Green Monster" replica, a 30-foot high wall in left field as opposed to the 37-foot one found at Fenway, and contains a manual scoreboard ... Every other dimension is to the same specifications as Fenway Park, including "Pesky's Pole" in right field ... Other than the tribute to Fenway, Fluor Field also pays tribute to the Greenville area as the ballpark's nostalgic look utilizes reclaimed bricks from local mills.

GREENVILLE / SPARTAN CONNECTIONS
• Owner/President of the Greenville Drive is MSU alum Craig Brown, who was the 2016 Alumnus of the Year at the Michigan State First Pitch Dinner ... In the winter of 2017, Craig and his wife, Vicki (Huber) Brown, were named the Michigan State University Alumni Association's Philanthropists of the Year ... Craig Brown earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in the Eli Broad College of Business, majoring in accounting, in 1973 ... Vicki Brown earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in the College of Education, majoring in special education, in 1975.

As President of the Greenville Drive, Mr. Brown focuses on the activities that result in the Drive being part of the fabric of the community ... Fluor Field, which just celebrated its 10th anniversary season, is one of a handful of privately owned stadiums in America and was named Ballpark of the Year upon its debut in 2006 ... Mr. Brown is also the CEO of Keelers Ridge Associates (KRA), an investment and consulting firm that is engaged in entrepreneurial activities involving sports, technology, and marketing. Mr. and Mrs. Brown actively support academic and athletic programs at Michigan State ... Craig also serves on the Athletic Director's Advisory Council and chairs Spartan Innovations ... Formerly, he oversaw the MSU Foundation Board ... In recognition of their generosity, an area of the Spartan Stadium North End Zone bears their names, as does the women's baseketball head coach's office ... The Browns also belong to MSU's Empower Extraordinary President's Capital Campaign Cabinet.

• 1967 Michigan State baseball alum Bill Wooley, who was the 2020 Alumnus of the Year at the MSU Baseball First Pitch Dinner, and his wife, Mary, live in nearby Greer, South Carolina, and were in attendance at MSU's games in the Spartanburg area on Friday at USC Upstate and Sunday at Presbyterian.

Wooley was a four-year letterwinner for the Spartan baseball team from 1964-67. He was utility infielder on the freshman team in 1964 for head coach Tom Smith, before moving up to varsity and was utility infielder and team manager from 1965-67 for head coach Danny Litwhiler.

A native of Detroit, Mich., Wooley graduated from Michigan State University College of Business in 1967 with a bachelor's of business administration (BBA) with general business and marketing emphasis. Wooley began his business career in July 1967 with the Dupont Corporation, in the textile fibers division in New York City, where he worked for nine years until 1976. He joined Johnson & Johnson in the healthcare industry in 1976 with a career track in sales, product management, where he was General Manager/ Vice President for 22 years before retiring in 1998. Wooley was Chairman of the Board for NICORE, Inc. (1999-2006) and was president of the private startup company with products to treat congestive heart problems, before retiring in 2006.

Wooley was also an assistant baseball coach at Eastlake High School in Tarpon Springs, Florida for 12 years, where he coached approximately 10 players who made it to Major League Baseball, most notably utility player Chris Coghlan, who was in the Majors for 10 years, winning the Rookie of the Year Award in 2009 with the Florida Marlins, also playing for the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox.

Wooley and his wife, Mary (Bigelow), who is a 1967 MSU alum with her education degree, met at MSU in the fall term of their freshman year and dated all through college, and have been married 52 years. They have three children, twins Daniel and Deborah, and daughter Alicia, and four grandchildren.

MSU TEAM NOTES
• Michigan State is hitting .319 as a team, which leads the Big Ten and ranks 35th in the NCAA.
• The Spartans also lead the B1G and rank 43rd in the NCAA in doubles with 17 ... MSU is second in the B1G and 49th in the NCAA in doubles per game (2.43) ... the Green & White also leads the league and ranks 15th in the nation in triples (4), along with first in the conference and 15th in the country in triples per game (0.57).
• Michigan State also tops the league and ranks 27th in the nation in hits (83), and also ranks second in the conference in on-base percentage (.406).
• MSU has posted double-digit runs in two of the seven games (15 runs vs. Michigan on Feb. 17; 13 runs at USC Upstate on Feb. 24), and the Spartans have posted double-digit hits in five of the seven games, with a season-high 18 hits vs. Michigan, along with 15 hits vs. Fresno state on Feb. 19 and 15 hits at Grand Canyon on Feb. 20.

SPARTAN PLAYER NOTES
• Junior infielder Brock Vradenburg is hitting .500 (16-of-32) through the first two weekends, ranking second in the B1G and 36th in the NCAA in batting average ... Vradenburg is also tops in the B1G and sixth in the NCAA in hits per game (2.29), while ranking first in the league and eighth in the nation in total hits (16), in addition to fourth in the league in on-base percentage (.543).
• Junior infielder Trent Farquhar is first in the B1G and third in the NCAA in toughest to strike out, with just one K in 29 AB ... the Spartan second baseman is also third in the league in batting average (.448), as well as tied for first in the conference with teammate outfielder Jack Frank and tied for 36th in the country in doubles (4), also leading the league and ranking 56th in the nation in doubles per game (0.57) ... Farquhar is also tops in the B1G in on-base percentage (.556) and runs (11), while ranking second in hits (13), hits per game (1.86) and runs per game (1.57).
• Junior infielder Mitch Jebb is tied for first in the B1G and tied for seventh in the NCAA in triples (2), along with tops in the conference and 11th in the country in triples per game (0.29).
• Junior outfielder Jack Frank ranks tied for first in the conference with teammate infielder Trent Farquhar and tied for 36th in the country in doubles (4), also leading the league and ranking 56th in the nation in doubles per game (0.57) ... Frank is also fourth in the league in stolen bases (4) and fourth in the conference in stolen bases per game (0.57).
• Freshman pitcher Joseph Dzierwa is tied for first in the B1G and tied for fifth in the NCAA in victories (2) ... Dzierwa retired 13 USC Upstate batters in a row, with a 3-up, 3-down inning in each of the second, third and fourth innings, boosted by a pitcher's best friend of a 6-4-3 double play in the third, along with facing four batters in the fifth retiring 14 out of 15 batters.
• Redshirt-sophomore pitcher Dominic Pianto is tops in the B1G and 28th in the NCAA in WHIP (0.58), while also ranking third in the league and 69th in the nation in walks allowed/9 inn. (0.87).

OPENING WEEK IN THE DESERT
• MSU started the season at the 2023 MLB Desert Invitational in the Phoenix, Arizona area, beginning with a 15-8 win over Michigan in the season-opener on Feb. 17, then split a day-night doubleheader with Fresno State, winning 7-4, and Arizona, losing 7-1, to wrap up the Desert Invite action ... the Spartans then wrapped up the extended weekend with a 7-1 win at Grand Canyon on Monday, the same GCU team that upset No. 2 Tennessee on Saturday night ... MSU playing its third game in 24 hours, after playing a day-night doubleheader on Sunday that started at 1 p.m. MT / 3 p.m. ET, beating Fresno State, 7-4, Sunday afternoon before losing to Arizona, 7-1, in the night cap, then taking on Grand Canyon in an 11 a.m. MT / 1 p.m. ET start time, before MSU flew home to East Lansing Monday evening.

SEASON-OPENING SUCCESS
• The 15-8 Victory for MSU over Michigan in the season-opener marked the fourth time in the last five seasons that the Spartans were victorious in their season-opener, getting back on the winning track after dropping last year's lid-lifter at UNLV following winning the previous three openers ... overall, MSU is 12-3 in the 15 season-openers under Coach Boss, only losing in 2013 vs. Furman, 2018 at Fresno State and 2022 at UNLV.

TWO MSU BASEBALL PLAYERS EARN BIG TEN WEEKLY HONORS
• Michigan State baseball players Brock Vradenburg and Dominic Pianto both collected weekly award honors from the Big Ten Conference, the league office announced on Feb. 21 for the opening week of the season. Vradenburg garnered Player of the Week accolades, while Pianto was tabbed Co-Pitcher of the Week.

Both Vradenburg and Pianto collected their first career weekly B1G honors for their performances over the weekend in Phoenix, helping MSU to a 3-1 record, marking the third-straight season that the Spartans have opened 3-1 or better. Vradenburg is MSU's first B1G Player of the Week Award since Mitch Jebb collected the honor on March 16 of last season, while Pianto is the first Spartan to earn B1G Pitcher of the Week since Sam Benschoter on April 27, 2021.

Vradenburg, a junior from Pasadena, Calif., hit .556 (10-for-18) for the weekend with four RBI, seven runs scored, with a double and triple, and also drawing two walks. He posted a .600 on-base percentage for the weekend, along with a .722 slugging percentage, logging three hits in three of the four games and had two RBI each in a pair of games, along with scoring at least two runs in three of the four games, adding three runs in the win over Fresno State.

The Spartans' first baseman started the season and the weekend going 3-for-5 with two ribbies and two runs scored in MSU's emotional win over Michigan, the Spartans' first game after the shooting on campus at MSU, as the Spartans rallied from down 5-1. He knocked in MSU first run of game with an RBI single in the first inning, then after drawing a walk in the third frame, roped a triple to the right-center gap in the fifth to spark the Spartan comeback, later scoring a run as well. In the eighth, he again sparked the rally leading off the inning with a single to center and two batters later scored the Spartans' first run of the inning, and later batted again in the inning, reaching on an RBI fielder's choice, part of a seven-run stanza.

Vradenburg went 3-for-4 with three runs scored in the 7-1 Victory for MSU over Fresno State, including giving MSU the 3-2 lead when he scored in the third after a walk. He also sparked a Spartan rally in the fifth with a single to lead off the frame, coming around to score from first on a double by Jack Frank, then knocked a ground-rule double in the seventh into the bullpen down the right-field line. In the ninth, he laced a single and later came around to score MSU's final run of the game to secure the 7-4 win.

In the loss to Arizona, Vradenburg knocked his lone hit in the game with a single in the sixth.

He wrapped up the weekend going 3-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored in the 7-1 win over Grand Canyon, the same team that beat No. 2 Tennessee on Saturday. Vradenburg got MSU's scoring going with an RBI single in the third inning for the Spartans' first run of the day, and came around to score the second and last run of the inning as the Spartans took a 2-0 lead. He started the Spartan rally in the seventh by leading off with a single and came around to score on a sac fly, and capped weekend with an RBI single in the eighth.

Pianto, a redshirt-sophomore relief pitcher from Hendersonville, Tenn., came on with two on and two outs in the first inning with MSU already down 2-0 to Fresno State in Sunday's game. He then went the remaining 8.1 innings of relief for a new career-long outing, ringing up a career-high tying four strikeouts, with just three hits and only yielding one earned run without a walk, as MSU rallied for a 7-4 triumph

The Spartan hurler rang up a total of five 3-up, 3-down innings in the eight innings he started the frame, starting with opening the second with back-to-back strikeouts, then worked around a one-out single in the fourth, another in-order inning in the fourth and fifth, ending with another K, before some defensive miscues led to Bulldog base runners in the sixth and scoring two runs, one earned, before getting out of the jam by fielding position on a comebacker and starting a 1-6-3 double play to end the inning. After retiring Fresno State in order in the seventh and eighth, he worked around a one-out single in the ninth, getting a popup and flyout to end the game and seal the Victory for MSU.

DOUBLE THE SPARTAN B1G AWARDS
• With Brock Vradenburg winning B1G Player of the Week and Dominic Pianto winning B1G Pitcher of the Week, it marked the first time since April 29, 2013 that two Spartan players collected weekly honors in the same week, when Blaise Salter collected Freshman of the Week accolades and Andrew Waszak was tabbed Pitcher of the Week ... it was the first time since Feb. 28, 2011 that two Spartans won both the Player and Pitcher awards in the same week, when Brandon Ecklerle was named the Player of the Week, while Kurt Wunderlich was the Pitcher of the Week.

MAYES MAKING MARK
• Last season, senior outfielder Casey Mayes led not just MSU, but also the B1G as part of ranking tied for third in the NCAA with seven triples ... Mayes picked up right where he left off, knocking a triple in game two in MSU's 7-4 win over Fresno State.

The triple vs. Fresno State was the 10th career triple for Mayes, moving into the MSU Career Top 10 Triples list, tying for No. 9 with Chris Roberts (2007-10), Alex Gagin (1989-92) and Abe Eliowitz (1931-33).

PROFESSIONAL STADIUM EXPERIENCE
• The Spartans opening weekend's three games of the MLB Desert Invitational were Michigan State's first games played in two different professional stadiums ... overall, MSU is slated to play eight official games and one exhibition contest in four different professional stadiums.

The Spartans will also play five games this season at their home-away-from-home, Fluor Field, in Greenville, S.C., home of the Greenville Drive, taking on Wofford (March 8), then hosting the 2023 First Pitch Invitational on March 10-12 against Western Carolina and Kansas.

Michigan State will take on the Lansing Lugnuts, the High-A affiliate of the Oakland A's, in the 2023 Crosstown Showdown on April 4 at Jackson Field in an exhibition game.

Last season, MSU played in five different professional stadiums, and playing 15 official games, along with one exhibition contest.

The Spartans 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.

Michigan State played at Penn State at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park, home of the State College Spikes minor league team, losing all three ballgames with the Nittany Lions May 8-9 ... MSU then played Nebraska at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park in Lincoln, home of the Lincoln Saltdogs of the American Association of Professional Baseball.

MICHIGAN STATE ONE OF 10 SCHOOLS WITH A CFP, MF4 AND CWS APPEARANCE
• Michigan State is one of 10 schools in the country with a College Football Playoff, Men's Basketball Final Four appearance and a College World Series appearance, including one of three Big Ten Conference schools:

Michigan State
Florida State
Georgia
LSU
Michigan
Notre Dame
Ohio State
Oklahoma
Oregon
Washington

TRIO OF SPARTANS EARN B1G PRESEASON PLAYERS TO WATCH ACCOLADES
• Three Michigan State baseball players earned Big Ten Preseason Players to Watch honors, as the conference announced its preseason honors list and preseason poll on Thursday, ahead of Friday's 2023 season-opening action around the conference.

The conference coaches voted on the top six teams and also selected three student-athletes from their own squads to a Preseason Honors list.

Junior infielders Trent Farquhar and Mitch Jebb, along with senior outfielder Casey Mayes garnered preseason recognition.

Farquhar, a native of Highland, Mich., is now a two-time Preseason All-B1G honoree, after earning recognition last season ... he also has garnered B1G honors in the classroom, as he is a two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree and also earned Big Ten Distinguished Scholar accolades.

The Spartans' primary second baseman was the recipient of the Danny Litwhiler Defensive Player of the Year MSU Team Award for the second-straight year ... Last season, he started all 54 games at second base, leading the Big Ten in fielding double plays with 39, helping MSU lead the B1G and rank fifth in the NCAA with 53 double plays, as well as leading the conference and ranking sixth in the country with 0.98 double plays per game ... For the season, Farquhar posted 143 assists and 115 putouts.

At the plate, Farquhar hit .271 with 29 RBI in 2022, as well as ranking tied for second on the team with six home runs, including the first grand slam of his Spartan career in MSU's season-finale at Nebraska on May 21 ... Farquhar was also second on the team with a .392 on-base percentage, 34 walks and eight hit by pitches, along with third in both runs scored (37) and doubles (13) ... He had a nine-game hitting streak (March 29 - April 13), ranking fourth on the Spartan squad, as well as ranking second with an 18-game reached base streak ... Farquhar was also fourth on the team in multiple hit games (14) and tied for fourth in multiple RBI games (6).

Jebb, a native of Saginaw, Mich., is also a two-time Preseason All-B1G award collector ... The Spartans' primary shortstop also earned Third-Team All-Big Ten Conference honors in 2022 and named to Big Ten All-Freshman Team in 2021.

Jebb has been tabbed to several 2023 preseason MLB Prospects lists, including No. 44 on MLB's Top 100 Prospects; No. 60 on d1baseball.com's College Top 100 Prospects and the No. 76 MLB Draft Prospect by ProspectsLive.

He is coming off a big summer of 2022 in which he finished ranked No. 3 on Baseball America's Top 50 Cape Cod League Prospects list, after helping the Harbor Hawks to the West Division Championship series, ending with a 22-16-6 record, hitting .356 in 149 at-bats, leading the Harbor Hawks with eight doubles and three triples, while swiping 26 stolen bases ... Jebb was also elected to the West Division All-Star Team for the 2022 Cape Cod League All-Star Game for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks.

Jebb was selected as the 2022 MSU John Kobs Most Valuable Player Award recipient as well as the Kirk Gibson Offensive Player of the Year for the team awards ... He led MSU and ranked tied for eighth in the B1G with a .356 average, also topping the team and ranking fifth in the B1G with 78 hits ... Additionally, Jebb led the team in stolen bases and walks, ranking eighth in the conference with 20 stolen bases and sixth in the league with 38 walks ... He was tied for second on team with six home runs ... Furthermore, Jebb led the B1G and ranked 17th in the NCAA in toughest to strikeout - with just one K every 13.7 ABs - on just 16 Ks in 209 ABs.

He also tied for second on the team and tied for seventh in the B1G with three triples ... Jebb also had MSU's longest hitting streak (14 games) and reached base streak (19 games), along with team-high for multiple hit games (23) and multiple RBI games (12) ... The Spartan shortstop started the season on a 14-game hitting streak that was part of a 21-game hitting streak dating back to the last seven games of 2021 season ... He also had an eight-game hitting streak (April 29-May 11) and a seven-game hitting streak (April 17-26), as well as finishing the season with a six-game hitting streak (May 14-21), ending the year with at least one hit in 14 of the last 15 games, 29 of last 34 games ... Jebb did not go hitless in back-to-back games during the last 34-game stretch of the season, with that 34-game streak coming after only a stretch of consecutive games without a hit in a three-game spurt (March 25-27) during three-game Illinois series, one of only two teams that didn't have a hit against, joining one game vs. Purdue Fort Wayne ... He had at least one hit in 45 of the 54 games.

In the field, the Spartan shortstop was third in the B1G with 29 fielding double plays, and sixth in assists with 138 ... He was named Big Ten Player of the Week on March 16, for first career B1G weekly honor, for performance during MSU's four games during the week of March 7-13 in Greenville, South Carolina at Fluor Field, highlighted by belting two HR in the same game including a leadoff HR and then a two-run walk-off HR to cap the Spartan comeback in a 10-8 Victory for MSU over Cincinnati, for first multi-HR game of career.

Mayes, a Wichita, Kan. native, earns his first B1G recognition for playing, as he is a three-time Academic All-Big Ten and Big Ten Distinguished Scholar honoree, and recipient of the MSU Scholar-Athlete Award at the Spartan Academic Excellence Gala (April 11, 2022), for having the highest GPA on the baseball team ... He also earned the Jerry Sutton Student-Athlete MSU Team Award.

In 2022, Mayes started all 54 games, and was one of three Spartans to do so, joining Jebb and Farquhar ... Mayes made 49 starts in left field and five starts at DH ... He led MSU and the Big Ten as part of ranking tied for third in the NCAA with seven triples, including two in the Penn State series and added one at Michigan on May 17, scoring on an error on the play for a "Little League" home run.

Mayes also ranked second on the team with a .306 average, additionally ranking second on the team in hits (68), third in total bases (104), tied for third in stolen bases (11), fourth in slugging percentage (.468), fifth in home runs (4), runs scored (29) and RBI (28), and tied for fifth in doubles (10) ... He was also second on team with 21 multiple hit games with two hits in 15 games and three hits in six games.

The Spartan outfielder opened the season with a season-long eight-game hitting streak (Feb. 18-March 4), including six multiple-hit games in that stretch, highlighted by back-to-back three-hit outings in games against UNLV (Feb. 19 and 20) along with four games with two hits, including in all three games of the series at Abilene Christian (Feb. 27 and 28), going 6-for-11 with a double and triple in the three games.

He knocked in multiple RBI in six games to tie for third on the team, with two ribbies in four games, while driving in a career-high tying three RBI in two other games ... Additionally, he tallied three games with multiple extra-base hits ... In the outfield, Mayes made 90 putouts and had one assist.

BIG BATS RETURNING
• Michigan State returns its top five players in seven different offensive categories at the plate: batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, runs, hits, home runs and RBI.

All five of the Spartans' top average hitters return in Mitch Jebb (.356), Casey Mayes (.306), Jack Frank (.294), Brock Vradenburg (.280), Bryan Broecker (.271).

MSU also returns its top five in slugging percentage in Frank (.527), Jebb (.511), Christian Williams (.470), Mayes (.468) and Vradenburg (.446).

The Green & White also has its top five in on-base percentage back in Jebb (.448), Trent Farquhar (.392), Frank (.376), Vradenburg (.363) and Broecker (.358).

In runs scored, MSU has tops five returns in Frank and Jebb (38), Farquhar (37), Broecker (31) and Mayes (29).

Jebb also tops the five Spartan returners in hits (78), followed by Mayes (68), Frank (59), Farquhar (56) and Broecker (48).

In home runs, Frank led the way (9), preceding Farquhar and Jebb (6), Vradenburg (5) and Mayes (4).

Additionally, Jebb topped the team in RBI (46), followed by Frank (34), Vradenburg and Farquhar (29) and Mayes (28).

ALMOST ALL ROUND-TRIPPERS RETURNING
• Along with the top five for home runs last year, Michigan State returns 92.3 percent of its home runs from 2022, returning 36 of the 39 home runs from a year ago.

BIG RETURNS ON MOUND
• Michigan State's pitching staff also has big returns, with 68.9 percent of its strikeout totals returning, led by its top three for punchouts, led by team-leader, right-hander Harrison Cook (50), along with southpaw Nick Powers (45) ... While the Spartans lost the number four and five spots on the team totals, they do have the number six spot back in righty Ryan Szczepaniak (35).

Additionally, the Spartan pitchers have the top three for batters struck out looking back in staff-leaders Cook and Carson (18), along with Powers (13).

The Green & White also has a majority of its starts and innings pitched returning, including four of the top five, led by numbers one and two in Cook (13), followed by Powers (11), along with fourth in Szczepaniak (8) and tied for fifth in Aidan Arbaugh (4) ... overall, the Spartans have 72.2 percent (39 of 54) of their starts returning.

For innings pitched, MSU has four of the top five back in number two Powers (58.2), followed by Cook (53.2), Rush (43.2) and Szczepaniak (42.1) ... overall, the Green & White pitchers have 66.6 percent (313.1 of 470.2 IP) of their inning pitched back in 2023.

UP NEXT
• MSU will continue its Spring Break trip heading back to Greenville for the remainder of the week, playing at the Spartans' home-away-from home, Fluor Field, home of the Greenville Drive ... MSU plays at College of Charleston on Friday, March 3; at Charleston Southern on Saturday, March 4; then back at College of Charleston on Sunday, March 5 ... the Spartans then play Air Force in a neutral-site meeting on Monday, March 6 at Shipyard Park ... Michigan State then heads to Greenville, S.C. to play at Fluor Field, where MSU will meet Wofford on Wednesday, March 8, before hosting the First Pitch Invitational, taking on Western Carolina and Kansas in a rotating schedule March 10-12 ... MSU's weekend schedule is subject to change.

Michigan State will return home to campus on the night of Sunday, March 12, then have a week of practice before playing at Indiana State in a three-game series, March 17-19, in Terre Haute, Ind. ... MSU will then play its first game in the state of Michigan on March 22, heading to Kalamazoo to meet in-state foe Western Michigan ... the Spartans then host their home opener at McLane Stadium at Kobs Field on March 24, hosting Purdue in MSU's Big Ten Opener in the first of a three-game conference series, March 24-26.

Spartans Spending Spring Break In South Carolina, Starting In Charleston

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Aidan Arbaugh

Bryan Broecker

Andrew Carson

Harrison Cook

Joseph Dzierwa

Trent Farquhar

Jack Frank

Mitch Jebb

Casey Mayes

Dominic Pianto

Nick Powers

Ryan Szczepaniak

Brock Vradenburg

Christian Williams

Spartans Spending Spring Break In South Carolina, Starting In Charleston

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Aidan Arbaugh

Bryan Broecker

Andrew Carson

Harrison Cook

Joseph Dzierwa

Trent Farquhar

Jack Frank

Mitch Jebb

Casey Mayes

Dominic Pianto

Nick Powers

Ryan Szczepaniak

Brock Vradenburg

Christian Williams

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