MSU Gets 12th seed in B1G Tournament
Spartan baseball fans were on the brink of finality this past Saturday as the regular season finale against Minnesota was underway. MSU needed a win and a Northwestern loss to secure a spot in the B1G Tournament that gets underway on Tuesday May 20. Trailing 10-9 heading into the bottom of the ninth Jacob Anderson hit a bases loaded single to tie the game followed by Randy Seymour’s bases loaded single to walk it off as 11-10 victors. Quite an exciting way to finish the regular season and the Spartans had to wait for the late game results of UCLA vs Northwestern. Thankfully, the Bruins destroyed the Wildcats and MSU held the tie breaker to get them the final slot in the tourney, This will be the Spartans 16th time in the tourney under head coach Jake Boss Jr.
“If you’re in, you’re in and then you have a chance, so it’s a new season that starts for us on Tuesday”, said Boss. This year marks the first time the tourney will have pool play. There are four pools and each pool holds three teams. The best record of each pool advances and in case of a tie, the top seed advances. This gives the Spartans a chance to make something happen. They are pooled up with Nebraska (the 8th seed) and number one seeded Oregon. Two wins against some tough competition and then on to the next round. Nebraska is up first Tuesday May 20th at 6pm and then Oregon on Thursday at 6pm.
MSU is going to have to slow down some hot Cornhusker bats. The Huskers have 5 players batting over .300 over the last 10 games which helped them win 6 of their last 9 B1G games. Their starting pitcher, Ty Horn, has also heated up a bit. He boasts a 3.21 ERA over his last five starts which is significantly better than his 7.36 prior to those last five games. His season ERA is 5.66, which tells you he can get into some trouble.
The good news for MSU is they will be rolling out their southpaw ace Joseph Dzierwa. Dzierwa was 8-3 with a 2.31 ERA this season for the Spartans. His season has earned him his share of accolades, including a Golden Spikes semifinalist. The award is presented to the top amateur baseball player in the nation. You can vote for Dzierwa here . He is also a semifinalist for the Dick Howser trophy for player of the year. Paul Skenes won this award two years ago.
The number 4 ranked in the country Oregon Ducks will be the real test if they can get past Nebraska. The Spartans were 1-3 versus the Ducks this season. Anything can happen in the post season and if the Spartans want to make the NCAA they have to win the whole B1G tournament. Might as well knock off the big Duck in the first week.
All games will be on B1G Network. If you haven’t had a chance to watch Dzierwa pitch, I highly recommend tuning in. The Spartans also have 11 seniors who may be playing their final games this week. Go Green!