Outside of basketball hosting transfer target Anton Bonke and Pat Fitzgerald wrapping up his first spring practice window with the Spartans, there were some other things going on in Spartan Athletics this past week. Here’s a brief recap.
GYMNASTICS sent Nikki Smith, Sage Kellerman, and Gabi Ortiz to compete individually at the 2026 NCAA Championships in Fort Worth, TX.
Smith qualified for the all-around competition and finished her collegiate career with an eighth-place finish. Faith Torrez from Oklahoma
took the top spot in the all-around competition while the Sooners also claimed the team national championship.
Ortiz competed in the floor exercise and finished 53rd with a score of 9.800. Olympian Jordan Chiles from UCLA won the event with a 9.975.
Kellerman competed in both the uneven bars, where she finished 22nd, and vault where scored a 9.800 that was good for 41st place.
MEN’S TENNIS picked up wins against Indiana and Purdue over the weekend and secured a Big Ten Title and the number-one seed in the Conference Tournament. The Spartans will begin post-season action against either Oregon or Indiana on March 3 in Ojai, CA.
WOMEN’S TENNIS fell to Michigan at home on Saturday and failed to qualify for the Big Ten Tournament, which begins later this week. Michigan State finishes the spring duals season at 11-12 overall and 4-9 in the Big Ten.
MEN’S and WOMEN’S GOLF were both in Columbus, OH over the weekend. The women finished fourth of 14 teams at the Buckeye Invitational while the men were eighth of 16 teams at the Robert Kepler Collegiate.
The men will remain in Ohio for one more day, teeing off at the Muirfield Shootout in Dublin, OH later today. These will be the Spartans’ final rounds before the Big Ten Championships, which take place May 1-3 in North Plains, OR.
The women’s Big Ten Championship is next weekend, from April 24-26, at the Oakmont Country Club in Glendale, CA.
BASEBALL had a busy week, starting with an 11-9 loss to Oakland on Tuesday before having Wednesday’s scheduled game against Western Michigan canceled due to bad weather.
Over the weekend, MSU Baseball made their first-ever trip to the state of Washington, where took two of three games from the Huskies. The Spartans won in Seattle by a scores of 6-4 on Friday and 13-8 on Saturday but were unable to get the sweep when Washington closed the series with an 8-5 win on Sunday.
This week, MSU (14-23 overall; 8-13 B1G) hosts Notre Dame for a single game on Wednesday and then Maryland comes to McClane Stadium for a three game weekend series.
Unfortunately, a rough season continued for SOFTBALL as the Spartans were swept at Northwestern this weekend. Michigan State (15-28; 2-15) dropped an 8-7 decision in the middle game of the series on Saturday but failed to score a run on Friday and Sunday while giving up a combined 18 runs to the Wildcats in those two games.
ROWING was at Lake Natoma near Sacramento, CA for the Big Ten Invitational Regatta on Saturday and Sunday. A Big Ten Invitational event in Sacramento still sounds odd but, nevertheless, the Spartans lined up with Big Ten foes Washington, Wisconsin, USC, Ohio State, and Indiana as well as non-conference competitors Oregon State, Sacramento State, Washington State, Notre Dame, and San Diego.
In the Saturday morning session, the Spartans’ varsity eight crew bested Sacramento State and Wisconsin but finished behind Washington and Oregon State. The finish order was exactly the same for MSU’s second varsity eight.
On Saturday afternoon, the 1V8 improved to a second-place finish behind USC but ahead of Washington State, San Diego, and Wisconsin again. The 2V8 settled for another third-place behind Washington State and USC but ahead of San Diego and Wisconsin.
The Spartans had a rougher go of it in the final racing session on Sunday morning. The 1V8 was fourth of five ahead of Notre Dame but back of Ohio State, Oregon State, and Indiana while the 2V8 ended their regatta with a fifth-place finish.
The Spartans next race at the Dale England Cup in Bloomington, IN on May 2.
