Happy Monday, TOC. Last week, we said goodbye to Lucas, who is getting ready to begin life as an MSU student and assistant coach on Pat Fitzgerald’s staff. Robbie took a deep dive on Jasiah Jervis while we graded the Anton Bonke commitment and considered the greatest Spartan comebacks of all time.
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Meanwhile, in MSU Athletics, Men’s Tennis looked poised for a deep NCAA tournament run after tying for the Big Ten regular season championship and then winning the Big Ten tournament in dramatic
fashion against Ohio State. The Spartans continued to roll in the NCAA first round against North Carolina but then couldn’t continue past #13 seed and opening rounds host South Carolina. Michigan State fell to the Gamecocks 4-1 on Saturday with Ozan Baris getting the Spartans’ only singles match victory.
MSU finishes the year at 19-9 in their spring dual matches but that really doesn’t tell the whole story. After losing their first five matches and sitting at 3-7 going into Big Ten play, Michigan State put things together to go 12-1 in the conference and then added three more wins to earn the tournament title before bowing out to South Carolina.
Baris is a senior so this was likely his last match at MSU. He leaves East Lansing after advancing to the semi-finals of the NCAA Singles championship as a sophomore before making the final and finishing as runner-up as a junior.
Track and Field ended their regular season by winning eight events at the Jesse Owens Invitational in Columbus, OH. The Spartans scored victories in the women’s javelin and hammer throw. On the men’s side, MSU finished first in the hammer throw, discuss, high jump, and 800 m while also taking the top two spots in the long jump and shot put.
Next up for Track & Field is the Big Ten championships in Lincoln, NE on May 15-17.
Baseball hosted the #1-ranked team in the nation this weekend as the UCLA Bruins came to town for a three game series. Each game was very competitive but, unfortunately, the outcome was the same as UCLA earned the series sweep. The Spartans fell by scores of 4-1, 4-3, and 13-11 in a series-concluding slugfest on Sunday.
This week, MSU hosts mid-week games against Bowling Green (Tuesday) and Western Michigan (Wednesday) before a three game weekend series at Ohio State.
Softball ended their season by getting swept by Michigan in a three game homestand. MSU was outscored by a combined 18-3 in the series. The Spartans finish the year in last place in the Big Ten with a 3-20 record and a 17-34 mark overall.
Men’s Golf competed in the Big Ten championships in North Plains, OR over the weekend. It was a rough start for MSU, as the Spartans found themselves in 18th place after day one of the three day competition. Michigan State improved to 14th on day two and finished the tournament at 22 over par, which was good for a tie for 12th place.
UCLA won the tournament with an 8 under followed by Illinois (-4) and Washington (+2).
Michigan State now has to wait to see if they will earn an NCAA tournament berth.
Women’s Golf is getting ready for the NCAA tournament, where they will compete in regional play in Chapel Hill, NC on May 11-13.
Rowing competed at the Dale England Cup in Bloomington, IN on Saturday against Indiana and Tulsa. Indiana swept the marquee events in winning the varsity eight, second varsity eight, and varsity four races.
The Spartans, however, were very competitive in the varsity eight, finishing just 2.2 seconds (about two-thirds of a boat length) behind Indiana and well ahead of Tulsa. The second varsity eight was also a close race but MSU came up a bit short in finishing 2.3 seconds back of second-place Tulsa. The Michigan State varsity four was over three seconds ahead of Tulsa but Indiana dominated the race, crossing the line with multiple lengths of open water over the Spartans.
MSU Rowing will compete at the Big Ten championships in Eagle Creek Park in Indianapolis, IN on May 16-17.
