Michigan State Hosts Minnesota This Weekend In Three-Game Set

MICHIGAN STATE (18-21, 3-9 B1G) vs MINNESOTA (12-27, 2-10 B1G)
Location	McLane Stadium at Kobs Field \|\| East Lansing, Mich.
Tickets	MSU Ticket Office
Weather	High/Low - Fri: 60^° / 42^° \| Sat: 61^° / 51^° \| Sun: 70^° / 50^°
Game Notes	MICHIGAN STATE \| MINNESOTA
Social Media	@MSUbaseball \| MichiganStateBaseball @msu_baseball
Television	None
Game 1	Friday, April 29 - 6:35 p.m. ET
Probable Pitching Matchup	MINN: #44 JR RHP Sam Ireland (4-3, 4.14 ERA) MSU: #31 JR RHP Conner Tomasic (2-1, 4.93 ERA)
Coverage	Live Stats \| Watch Live Through Big Ten Network+ \| Listen Live through Spartan Media Network
Game 2	Saturday, April 30 - 4:05 p.m. ET - MILITARY APPRECIATION DAY
Probable Pitching Matchup	MINN: #40 G-SR RHP J.P. Massey (2-5, 5.60 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 1 - 1:05 p.m. ET - STRIKEOUT MD DAY
Probable Pitching Matchup	MINN: #22 R-JR RHP Aidan Maldonado (1-3, 4.14 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 Minnesota This Weekend In Three-Game Set

• Michigan State baseball hosts Minnesota in a three-game Big Ten Conference weekend series, Friday-Sunday April 29-May 1 at McLane Stadium at Kobs Field ... The series between the Spartans and Golden Gophers opens Friday at 6:35 p.m., before Saturday's second game of the series at 4:05 p.m. and wraps up on Sunday in a 1:05 p.m. slated start time ... The weekend schedule is subject to change based on weather.

• Fans can follow the weekend 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.

400 FOR BOSS
• MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. collected career win No. 400 on Sunday in the Spartans' 11-7 Victory for MSU at Northwestern ... Boss now has 402 career wins, with 377 wins in his 14th season at MSU (2009-pres.), and 25 wins in his lone season at Eastern Michigan (2008)).

QUICK HITTERS
• Michigan State enters the weekend 18-21 overall and 3-9 in B1G play ... MSU is riding a three-game win streak into the weekend, matching the Spartans' longest win streak of the season for the third time, joining Feb. 19-20 with three wins at UNLV, and March 18-20 with a three-game sweep of the home series with Houston Baptist ... The Spartans have won five of their last seven

• The current three-game win streak has come against three different teams with Sunday's 11-7 win at Northwestern, Tuesday's 6-2 victory over No. 12 Notre Dame at Comerica Park in Detroit, and Wednesday's 7-4 win over Purdue Fort Wayne.

• Michigan State's 7-6 win over Eastern Michigan on April 20 was MSU's fifth one-run win and the Spartans are now 5-3 in one-run games ... MSU 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 last Sunday's 11-7 win at Northwestern, as well as both of last 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 seven come-from-behind wins on the season.

• Michigan State's 11 runs in Sunday's win at Northwestern improve the Spartans to 8-0 when posting double-digit runs this season ... Sunday 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 13-2 when leading after seven innings and 15-0 when leading after eight innings ... MSU has out-scored its opponents, 31-26 in the eighth inning and 25-16 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 leads the B1G and ranks tied for 10th in the NCAA with nine saves.

• Bischoff picked up two saves and a win last week in three appearances ... He picked up 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, the most by a Spartan reliever since 2017 when Riley McCauley had nine in 2017 ... The nine saves puts Bischoff in the B1G lead and tied for 10th in the NCAA ... Bischoff 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.

• Sophomore outfielder Jack Frank and junior outfielder Casey Mayes have tied junior outfielder Zaid Walker for the active player HR lead ... Frank bashed his seventh HR of his career in the April 19 win over Oakland ... Frank leads the team with six HR this season ... Mayes knocked two HRs in consecutive days over the weekend at Northwestern, now with three round-trippers on the season.

• Sophomore infielder Mitch Jebb leads the Big Ten and ranks 23rd in the NCAA in toughest to strikeout - with just one K every 13.0 ABs ... Jebb also has 29 walks, for a 2.4 walks-strikeout ratio, as well as drawing a free pass in 18.6 percent of his at bats, with a walk every 5.4 ABs.

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 leads the Big Ten Conference and ranks tied for 10th in the NCAA with nine saves ... The Spartan reliever picked up his ninth save Wednesday night 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 in 16 appearances, registering 26 strikeouts and nine walks in 26.0 IP.

Last week, Bischoff picked up a pair of saves and a win in three appearances ... 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 Sunday's 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.

A GLANCE AT THE GOLDEN GOPHERS
Minnesota totes a 12-27 overall and 2-10 B1G mark into the weekend ... The Golden Gophers are coming off a six-game homestand in which they went 2-4, dropping two of three in a weekend B1G series with Penn State, winning Friday's opener, 7-3, before dropping Saturday's game 5-1 and Sunday's contest, 6-5 ... Minnesota then got doubled up by South Dakota State, 12-6, on Tuesday, before blanking St. Thomas, 9-0, on Wednesday.

Sophomore outfielder Brett Bateman leads the Gopher offense hitting .329, also topping the team in hits (53) and stolen bases (17), adding six doubles, two triples and 10 RBI ... Senior catcher/infielder Jack Kelly has a .321 average, leading Minnesota in RBI (34) and slugging percentage (.582), while sharing the team-lead in doubles (11).

Game one's probable starter is junior right-hander Sam Ireland, who brings a 4-3 record with a 4.14 ERA into the weekend ... Ireland leads Minnesota with 64 strikeouts in a team-high 54.1 IP, with 29 walks and a .234 BAA in 10 starts ... Saturday's starter is graduate-senior J.P. Massey, who is 2-5 with a 5.60 ERA, logging 46 Ks and 29 BB in 45.0 IP, making nine starts in 10 appearances, yielding a .226 average to the opposition ... Redshirt-junior righty Aidan Maldonado is slated to start the series finale, with a 1-3 record and a 4.14 ERA, with 57 strikeouts and 24 walks in 50.0 IP, making nine starts in 10 appearances, posting a .226 BAA.

Legendary Gophers' head coach John Anderson is in his 41st year leading Minnesota, amassing a 1,343-955-3 record ... Anderson has the most wins among active head coaches at all NCAA levels, as well as No. 13 overall among all-time Division I head baseball coaches and No. 17 overall among all NCAA divisions with the 1,343 wins ... Anderson has guided the Gophers to 11 regular season Big Ten titles and a conference-best ten Big Ten Tournament titles.

400 FOR BOSS
• MSU head coach Jake Boss picked up career win No. 400 on Sunday, April 24 with the Spartans' 11-7 Victory for MSU at Northwestern ... Boss now has 402 career wins with 375 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 404 (247 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 is the first of back-to-back weekend's against fellow active Big Ten head coaches wth 400+ career wins against the coach with the most in the Big Ten with 1,343 in Minnesota's John Anderson, followed by next weekend at Penn State and Ron Cooper with 451 wins.

Current Big Ten Head Coaches By Career Wins
John Anderson - Minnesota    1,343
Steve Owens - Rutgers            974
Rich Heller - Iowa        954
Greg Beals - Ohio State           581
Dan Hartleb - Illinois   497
Rob Cooper - Penn State         451
Jake Boss Jr. - Michigan State           402

THIS IS SPARTA... 300 Ks FOR SPARTANS
• The Spartan pitching staff topped the 300 strikeouts mark with six punchouts in Wednesday's win, now with 301 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.       2010    335
            13.       2011    332
            14.       1987    324
            15.       1971    322
            16.      1993    315
           17.       2001    312
           18.       1988    306
            19.       2022    301

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 ... 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 16 appearances, ringing up 26 strikeouts in 26.0 IP (9.00 K/9).

ACTIVE HR LEADERS
• Sophomore outfielder Jack Frank smacked his team-leading sixth home run of the season in Tuesday's win ... Frank now has seven round-trippers for his career after one last season ... The seven home runs is tied junior outfielder Zaid Walker for the most among active Spartans, and junior outfielder Casey Mayes joined the leader group over the weekend, as he bashed two home runs in successive days, as he now has three round-trippers this season and seven for his career.

HITS AND RUNS AND HITS AND RUUUUUNNNNNSSSSS
• Michigan State knocked 12 hits in the April 24 win at Northwestern, after logging 10 hits on April 20 vs. Eastern Michigan and 11 knocks vs. Oakland on April 19 ... MSU also posted 10 hits in the game vs. Michigan on April 17 and also knocked 12 hits in game two of the doubleheader at Ohio State on April 10 ... MSU now has 20 games with double-digit hits, as the Spartans are now 12-8 when registering 10 or more hits, winning their last three outings 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 won both of last week's 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.

Those two wins give MSU five one-run wins overall this season, as Michigan State also swept the three-game series with Houston Baptist in its 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 ... The Spartans are now 5-3 in 1-run contests.

With MSU's 10-8 comeback win at Ohio State on April 10, the Spartans are now also 3-3 in 2-run games.

DOUBLE PLAYS A PLENTY
• Michigan State turned one double play in the win over Purdue Fort Wayne, now with six double plays in the last eight games ... MSU added one double play on April 23 at Northwestern, and one in the April 20 win over Eastern Michigan, along with flipping three double plays vs. Michigan on April 17, and also turned a total of six double plays in the three game at Ohio State, highlighted by three on April 9 ... MSU leads the Big Ten and ranks 46th in the NCAA in total double plays with 31, as well as ranking second in the league and 54th in the nation in double plays per game (0.79).

THREE-BAGGERS GALORE
• Michigan State has slid to fourth in the Big Ten and ranks 50th in the NCAA in triples with 12 ... The Spartans also rank fourth in the league and 58th in the nation in triples per game with 0.31.

Individually, junior outfielder Casey Mayes is tied for third in the B1G with three triples, ranking tied for 67th in the NCAA, while junior outfielder Peter Ahn, sophomore infielder Mitch Jebb and redshirt-freshman catcher Christian Williams are 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 23rd in the NCAA as toughest to strike out, with just 12 Ks in 156 ABs (13.0 AB/strikeout).

JEBBIN' ON THE BASEPATHS
• Jebb leads MSU and ranks seventh in the B1G with 14 stolen bases ... Jebb's 14 swipes are the most by a Spartan since 2019 when Bryce Kelley had 18 and Marty Bechina had 13.

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 27 home runs in 29 games, an average of 0.69 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 already has six 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 301 Ks in 39 games, an average of 7.7 K/game, compared to 346 strikeouts in 44 games last season, an average of 7.86 K/game.

MSU's ERA is also nearly even from a season ago, posting a 5.79 ERA through 39 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.

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.

Farquhar hit .462 (6-for-13) for the weekend with two RBI and two runs scored, as well as solid play all weekend at second base, featuring a running, somersaulting catch in shallow center field in the second inning of Friday's win over Kansas. He had multiple hits in the Kansas and West Virginia games as Farquhar now has a five-game hitting streak.

Jebb logged a .429 average (6-for-14) in the three games, including a career-high four hits and four RBI in Sunday's 9-3 win over nationally-ranked West Virginia. Jebb was a home run shy of the cycle Sunday, finishing with two triples and a double for the weekend, with 11 total bases and six RBI, adding one stolen base. Jebb joined his keystone corner mate Farquhar in solid defense all weekend as well, including snaring a line drive and stepping on second for a double play to end a bases-loaded threat in Sunday's win over WVU. Jebb has at least one hit in all 10 games this season and a 17-game hitting streak dating back to last season.

Walker posted a .455 average (5-of-11) with one double and a home run, coming on a two-run blast to left field in the second inning Friday vs. Kansas, sparking the Spartan offense on the way to an 11-2 win over the Jayhawks. Walker also had standout defense, highlighted by throwing out a runner in Sunday's win over West Virginia. Walker also had at least one hit in all three games this weekend and has a four-game hitting streak.

MSU BASEBALL TO WEAR "JP" UNIFORM PATCH TRIBUTE TO JIM PIGNATARO
Michigan State baseball head coach Jake Boss Jr. announced Thursday 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.

THREE SPARTANS GARNER BIG TEN PRESEASON PLAYERS TO WATCH RECOGNITION
Farquhar, Jebb, Walker collect kudos ahead of Friday's season-opener.
Three Michigan State baseball players earned Big Ten Preseason Players to Watch honors, as the conference announced its preseason honors list and preseason poll.

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

Sophomore infielders Trent Farquhar and Mitch Jebb were joined by junior outfielder Zaid Walker in earning preseason honors.

Farquhar, a native of Highland, Mich., earned the Danny Litwhiler Defensive Player of the Year MSU team award last season, as he made 38 starts, with 37 coming at second base and one at shortstop, posting 100 assists, 85 putouts. He was a part of 21 double plays, as MSU led the Big Ten with 41 double plays turned, ranking 45th in the NCAA, as well as leading the B1G and ranking 11th in the NCAA with 0.93 double plays per game. He posted a season-high seven assists vs. Penn State on April 9, the most by an individual fielder during the season, including having at least three putouts in 14 games, including a season-high five vs. Nebraska on April 23.

At the plate, Farquhar was the Spartans' leadoff batter in 32 games, hitting .272, including sharing the team-lead and ranking tied for 21st in the B1G in doubles with 10. He also tied for third on the team with total extra base hits with 12 on 10 doubles, one triple, and one home run, belting first collegiate home run in the Purdue game on April 12, blasting a solo shot down the right field line and into the Red Cedar River. Farquhar led MSU with a .381 on-base percentage, ranking second on the team and tied for 14th in the B1G with 24 walks, as well as ranking tied for second on the team with four hit-by-pitch.

Farquhar had a team-high 18-game on-base streak, reaching base in every game that he had an at bat from March 12-April 12, snapping the streak on April 16 by not reaching base at Illinois. He finished the 2021 season logging at least one hit in 12 of the last 16 games, having a five-game hit streak halted without a hit on May 8, but bounced back with three hits on May 9 and two knocks on May 14, then adding three hits on May 21 at Rutgers. For the season, his longest hitting streak was seven games (March 12-21), finishing with at least one hit in 28 of 39 games with an at bat. Farquhar was tied for second on the team with 11 multiple hit games, including a team-best tying nine games with two hits, as well as two games with a season-high three hits, coming on May 9 vs. Michigan, then matching it on May 21 at Rutgers. The sophomore infielder also had three multi-RBI games, which tied for third on the team, with three games with two ribbies each, most recently on April 25 vs. Nebraska.

Jebb, a native of Saginaw, Mich., was named to Big Ten All-Freshman Team last season after he posted a .276 average, sharing the team lead with two triples as part of ranking second on the team in hits (45). He also ranked third on the team with 44 starts, just one of five Spartans to play in 40+ games, missing just one game in the 2021 season.

Last season, Jebb also shared the team lead in doubles (10), while also ranking third in total bases (59), tied for third in extra-base hits with 12 on 10 doubles and two triples, fourth in runs scored (25), tied for fourth in stolen bases (4) and tied for sixth in RBI (15). He also ranked second on squad with 11 multi-hit outings, logging nine games with two hits apiece to go with season-high three hits in two contests.

With four multiple RBI games, Jebb also ranked third on MSU. He also tied for the second-longest hitting streak of the season at eight, from March 28-April 12, while ranking tied for fifth on the team in reached base streak at eight over the same span. Jebb logged a seven-game hitting streak to close out the season (May 16-30), with four multi-hit outings in that six-game span, going 12-for-28 (.429) with four doubles and two RBI.

In the field, Jebb was the Spartans' primary shortstop all season long, making all 44 of starts at short. He made 62 putouts and had a team-high 125 assists, along with being a part of 33 of MSU's 41 double plays, as the Spartans shared the B1G-lead and were tied for 11th in the NCAA in double plays per game (0.93), with the 41 DPs ranking second in the B1G.

A native of Homewood, Ill., Walker is looking to build off a successful 2021 season that saw him earn Third Team All-Big Ten accolades, as well as selected as the John Kobs Most Valuable Player Award recipient as well as the Kirk Gibson Offensive Player of the Year MSU team awards.

Last season, Walker was one of two Spartans to start and play in all 44 games, along with outfielder Bryce Kelley. He led MSU and ranked 22nd in the B1G with a .308 average, also leading the team and ranking 20th in the B1G with 31 RBI. Additionally, Walker led the team in hits (52), runs scored (29) and total bases (71), while ranking second on the team in stolen bases (7), third in both home runs (3) and on-base percentage (.367), and fifth in slugging percentage (.420). He also tied for third in total extra base hits with 12 on eight doubles, one triple and three home runs. In the 44-game season, Walker had at least one hit in 31 of the 44 games played, and also led the team with 14 multiple hit games.

Walker also led MSU with nine multiple RBI games, logging five games with two RBI and four games with three RBI. He had a stretch of three RBI twice in three games, April 11 vs. Purdue and April 16 at Illinois, also logging three ribbies on March 6 vs. Maryland.

Walker garnered the first Big Ten Player of the Week honors of his career on March 10 for his performance in the opening weekend after hitting a team-leading .462 (6-13), with five RBI and one double, logging a .538 slugging percentage and scoring three runs in helping MSU win three of four games against Maryland in Greenville in the opening weekend of the season. He had at least one hit in all four games, including going 3-for-3 with three RBI and two runs scored in MSU's 7-4 win in game one of the March 6 doubleheader, and also beat out an infield single to keep Michigan State's rally going in the seventh inning of the March 6 nightcap of the twinbill, to drive in what turned out to be the game-winning run, completing the Spartans' comeback after a 4-0 lead by Maryland, in the 5-4 Victory for MSU.

Walker also owned the longest hitting streak of the season, hitting safely in nine-straight games (March 13-27), and also owned the second-longest reached base streak of 14 in a row (March 13-April 9).

UP NEXT:
Michigan State has the week off from midweek action due to Finals Week, before the Spartans play their next five games on the road ... MSU opens the road stretch by heading to Penn State for a weekend series at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park in University Park, Pa., Friday-Sunday April 6-8 ... The Spartans and Nittany Lions open the three-game set on Friday at 6 p.m., followed by 1 p.m. start times on Saturday and Sunday.

MSU then plays at Notre Dame on May 10 and at Western Michigan on May 11, before hosting Iowa, May 13-15 in the final home games and Sunday, May 15 will be MSU's Senior Day.

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 Minnesota This Weekend In Three-Game Set

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Players Mentioned

Peter Ahn

Kyle Bischoff

Trent Farquhar

Jack Frank

Mitch Jebb

Dillon Kark

Bryce Kelley

Casey Mayes

Bailey Peterson

Ryan Szczepaniak

Conner Tomasic

Zaid Walker

Christian Williams

Michigan State Hosts Minnesota This Weekend In Three-Game Set

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Next Event

Players Mentioned

Peter Ahn

Kyle Bischoff

Trent Farquhar

Jack Frank

Mitch Jebb

Dillon Kark

Bryce Kelley

Casey Mayes

Bailey Peterson

Ryan Szczepaniak

Conner Tomasic

Zaid Walker

Christian Williams

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