Tuesday, April 22
East Lansing, Mich.
6:02 PM
Michigan State University
vs
Purdue Fort Wayne
Photo by: MSU Baseball Social Squad
Michigan State Wraps Up Nine-Game Homestand Tuesday Against Purdue Fort Wayne
4/21/2025 7:44:00 PM | Baseball
Spartans meet Mastodons in midweek match-up to conclude MSU’s stretch at home.
• Michigan State baseball wraps up its season-long nine-game homestand at Jeff Ishbia Field at McLane Stadium by meeting Purdue Fort Wayne in a midweek match-up on Tuesday, April 22. First pitch is slated for 6:02 p.m.
• The Spartans' schedule is subject to change, stay tuned to MSUSpartans.com and @MSUBaseball on X/Twitter for schedule updates.
• Fans can follow this week's action with "Tickets," "Watch Live," "Live Stats" and "Listen Live" links, where available, at MSUSpartans.com.
• Michigan State is 23-15 overall and 9-9 in Big Ten action, and currently matched its season-long win streak at six in a row, and the Spartans are currently the hottest team in the B1G, as the five-game conference win streak and the six-game overall streak are both the longest active streaks in the league.
• MSU is coming off its first three-game B1G series sweep of the season winning all three games of the conference weekend series with Ohio State. The Spartans completed the sweep with a 14-4, 7-inning, run-rule Victory for MSU on Sunday. The Spartans beat the Buckeyes, 11-4, on Friday night and 10-9 in 11 innings on Saturday to win the series.
• Sunday's win completed MSU's first B1G series sweep of the season, and its second overall series sweep, joining a three-game sweep over Harvard on Feb. 28-March 2 in Greenville, S.C.
• MSU's last B1G series sweep was vs. Northwestern on April 29-30, 2023.
• Michigan State is wrapping up a season-long nine-game homestand at Jeff Ishbia Field at McLane Stadium, currently 6-2 so far on the homestand, that opened with a 6-5 loss to Central Michigan on April 9. The Spartans hosted Northwestern in a three-game B1G weekend series, Friday-Sunday, April 11-13, with Friday's game being nationally televised on Big Ten Network, with the Wildcats emerging from the wild, back-and-forth thriller, 11-10, in 11 innings. The Spartans bounced back to blank the Wildcats, 10-0 in an 8-inning run-rule and won the rubber match on Sunday, 3-1.
• MSU hosted in-state foe Western Michigan on Tuesday, April 15, and the Spartans corralled the Broncos, 14-4 in 8-innings. Michigan State then hosted Ohio State in another three-game B1G series, last weekend Friday-Sunday, April 18-20, and the Spartans won the opener, 11-4, on Friday afternoon, before winning Saturday's wild back-and-forth battle in dramatic fashion with senior outfielder JT Sokolove's walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th, 10-9. The Spartans complete the sweep with a 14-4, 7-inning, run-rule Victory for MSU.
• The homestand wraps up on Tuesday, April 22 against Purdue Fort Wayne in a 6:02 p.m. first pitch. *All dates and times are subject to change.
• Purdue Fort Wayne is 6-31 overall and currently 5-12 in Horizon League action. The Mastodons have lost 11 in row since a 6-5 win over Oakland on March 29. Most recently, Purdue Fort Wayne was swept in a series with Northern Kentucky, falling 7-4 in Thursday's opener, then losing a slug-fest on Saturday, 19-14, despite a season-high 21 hits and scoring in seven different innings. NKU then completed the sweep with a 10-4 score on Saturday.
• For the first time since the preseason polls, Michigan State was not ranked among others receiving votes in the April 7 National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Poll and MSU is again not in this week's (April 21) poll, marking the third week in row MSU hasn't been in the r. The Spartans had a run of seven weeks in a row having either been ranked or including in among others receiving votes.
• Once again, UCLA and Oregon are the only two B1G teams ranked in the polls, and the Bruins and the Ducks just squared off last weekend (April 18-20) in Eugene, Ore., with the Ducks winning two-of-three. While they're the lone two ranked B1G teams, Iowa, Michigan, Penn State, Purdue and USC are among the others receiving votes in the NCBWA Poll, in addition to Iowa as the other league team among others receiving votes in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
• For the ninth-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 for select home games and limited road games.
IN THE RANKINGS
• Michigan State was ranked in the Feb. 24 rankings of the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Top 25 Poll, but slipped out of the following week's rankings and were among others receiving votes for the next five weeks, until not being listed in the last two weeks' polls (April 7 & 14).
Prior to the Feb. 24 ranking, the last time that MSU was ranked was No. 23 in the Baseball America Top 25 Poll and No. 30 in the NCWBA Poll on May 2, 2016. The Spartans made their season debut in the rankings that season at No. 25 in the March 14, 2016 ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll.
Once again, UCLA and Oregon are the only two B1G teams ranked in the polls, and the Bruins and the Ducks just squared off last weekend (April 18-20) in Eugene, Ore., with the Ducks winning two-of-three. While they're the lone two ranked B1G teams, Iowa, Michigan, Penn State, Purdue and USC are among the others receiving votes in the NCBWA Poll, in addition to Iowa as the other league team among others receiving votes in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
BOSS IN 17th SEASON WITH SPARTANS
• Head coach Jake Boss Jr. is in his 17th year at Michigan State and 18th overall as a collegiate head coach ... Boss entered the 2025 season at No. 3 on MSU's longest coaching list behind John H. Kobs (1935-63), the namesake for the former historic Kobs Field, location of McLane Stadium, with 39 seasons, and legendary head coach Denny Litwhiler (1964-82) with 19 seasons.
BOSS 450th VICTORY FOR MSU
• Head coach Jake Boss Jr. won his 450th as Spartan head coach with a 3-2 walk-off Victory for MSU over Cornell on Friday, March 7 in the opening day of play at the First Pitch Invitational at Fluor Field, home of the Greenville Drive.
Coach Boss becomes the third MSU baseball coach to reach the 450 Victories for MSU milestone, joining Spartan coaching greats John Kobs with 576 wins and Danny Litwhiler with 489.
Now with 463 wins in 859 games, Boss is also No. 3 on the Spartan head coach list for wins and games coached, also behind Kobs with 576 wins in 969 games, and Litwhiler with 489 wins in 859 games.
141ST SEASON OF MICHIGAN STATE BASEBALL
Michigan State is playing its 141st season of baseball in 2025 ... Baseball was the first organized varsity sport on campus with the first season of Spartan baseball in 1884, going 4-2 in the six-game schedule, and baseball has been played every season since, with only no varsity in 1944 due to World War II. MSU entered 2025 with an all-time record of 2,475-2,196-30 (.530) in 4,701 games played.
MITTEN STATERS
• Michigan State has 23 players on its 2025 roster from the state of Michigan ... Purdue Fort Wayne has three Michiganders on its 2025 roster.
FROM THE CROSSROADS OF AMERICA
• The Spartans have one player from the state of Indiana in senior catcher/designated hitter Christian Williams, who is from Carmel, Indiana (Carmel HS) ... the Mastodons match the Spartans with 23 players from their home state of Indiana on their roster.
FROM STARS TO FOES
For the second opponent in a row, MSU senior catcher Noah Bright was former teammates at Lansing Community College with a member of the opposing team, as Purdue Fort Wayne junior pitcher Gavin Walters, was teammates with Bright at Lansing Community College in 2023 for coach Steven Cutter ... Bright is a native of Oxford, Michigan ... Bright and Walters helped LCC to the NJCAA Division II World Series for the second-straight season, advancing to national semifinals, finishing third with a 50-12 overall record, winning back-to-back Region 12 championships.
SERIES HISTORY NOTES VS. THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT
• Michigan State and Purdue Fort Wayne have a fairly limited series history, as Tuesday is just the eighth all-time meeting between the Spartans and Mastodons, first meeting in 2001. MSU and Purdue Fort Wayne didn't play from 2004 to 2022, but have played in once of each of the last four seasons.
Overall: MSU leads overall, 6-1 / In East Lansing: 4-1 /
In Fort Wayne: 0-0 / Neutral: 1-0 / Streak: MSU W1; MSU W6-of-7
First meeting: MSU 9, PFW 3; 4/27/2001 in East Lansing /
Last meeting: MSU 11, PFW 1 (8 inn.); 3/19/2024 in East Lansing
Series Notes: Fourth-straight year meeting after not facing off since 2004 prior to 2022's game on April 27 that was make-up from rained out game scheduled for March 23 of that season ... before 2022, the four previous meetings were in consecutive seasons (2001-04) ... MSU had won five straight meetings, before PFW collected first series win in 2023, 3-2, on 4/19/23 ... Spartans have scored 10+ runs in three meetings, most recently plating 11 runs last year in 11-1 (8 innings) run-rule Victory for MSU ... Michigan State has scored five or more runs in each of the six wins, including seven or more in five of the six victories, while holding Purdue Fort Wayne to four runs or less in all seven meetings ... six of the seven meetings played in East Lansing, with only non-East Lansing meeting coming in 2002 in Indianapolis
LIGHTING UP THE SCOREBOARD WITH DOUBLE-DIGIT RUNS
• MSU has plated 10 or more runs in its last four games, the Spartans' longest stretch of scoring double-digit in a row since 2017 when they also had four in a row from March 21-26, including sweeping a series at Illinois with 12, 12 and 17 runs, coming after plating 11 in the previous game vs. Central Michigan, and as a span of doing so in five times out of six games, with 13 runs on March 18 ... the 2002 Spartans had two different stretches of scoring 10+ runs in four games in a row.
If MSU can plate 10+ runs on Tuesday, it would be the Spartans' first five-game stretch with double-figure runs since 1987 when MSU scored 15, 13, 16, 10 and 10 runs from April 29-May 1, playing DHs all three days.
SOKOLOVE-IN' A WALK-OFF HR
• Senior outfielder JT Sokolove hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th inning on Saturday, April 19 for the 10-9 Victory for MSU over Ohio State ... it was MSU's first walk-off home run of any kind since March 10, 2023 when Dillon Kark had an inside-the-park home run at Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C. against Western Carolina in the bottom of the ninth ... ironically, Kark also had MSU's previous walk-off HR over the fence since March 18, 2022 when he belted a walk-off homer vs. Houston Baptist in a home game.
14-4 RUN-RULE LUCKY RESULTS
• Michigan State has now won three games by a 14-4 run-rule score with Sunday's most recent win by that score and all three have come at home at Jeff Ishbia Field at McLane Stadium ... MSU beat Illinois, 14-4 in an 8-inning run-rule on March 29 and beat Western Michigan also by the 14-4 score and also in an 8-inning run-rule Victory for MSU on April 15.
RUN-RULIN'
• MSU has now had 10 games end early due to the 10-run run-rule, as the Spartans have run-ruled their opposition seven times, while losing three games early via the run-rule, as MSU is 7-3 in run-rule games.
DZIERWA K-BITS
• Junior pitcher Joseph Dzierwa has 72 strikeouts, which ranks second in the B1G and 23rd in the NCAA.
• With 72 strikeouts, Dzierwa is second in the B1G in strikeouts for the third week this season, and is now seven Ks behind league leader, Iowa's Cade Obermueller, who has 79 Ks.
• With an 2.30 ERA, Dzierwa also is second in the B1G, as well as 26th in the NCAA. Oregon's Ian Umlandt leads the B1G with a 1.89 ERA with eight earned runs in 38.0 IP, compared to Dzierwa's 15 earned runs in 58.2 IP, over 20 more IP.
• The Spartan southpaw Dzierwa is also second in the B1G and 41st in the NCAA in WHIP (1.02), as well as third in the B1G and 72nd in the NCAA in strikeouts per nine innings (11.05).
• Dzierwa is also fourth in the league and 38th in the nation in fewest hits allowed per nine innings (5.76).
• Dzierwa is also among the league leaders for fewest overall runs allowed in the B1G, as he is tied for third in fewest overall runs (18) and tied for second in fewest earned runs allowed (15). Dzierwa has pitched over 20.0 more innings than Oregon's Ian Umlandt, who leads the league with eight earned runs and 13 total runs.
• After chalking up double-digit strikeouts in his first three outings, Dzierwa has rung up single-digit Ks in his last six, with eight strikeouts against UAB on March 7, and five his next two times out vs. Iowa on March 14 and at Penn State on March 21, before just three vs. Illinois on March 28, before ringing up five Ks at Indiana on April 6. He got back on track with eight against Northwestern on April 11.
• Dzierwa rang up 10+ strikeouts in the first three outings this season and in a stretch of his last four in a row dating back to last year's regular-season final outing ... his most recent double-digit strikeout outing was on Feb. 28 with 10 Ks against Harvard on Feb. 28.
• Dzierwa now has:
-- 25 career outing with five or more Ks (nine of his 10 outings in 2025, 10 in 2024, including in first six-straight games, six in 2023).
-- 13 career outing with seven or more Ks (five in 2025, six in 2024, two in 2023).
-- Three-straight outings this season with 10+ strikeouts and four-straight double-digit strikeout total of career, joining the career-high 12 vs. Washington State (2/21/25), the 11 vs. Western Michigan in the 2025 season-opener (2/14/25) and the 11 vs. Nebraska in 2024 season finale (5/17/24).
Dzierwa Named To College Baseball Foundation Top 55 Pitchers Of The Year Watch List
• Michigan State baseball junior pitcher Joseph Dzierwa was named to the College Baseball Foundation's Pitcher of the Year Watch List, released on April 18.
Dzierwa is one of four Big Ten pitchers on the 55-player list, joined by Cole Giley of Indiana, Cade Obermueller of Iowa and Ian Umlandt of Oregon.
With a 2.30 ERA, Dzierwa is also one of 38 pitchers on the list sport an ERA below 2.50, including Jack Ohman (Yale) who has a microscopic 0.23 ERA.
The Pitcher of the Year Award will be presented later this year by the College Baseball Foundation.
For more information on the Pitcher of the Year Award, visit the College Baseball Foundation website at www.collegebaseballhall.org.
The Spartan southpaw from Haskins, Ohio, Dzierwa has rung up has 72 strikeouts so far, which entered the weekend ranking second in the B1G and 20th in the NCAA.
MSU BASEBALL'S JOSEPH DZIERWA ON GOLDEN SPIKES MIDSEASON WATCH LIST
• Michigan State baseball's Joseph Dzierwa was named to the midseason watch list for the Golden Spikes Award, presented by Chinook Seedery, and announced on April 4.
Continuing the process of identifying the best amateur baseball player in the country for the 2025 season, the Golden Spikes Award list features 45 of the nation's top athletes from college and high school baseball.
Dzierwa, a junior pitcher from Haskins, Ohio, is one of six Big Ten Conference players on the 45-player list, but the only pitcher from the league on the list. He is joined by Maryland outfielder Alex Calarco, UCLA infielder Roch Cholowsky Indiana outfielders Korbyn Dickerson and Devin Tayler, along with Oregon outfielder Mason Neville. Dzierwa is one of 19 pitchers on the list, including one of nine left-handed pitchers.
The Spartan southpaw leads the B1G and ranked fifth in the nation in ERA at 1.27, as well as topping the conference and ranking 18th in the country in strikeouts at 54. Additionally, Dzierwa is first in the B1G and 14th in the NCAA in both WHIP (0.87) and hits allowed per nine innings (5.06).
Dzierwa rang up 10+ strikeouts in his first three outings this season, which was part of doing so in four outings in a row dating back to his final regular-season outing last year.
He opened the season with 11 Ks, vs. Western Michigan in the 2025 season-opener (2/14/25) then posted a career-high 12 strikeouts vs. Washington State (2/21/25), and 10 Ks vs. Harvard (2/28/25). He also posted 11 punchouts vs. Nebraska in 2024 season finale (5/17/24).
The Spartan southpaw has 12 outings in his career with seven or more Ks (four in 2025, six in 2024, two in 2023).
DZIERWA DZUMPING WAY INTO RECORD BOOK IN KS
• Last season, Spartan southpaw Joseph Dzierwa rang up 91 strikeouts, which were not only the most strikeouts since Dakota Mekkes chalked up 96 Ks in 2016, but Dzierwa's total was good for No. 8 on MSU's single-season strikeout total.
• Dzierwa has already nearly caught last season's total, as he enters this week with 72 strikeouts.
200 KS FOR DZIERWA
• With his third strikeout in his outing at Penn State on March 21, Dzierwa registered his 200th career strikeouts, becoming just the sixth Spartan pitcher with 200 career Ks, and the first to do so since Mason Erla reached the milestone on April 9 2021.
• Dzierwa passed Dick Radatz (1957-59) with 193 Ks and Brian Murphy (1995-98) with 194 Ks. Dzierwa now has 223 for his career, tying for No. 4 on MSU's career strikeout list, matching Ron Perranoski's 223 Ks from 1956-58. He passed Cam Vieaux (2014-16) with 205 strikeouts.
• This season, Dzierwa has already passed David Garner (2011-13) with 192 Ks, Craig Brookes (2004-07) with 186 career punchouts, along with former teammate Nick Powers (2021-24) with 187.
18 FOR 16
• The win over Northwestern on April 12 was Dzierwa's 18th career win, cracking into the MSU Career Wins List.
MSU CAREER STRIKEOUTS LIST
1. Bryan Gale 277 2001-04
2. Tony Bucciferro 273 2009-12
3. Mason Erla 243 2017-2021
4. Joseph Dzierwa 223 2023-pres.
Ron Perranoski 223 ..1956-58
6. Cam Vieaux .....205 .. 2014-16
7. Brian Murphy ...194 .. 1995-98
8. Dick Radatz .....193 .. 1957-59
David Garner ...192 .. 2011-13
10. Nick Powers 187 2021-24
MSU CAREER Wins LIST
1. Stuart Hirschman 28 1990-93
Bryan Gale 28 2001-04
3. Tony Bucciferro 26 2009-12
Kurt Wunderlich 26 2008-11
5. Larry Ike 23 1970-72
Brian Wolcott 23 1977-80
7. Mick VanVossen 21 2012-15
Ron Perranoski 21 1956-58
9. Nick Powers 19 2021-24
10. Joseph Dzierwa 18 2023-pres.
Andrew Waszak 18 2010-13
Tim Day 18 2002-05
D&D DUO FOR THE SHUTOUT AGAIN
• The Dzierwa and Dom duo of junior starting pitcher Joseph Dzierwa and Dominic Pianto posted their second-straight combined shutout together, as Dzierwa went 7.0 IP and Pianto pitched 1.0 IP in MSU's 10-8, 8-inning run-rule Victory for MSU over Northwestern on Saturday. Dzierwa and Pianto were part of MSU's previous shutout, coming on March 21 at Penn State, winning 4-0, with graduate reliever Tyler Horvath picking up the final out for the combined shutout.
11 INNINGS IS IN
• MSU has played three extra inning games this season and they've all three gone 11 innings, winning 12-8 at Iowa in 11 frames on March 14, while losing to Northwestern 11-10, at home on April 11, but then bouncing back to beat Ohio State, 10-9 in 11 innings, on April 19.
LIGHTING UP SCOREBOARD FOR DOUBLE-DIGITS
• The Spartans posted back-to-back games with 10 or more runs in the first two games of the Northwestern series, falling 11-10 in 11 innings in Friday's opener, before bouncing back to blank the Wildcats, 10-8 in 8 innings on Saturday. It was MSU's second time this season with 10+ runs in consecutive games, first doing so on March 1-2, with 11 and 13 runs vs. Harvard, respectively.
MSU added four games of double-digits last week, and now have hung 10+ runs on the scoreboard a total of 12 times and the Spartans are 11-1 when scoring in double-digits.
UP NEXT
• The Spartans play at in-state rival Michigan, Friday-Sunday, March 25-27. Friday's series opener is at 6:02 p.m., followed by 2:02 p.m. on Saturday and the series finale on Sunday at 1:02 p.m. at UM's Ray Fisher Stadium.
• The Spartans' schedule is subject to change, stay tuned to MSUSpartans.com and @MSUBaseball on X/Twitter for schedule updates.
• Fans can follow this week's action with "Tickets," "Watch Live," "Live Stats" and "Listen Live" links, where available, at MSUSpartans.com.
• Michigan State is 23-15 overall and 9-9 in Big Ten action, and currently matched its season-long win streak at six in a row, and the Spartans are currently the hottest team in the B1G, as the five-game conference win streak and the six-game overall streak are both the longest active streaks in the league.
• MSU is coming off its first three-game B1G series sweep of the season winning all three games of the conference weekend series with Ohio State. The Spartans completed the sweep with a 14-4, 7-inning, run-rule Victory for MSU on Sunday. The Spartans beat the Buckeyes, 11-4, on Friday night and 10-9 in 11 innings on Saturday to win the series.
• Sunday's win completed MSU's first B1G series sweep of the season, and its second overall series sweep, joining a three-game sweep over Harvard on Feb. 28-March 2 in Greenville, S.C.
• MSU's last B1G series sweep was vs. Northwestern on April 29-30, 2023.
• Michigan State is wrapping up a season-long nine-game homestand at Jeff Ishbia Field at McLane Stadium, currently 6-2 so far on the homestand, that opened with a 6-5 loss to Central Michigan on April 9. The Spartans hosted Northwestern in a three-game B1G weekend series, Friday-Sunday, April 11-13, with Friday's game being nationally televised on Big Ten Network, with the Wildcats emerging from the wild, back-and-forth thriller, 11-10, in 11 innings. The Spartans bounced back to blank the Wildcats, 10-0 in an 8-inning run-rule and won the rubber match on Sunday, 3-1.
• MSU hosted in-state foe Western Michigan on Tuesday, April 15, and the Spartans corralled the Broncos, 14-4 in 8-innings. Michigan State then hosted Ohio State in another three-game B1G series, last weekend Friday-Sunday, April 18-20, and the Spartans won the opener, 11-4, on Friday afternoon, before winning Saturday's wild back-and-forth battle in dramatic fashion with senior outfielder JT Sokolove's walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th, 10-9. The Spartans complete the sweep with a 14-4, 7-inning, run-rule Victory for MSU.
• The homestand wraps up on Tuesday, April 22 against Purdue Fort Wayne in a 6:02 p.m. first pitch. *All dates and times are subject to change.
• Purdue Fort Wayne is 6-31 overall and currently 5-12 in Horizon League action. The Mastodons have lost 11 in row since a 6-5 win over Oakland on March 29. Most recently, Purdue Fort Wayne was swept in a series with Northern Kentucky, falling 7-4 in Thursday's opener, then losing a slug-fest on Saturday, 19-14, despite a season-high 21 hits and scoring in seven different innings. NKU then completed the sweep with a 10-4 score on Saturday.
• For the first time since the preseason polls, Michigan State was not ranked among others receiving votes in the April 7 National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Poll and MSU is again not in this week's (April 21) poll, marking the third week in row MSU hasn't been in the r. The Spartans had a run of seven weeks in a row having either been ranked or including in among others receiving votes.
• Once again, UCLA and Oregon are the only two B1G teams ranked in the polls, and the Bruins and the Ducks just squared off last weekend (April 18-20) in Eugene, Ore., with the Ducks winning two-of-three. While they're the lone two ranked B1G teams, Iowa, Michigan, Penn State, Purdue and USC are among the others receiving votes in the NCBWA Poll, in addition to Iowa as the other league team among others receiving votes in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
• For the ninth-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 for select home games and limited road games.
IN THE RANKINGS
• Michigan State was ranked in the Feb. 24 rankings of the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Top 25 Poll, but slipped out of the following week's rankings and were among others receiving votes for the next five weeks, until not being listed in the last two weeks' polls (April 7 & 14).
Prior to the Feb. 24 ranking, the last time that MSU was ranked was No. 23 in the Baseball America Top 25 Poll and No. 30 in the NCWBA Poll on May 2, 2016. The Spartans made their season debut in the rankings that season at No. 25 in the March 14, 2016 ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll.
Once again, UCLA and Oregon are the only two B1G teams ranked in the polls, and the Bruins and the Ducks just squared off last weekend (April 18-20) in Eugene, Ore., with the Ducks winning two-of-three. While they're the lone two ranked B1G teams, Iowa, Michigan, Penn State, Purdue and USC are among the others receiving votes in the NCBWA Poll, in addition to Iowa as the other league team among others receiving votes in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
BOSS IN 17th SEASON WITH SPARTANS
• Head coach Jake Boss Jr. is in his 17th year at Michigan State and 18th overall as a collegiate head coach ... Boss entered the 2025 season at No. 3 on MSU's longest coaching list behind John H. Kobs (1935-63), the namesake for the former historic Kobs Field, location of McLane Stadium, with 39 seasons, and legendary head coach Denny Litwhiler (1964-82) with 19 seasons.
BOSS 450th VICTORY FOR MSU
• Head coach Jake Boss Jr. won his 450th as Spartan head coach with a 3-2 walk-off Victory for MSU over Cornell on Friday, March 7 in the opening day of play at the First Pitch Invitational at Fluor Field, home of the Greenville Drive.
Coach Boss becomes the third MSU baseball coach to reach the 450 Victories for MSU milestone, joining Spartan coaching greats John Kobs with 576 wins and Danny Litwhiler with 489.
Now with 463 wins in 859 games, Boss is also No. 3 on the Spartan head coach list for wins and games coached, also behind Kobs with 576 wins in 969 games, and Litwhiler with 489 wins in 859 games.
141ST SEASON OF MICHIGAN STATE BASEBALL
Michigan State is playing its 141st season of baseball in 2025 ... Baseball was the first organized varsity sport on campus with the first season of Spartan baseball in 1884, going 4-2 in the six-game schedule, and baseball has been played every season since, with only no varsity in 1944 due to World War II. MSU entered 2025 with an all-time record of 2,475-2,196-30 (.530) in 4,701 games played.
MITTEN STATERS
• Michigan State has 23 players on its 2025 roster from the state of Michigan ... Purdue Fort Wayne has three Michiganders on its 2025 roster.
FROM THE CROSSROADS OF AMERICA
• The Spartans have one player from the state of Indiana in senior catcher/designated hitter Christian Williams, who is from Carmel, Indiana (Carmel HS) ... the Mastodons match the Spartans with 23 players from their home state of Indiana on their roster.
FROM STARS TO FOES
For the second opponent in a row, MSU senior catcher Noah Bright was former teammates at Lansing Community College with a member of the opposing team, as Purdue Fort Wayne junior pitcher Gavin Walters, was teammates with Bright at Lansing Community College in 2023 for coach Steven Cutter ... Bright is a native of Oxford, Michigan ... Bright and Walters helped LCC to the NJCAA Division II World Series for the second-straight season, advancing to national semifinals, finishing third with a 50-12 overall record, winning back-to-back Region 12 championships.
SERIES HISTORY NOTES VS. THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT
• Michigan State and Purdue Fort Wayne have a fairly limited series history, as Tuesday is just the eighth all-time meeting between the Spartans and Mastodons, first meeting in 2001. MSU and Purdue Fort Wayne didn't play from 2004 to 2022, but have played in once of each of the last four seasons.
Overall: MSU leads overall, 6-1 / In East Lansing: 4-1 /
In Fort Wayne: 0-0 / Neutral: 1-0 / Streak: MSU W1; MSU W6-of-7
First meeting: MSU 9, PFW 3; 4/27/2001 in East Lansing /
Last meeting: MSU 11, PFW 1 (8 inn.); 3/19/2024 in East Lansing
Series Notes: Fourth-straight year meeting after not facing off since 2004 prior to 2022's game on April 27 that was make-up from rained out game scheduled for March 23 of that season ... before 2022, the four previous meetings were in consecutive seasons (2001-04) ... MSU had won five straight meetings, before PFW collected first series win in 2023, 3-2, on 4/19/23 ... Spartans have scored 10+ runs in three meetings, most recently plating 11 runs last year in 11-1 (8 innings) run-rule Victory for MSU ... Michigan State has scored five or more runs in each of the six wins, including seven or more in five of the six victories, while holding Purdue Fort Wayne to four runs or less in all seven meetings ... six of the seven meetings played in East Lansing, with only non-East Lansing meeting coming in 2002 in Indianapolis
LIGHTING UP THE SCOREBOARD WITH DOUBLE-DIGIT RUNS
• MSU has plated 10 or more runs in its last four games, the Spartans' longest stretch of scoring double-digit in a row since 2017 when they also had four in a row from March 21-26, including sweeping a series at Illinois with 12, 12 and 17 runs, coming after plating 11 in the previous game vs. Central Michigan, and as a span of doing so in five times out of six games, with 13 runs on March 18 ... the 2002 Spartans had two different stretches of scoring 10+ runs in four games in a row.
If MSU can plate 10+ runs on Tuesday, it would be the Spartans' first five-game stretch with double-figure runs since 1987 when MSU scored 15, 13, 16, 10 and 10 runs from April 29-May 1, playing DHs all three days.
SOKOLOVE-IN' A WALK-OFF HR
• Senior outfielder JT Sokolove hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th inning on Saturday, April 19 for the 10-9 Victory for MSU over Ohio State ... it was MSU's first walk-off home run of any kind since March 10, 2023 when Dillon Kark had an inside-the-park home run at Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C. against Western Carolina in the bottom of the ninth ... ironically, Kark also had MSU's previous walk-off HR over the fence since March 18, 2022 when he belted a walk-off homer vs. Houston Baptist in a home game.
14-4 RUN-RULE LUCKY RESULTS
• Michigan State has now won three games by a 14-4 run-rule score with Sunday's most recent win by that score and all three have come at home at Jeff Ishbia Field at McLane Stadium ... MSU beat Illinois, 14-4 in an 8-inning run-rule on March 29 and beat Western Michigan also by the 14-4 score and also in an 8-inning run-rule Victory for MSU on April 15.
RUN-RULIN'
• MSU has now had 10 games end early due to the 10-run run-rule, as the Spartans have run-ruled their opposition seven times, while losing three games early via the run-rule, as MSU is 7-3 in run-rule games.
DZIERWA K-BITS
• Junior pitcher Joseph Dzierwa has 72 strikeouts, which ranks second in the B1G and 23rd in the NCAA.
• With 72 strikeouts, Dzierwa is second in the B1G in strikeouts for the third week this season, and is now seven Ks behind league leader, Iowa's Cade Obermueller, who has 79 Ks.
• With an 2.30 ERA, Dzierwa also is second in the B1G, as well as 26th in the NCAA. Oregon's Ian Umlandt leads the B1G with a 1.89 ERA with eight earned runs in 38.0 IP, compared to Dzierwa's 15 earned runs in 58.2 IP, over 20 more IP.
• The Spartan southpaw Dzierwa is also second in the B1G and 41st in the NCAA in WHIP (1.02), as well as third in the B1G and 72nd in the NCAA in strikeouts per nine innings (11.05).
• Dzierwa is also fourth in the league and 38th in the nation in fewest hits allowed per nine innings (5.76).
• Dzierwa is also among the league leaders for fewest overall runs allowed in the B1G, as he is tied for third in fewest overall runs (18) and tied for second in fewest earned runs allowed (15). Dzierwa has pitched over 20.0 more innings than Oregon's Ian Umlandt, who leads the league with eight earned runs and 13 total runs.
• After chalking up double-digit strikeouts in his first three outings, Dzierwa has rung up single-digit Ks in his last six, with eight strikeouts against UAB on March 7, and five his next two times out vs. Iowa on March 14 and at Penn State on March 21, before just three vs. Illinois on March 28, before ringing up five Ks at Indiana on April 6. He got back on track with eight against Northwestern on April 11.
• Dzierwa rang up 10+ strikeouts in the first three outings this season and in a stretch of his last four in a row dating back to last year's regular-season final outing ... his most recent double-digit strikeout outing was on Feb. 28 with 10 Ks against Harvard on Feb. 28.
• Dzierwa now has:
-- 25 career outing with five or more Ks (nine of his 10 outings in 2025, 10 in 2024, including in first six-straight games, six in 2023).
-- 13 career outing with seven or more Ks (five in 2025, six in 2024, two in 2023).
-- Three-straight outings this season with 10+ strikeouts and four-straight double-digit strikeout total of career, joining the career-high 12 vs. Washington State (2/21/25), the 11 vs. Western Michigan in the 2025 season-opener (2/14/25) and the 11 vs. Nebraska in 2024 season finale (5/17/24).
Dzierwa Named To College Baseball Foundation Top 55 Pitchers Of The Year Watch List
• Michigan State baseball junior pitcher Joseph Dzierwa was named to the College Baseball Foundation's Pitcher of the Year Watch List, released on April 18.
Dzierwa is one of four Big Ten pitchers on the 55-player list, joined by Cole Giley of Indiana, Cade Obermueller of Iowa and Ian Umlandt of Oregon.
With a 2.30 ERA, Dzierwa is also one of 38 pitchers on the list sport an ERA below 2.50, including Jack Ohman (Yale) who has a microscopic 0.23 ERA.
The Pitcher of the Year Award will be presented later this year by the College Baseball Foundation.
For more information on the Pitcher of the Year Award, visit the College Baseball Foundation website at www.collegebaseballhall.org.
The Spartan southpaw from Haskins, Ohio, Dzierwa has rung up has 72 strikeouts so far, which entered the weekend ranking second in the B1G and 20th in the NCAA.
MSU BASEBALL'S JOSEPH DZIERWA ON GOLDEN SPIKES MIDSEASON WATCH LIST
• Michigan State baseball's Joseph Dzierwa was named to the midseason watch list for the Golden Spikes Award, presented by Chinook Seedery, and announced on April 4.
Continuing the process of identifying the best amateur baseball player in the country for the 2025 season, the Golden Spikes Award list features 45 of the nation's top athletes from college and high school baseball.
Dzierwa, a junior pitcher from Haskins, Ohio, is one of six Big Ten Conference players on the 45-player list, but the only pitcher from the league on the list. He is joined by Maryland outfielder Alex Calarco, UCLA infielder Roch Cholowsky Indiana outfielders Korbyn Dickerson and Devin Tayler, along with Oregon outfielder Mason Neville. Dzierwa is one of 19 pitchers on the list, including one of nine left-handed pitchers.
The Spartan southpaw leads the B1G and ranked fifth in the nation in ERA at 1.27, as well as topping the conference and ranking 18th in the country in strikeouts at 54. Additionally, Dzierwa is first in the B1G and 14th in the NCAA in both WHIP (0.87) and hits allowed per nine innings (5.06).
Dzierwa rang up 10+ strikeouts in his first three outings this season, which was part of doing so in four outings in a row dating back to his final regular-season outing last year.
He opened the season with 11 Ks, vs. Western Michigan in the 2025 season-opener (2/14/25) then posted a career-high 12 strikeouts vs. Washington State (2/21/25), and 10 Ks vs. Harvard (2/28/25). He also posted 11 punchouts vs. Nebraska in 2024 season finale (5/17/24).
The Spartan southpaw has 12 outings in his career with seven or more Ks (four in 2025, six in 2024, two in 2023).
DZIERWA DZUMPING WAY INTO RECORD BOOK IN KS
• Last season, Spartan southpaw Joseph Dzierwa rang up 91 strikeouts, which were not only the most strikeouts since Dakota Mekkes chalked up 96 Ks in 2016, but Dzierwa's total was good for No. 8 on MSU's single-season strikeout total.
• Dzierwa has already nearly caught last season's total, as he enters this week with 72 strikeouts.
200 KS FOR DZIERWA
• With his third strikeout in his outing at Penn State on March 21, Dzierwa registered his 200th career strikeouts, becoming just the sixth Spartan pitcher with 200 career Ks, and the first to do so since Mason Erla reached the milestone on April 9 2021.
• Dzierwa passed Dick Radatz (1957-59) with 193 Ks and Brian Murphy (1995-98) with 194 Ks. Dzierwa now has 223 for his career, tying for No. 4 on MSU's career strikeout list, matching Ron Perranoski's 223 Ks from 1956-58. He passed Cam Vieaux (2014-16) with 205 strikeouts.
• This season, Dzierwa has already passed David Garner (2011-13) with 192 Ks, Craig Brookes (2004-07) with 186 career punchouts, along with former teammate Nick Powers (2021-24) with 187.
18 FOR 16
• The win over Northwestern on April 12 was Dzierwa's 18th career win, cracking into the MSU Career Wins List.
MSU CAREER STRIKEOUTS LIST
1. Bryan Gale 277 2001-04
2. Tony Bucciferro 273 2009-12
3. Mason Erla 243 2017-2021
4. Joseph Dzierwa 223 2023-pres.
Ron Perranoski 223 ..1956-58
6. Cam Vieaux .....205 .. 2014-16
7. Brian Murphy ...194 .. 1995-98
8. Dick Radatz .....193 .. 1957-59
David Garner ...192 .. 2011-13
10. Nick Powers 187 2021-24
MSU CAREER Wins LIST
1. Stuart Hirschman 28 1990-93
Bryan Gale 28 2001-04
3. Tony Bucciferro 26 2009-12
Kurt Wunderlich 26 2008-11
5. Larry Ike 23 1970-72
Brian Wolcott 23 1977-80
7. Mick VanVossen 21 2012-15
Ron Perranoski 21 1956-58
9. Nick Powers 19 2021-24
10. Joseph Dzierwa 18 2023-pres.
Andrew Waszak 18 2010-13
Tim Day 18 2002-05
D&D DUO FOR THE SHUTOUT AGAIN
• The Dzierwa and Dom duo of junior starting pitcher Joseph Dzierwa and Dominic Pianto posted their second-straight combined shutout together, as Dzierwa went 7.0 IP and Pianto pitched 1.0 IP in MSU's 10-8, 8-inning run-rule Victory for MSU over Northwestern on Saturday. Dzierwa and Pianto were part of MSU's previous shutout, coming on March 21 at Penn State, winning 4-0, with graduate reliever Tyler Horvath picking up the final out for the combined shutout.
11 INNINGS IS IN
• MSU has played three extra inning games this season and they've all three gone 11 innings, winning 12-8 at Iowa in 11 frames on March 14, while losing to Northwestern 11-10, at home on April 11, but then bouncing back to beat Ohio State, 10-9 in 11 innings, on April 19.
LIGHTING UP SCOREBOARD FOR DOUBLE-DIGITS
• The Spartans posted back-to-back games with 10 or more runs in the first two games of the Northwestern series, falling 11-10 in 11 innings in Friday's opener, before bouncing back to blank the Wildcats, 10-8 in 8 innings on Saturday. It was MSU's second time this season with 10+ runs in consecutive games, first doing so on March 1-2, with 11 and 13 runs vs. Harvard, respectively.
MSU added four games of double-digits last week, and now have hung 10+ runs on the scoreboard a total of 12 times and the Spartans are 11-1 when scoring in double-digits.
UP NEXT
• The Spartans play at in-state rival Michigan, Friday-Sunday, March 25-27. Friday's series opener is at 6:02 p.m., followed by 2:02 p.m. on Saturday and the series finale on Sunday at 1:02 p.m. at UM's Ray Fisher Stadium.
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