Spartan Baseball Presents 2025 Team Awards

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan State baseball head coach Jake Boss Jr. announced the winners of the 2025 team awards.

All of the awards were voted on by the players with the exception of the Offensive Player of the Year award, which is based on various statistical data over the course of the season.

Junior pitcher Joseph Dzierwa was named the recipient of both the John Kobs Most Valuable Player and Robin Roberts Most Valuable Pitcher Awards. This marks the first time since 2018 that the same player did not win both the John Kobs MVP and Kirk Gibson Offensive Player of the Year Award. Senior infielder Sam Busch was the recipient of the Kirk Gibson Offensive Player of the Year Award.

Senior pitcher Dominic Pianto joined Dzierwa as a multi-award recipient, as he earned the Steve Garvey Most Improved Player, Jerry Sutton Student-Athlete and the Craig Hendricks Spartan Spirit Awards. Senior outfielder JT Sokolove was the recipient of the Danny Litwhiler Defensive Player of the Year.

Joseph Dzierwa Most Valuable Player Award

Dzierwa, a Haskins, Ohio native, was named a national semifinalist for three awards, including USA Baseball's Golden Spikes Award and NCBWA's Dick Howser Trophy and College Baseball Foundation's National Pitcher of the Year Award, as presented by the College Baseball Foundation.

The Spartan southpaw was also named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year and also garnered First Team All-B1G accolades. He was the only player that was a unanimous selection to the First Team.

Dzierwa became the second Spartan to be named B1G Pitcher of the Year, joining Kurt Wunderlich in 2011. He is the sixth Spartan player to earn a major player award from the B1G, joining Player of the Year Award winners Bob Malek in 2002 and Jeff Holm in 2011, along with B1G Freshman of the Year Ryan Sontag in 2005 and Ryan Jones in 2010. MSU Baseball has also won three Coach of the Year Awards with Tom Smith in both 1988 and 1992, and Jake Boss Jr. in 2011.

Joseph Dzierwa Most Valuable Pitcher Award

Dzierwa posted an 8-3 record with a 2.36 ERA, firing 104 strikeouts in 91.2 innings pitched in 15 starts. The 104 strikeouts was second in the B1G and 23rd in the NCAA. He threw one complete game shutout, as part of four combined shutouts, in holding the opposition to .201 against him this season.

The Spartan southpaw was also second in the B1G and 23rd in the NCAA in WHIP (0.98), along with fourth in the league and 44th in the nation in fewest hits allowed per nine innings (6.41).

Dzierwa continued to establish new program top marks, as he was the first Spartan player in program history to be a four-time Big Ten Pitcher of the Week, doing so in back-to-back weeks twice. No MSU player had picked up back-to-back B1G weekly honors of any kind before Dzierwa did it the first two weeks of the season, earning the award Feb. 17 and 24, an again on May 5 and 12.

By earning B1G Pitcher of the Week four times this season, Dzierwa was the first B1G pitcher to earn the award four times in a season since 2009 when Ohio State's Alex Wimmers was a four-time winner.

Sam Busch Kirk Gibson Offensive Player of the Year Award

Busch, a local product from East Lansing, Michigan, leads MSU and ranked tied for 13th in the B1G with 15 home runs, the most by a Spartan since 2002, tying for No. 5 on the Spartans' single-season home runs list. Busch also kissed the ball goodbye with 29 career home runs, tying for fourth on MSU's career HR list.

Along with leading the Spartans in home runs, Busch also led MSU in RBI (62), slugging percentage (.584), total bases (111) and sacrifice flies (5), while ranking second in runs (40) and hits (55), third in both average (.389) and walks (29), and tied for third in doubles (11).

Busch was also MSU's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award recipient, for his third career B1G honor, but first on the diamond, as he's earned Academic All-Big Ten accolades in both 2023 and 2024, and is on track to earn them again in 2025 when they're announced this summer.

Dominic Pianto Steve Garvey Most-Improved Award

Pianto, a native of Hendersonville, Tenn., earns the Craig Hendricks Spartan Spirit Award for the second year in a row, while receiving the Jerry Sutton Student-Athlete Award for the second time in the last three years, earning the award in 2023.

On the mound, Pianto shared the team lead in both appearances and games in relief with 20, while also ranking second in games finished (8), tied for second in saves (2) and ranking fourth in ERA (3.90). Pianto chalked up 28 strikeouts in 30.0 IP.

Dominic Pianto Jerry Sutton Student-Athlete Award

In the classroom, Pianto graduated with his master's in accounting with a 3.854 GPA, and is a candidate to earn Academic All-District for the second-straight year and Academic All-Big Ten and Big Ten Distinguished Scholar honors for the fifth time, when both are announced later this summer. He was also a two-time recipient of the Scholar-Athlete Award at the Spartan Academic Excellence Gala.

Dominic Pianto Craig Hendricks Spartan Spirit Award

Pianto was also influential in the dugout and bullpen for the Spartans, serving as veteran leader, always among the first players out of the dugout offering support and congratulations to his teammates. In the bullpen, he helped coordinate warm-ups of the pitchers and worked with MSU pitching coach Mark Van Ameyde, keeping him updated on the status of the pitchers.

JT Sokolove Danny Litwhiler Defensive Player of the Year Award

Sokolove, a native of Hudsonville, Michigan, started 53 games in center field, ranking third on MSU in starts and tied for fourth in games played. In the field, he made 131 putouts and had two assists, leading all outfielders and ranking fourth on MSU overall. On the basepaths, Sokolove led the Spartans and ranked tied for fifth in the B1G with 16 stolen bases.

At the plate, Sokolove was leadoff hitter in the Spartan line-up in 38 games. He also led MSU and was fifth in the B1G in hit by pitch with 19, while ranking sixth in the league in HBP/game (0.36). Sokolove was also third on the team in both runs scored (39) and sacrifice bunts (4), tied for third in sac flies (3) and fourth in walks (24).

Michigan State finished the 2025 season with a 28-27 record, qualifying as the No. 12 seed for the 2025 Big Ten Conference Baseball Tournament, Presented by IFS.ai, at Charles Schwab Field Omaha in Omaha, Neb., site of the NCAA Men's College World Series.

The Spartans say goodbye to the 11 players of the Spartan senior class: Caleb Berry, Sam Busch, Tyler Horvath, Zach Maxey, Dominic Pianto, Will Shannon, JT Sokolove, Ryan Szczepaniak, George Viebrock III, Christian Williams and Ryan Zimmer, in addition to student managers Beau Belkowski, Jake Bernstein, Garrett Hearl, Jack Novick, Griffin Novak and social media manager Kaitlyn Heffelbower.

John Kobs Most Valuable Player: Joseph Dzierwa
Robin Roberts Most Valuable Pitcher: Joseph Dzierwa
Kirk Gibson Offensive Player of the Year: Sam Busch
Danny Litwhiler Defensive Player of the Year: JT Sokolove
Steve Garvey Most Improved Player: Dominic Pianto
Jerry Sutton Student-Athlete Award: Dominic Pianto
Craig Hendricks Spartan Spirit Award: Dominic Pianto

Players Mentioned

Caleb Berry

Sam Busch

Joseph Dzierwa

Tyler Horvath

Zach Maxey

Dominic Pianto

Will Shannon

JT Sokolove

Ryan Szczepaniak

George Viebrock III

Christian Williams

Ryan Zimmer

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