Photo by: Steve Branscombe
Five MSU Baseball Players Earn CSC Academic All-District Accolades
6/5/2025 12:26:00 PM | Baseball
Dzierwa and Pianto earn second career Academic All-District honors, while Busch, Farquhar and McKay earn first of their careers.
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Five Michigan State baseball players were named Academic All-District, as selected by College Sports Communicators (CSC).
Sam Busch, Joseph Dzierwa, Tate Farquhar, Ryan McKay and Dominic Pianto were all recognized with 2025 Academic All-District accolades. Dzierwa and Pianto earned their second career CSC Academic All-District honors, while Busch, Farquhar and McKay earned the first of their careers.
Academic All-District honorees advance to the CSC Academic All-America ballot. First-, second- and third-team Academic All-America honorees will be announced in early July.Â
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Senior infielder Busch, a local product from East Lansing, Michigan, graduated with his master's in strategic communication, posting a 3.5227 GPA.
On the field, Busch led 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).Â
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 announced this summer.
Dzierwa, a junior pitcher from Haskins, Ohio, has a 3.66 GPA majoring in communication. He was 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.Â
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 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 Dzierwa 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).
Farquhar, a native of Highland, Michigan, posted a 3.837 GPA majoring in information science. The sophomore pitcher registered a 3-3 record, tying for second the Spartan pitching staff with three wins, while logging 6.65 ERA in 18 appearances, making seven starts, ranking fourth on the team in both appearances and starts. He tallied 34 strikeouts against 18 walks in 44.2 IP, ranking third on MSU in innings pitched. Farquhar fired a career-high five strikeouts in 4.0 IP after starting against Ohio State on April 18, and went a career-long 6.2 IP in earning the win at USC on May 10.
McKay, a native of Clarkston, Michigan, has a 3.789 GPA majoring in finance. On the diamond, the sophomore infielder led the Spartans and ranked 24th in the B1G with a .319 average. McKay was the lone Spartan and only one of 46 players in the B1G to hit over .300. He also led MSU and ranked tied for fifth in the B1G with 20 doubles. Additionally, McKay, led the Spartans and ranked tied for 18th in the league in walks with 36 free passes.
Senior pitcher Pianto, a native of Hendersonville, Tennessee, 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.
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.
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, Nebraska, site of the NCAA Men's College World Series.Â
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Sam Busch, Joseph Dzierwa, Tate Farquhar, Ryan McKay and Dominic Pianto were all recognized with 2025 Academic All-District accolades. Dzierwa and Pianto earned their second career CSC Academic All-District honors, while Busch, Farquhar and McKay earned the first of their careers.
Academic All-District honorees advance to the CSC Academic All-America ballot. First-, second- and third-team Academic All-America honorees will be announced in early July.Â
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Senior infielder Busch, a local product from East Lansing, Michigan, graduated with his master's in strategic communication, posting a 3.5227 GPA.
On the field, Busch led 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).Â
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 announced this summer.
Dzierwa, a junior pitcher from Haskins, Ohio, has a 3.66 GPA majoring in communication. He was 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.Â
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 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 Dzierwa 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).
Farquhar, a native of Highland, Michigan, posted a 3.837 GPA majoring in information science. The sophomore pitcher registered a 3-3 record, tying for second the Spartan pitching staff with three wins, while logging 6.65 ERA in 18 appearances, making seven starts, ranking fourth on the team in both appearances and starts. He tallied 34 strikeouts against 18 walks in 44.2 IP, ranking third on MSU in innings pitched. Farquhar fired a career-high five strikeouts in 4.0 IP after starting against Ohio State on April 18, and went a career-long 6.2 IP in earning the win at USC on May 10.
McKay, a native of Clarkston, Michigan, has a 3.789 GPA majoring in finance. On the diamond, the sophomore infielder led the Spartans and ranked 24th in the B1G with a .319 average. McKay was the lone Spartan and only one of 46 players in the B1G to hit over .300. He also led MSU and ranked tied for fifth in the B1G with 20 doubles. Additionally, McKay, led the Spartans and ranked tied for 18th in the league in walks with 36 free passes.
Senior pitcher Pianto, a native of Hendersonville, Tennessee, 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.
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.
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, Nebraska, site of the NCAA Men's College World Series.Â
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