Spartans Battle Buckeyes In B1G Weekend Series In Columbus

Friday, May 8

Huntington Park | Columbus, Ohio

6 PM

Michigan State University

Ohio State

Andrew Siler is greeted by teammates returning to the dugout between innings during game at Eastern Michigan on March 10, 2026.

Photo by: Erin Grady/MSU Athletic Communications

Spartans Battle Buckeyes In B1G Weekend Series In Columbus

5/7/2026 7:08:00 PM | Baseball

MSU BSB Notes - at Ohio State

Spartans conclude conference action with final regular-season road trip in penultimate weekend of regular-season ledger.

• With its season-long nine-game homestand complete, Michigan State baseball makes its final regular-season road trip, heading to Columbus, Ohio for a three-game Big Ten Conference with Ohio State on Friday-Sunday, May 8-10, in MSU's penultimate weekend of the regular-season and final weekend of the Spartans' B1G schedule, playing in two different locations ... the series opens on Friday at Huntington Park in Columbus, home of the Columbus Clippers, the Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians, on Friday, May 8 at 6 p.m. ... the Spartans and Buckeyes then play game two of the series on Saturday, May 9 at 3 p.m., before the series finale on Sunday, May 10 at 1 p.m., with Saturday and Sunday's games played on campus at OSU's Bill Davis Stadium.

• MSU's schedule is subject to change, stay tuned to MSUSpartans.com and @MSUBaseball on X/Twitter for schedule updates.

• Fans can follow the action with "Watch Live," "Live Stats" and "Listen Live" links, available at MSUSpartans.com.

• Michigan State is on the road for the first time since playing at Washington on Sunday, April 19, before the Spartans' season-long nine-game homestand starting on April 22 ... MSU is in the midst of only its second five-game week, as the Spartans' had two other five-game weeks scheduled, but one of the two midweeks were cancelled ... Michigan State posted back-to-back home wins over Mid-American Conference foes, beating Bowling Green, 12-4, on Tuesday night, before the Spartans corralled the Broncos of Western Michigan, 8-3, on Wednesday ... the Spartans are 18-28 overall and 10-17 in B1G action, as they drew their bye in the conference schedule on the final weekend, and will host Illinois State, Thursday-Saturday, May 14-16 in Spartan Senior Celebrations weekend.

• MSU is coming off a weekend in which the Spartans pushed No. 1 UCLA to the brink, having leads late in two of the three games, and coming back before falling short in the third, as the Bruins remained unbeaten in B1G play at 24-0, clinching the regular-season title on Sunday after losses by Nebraska and Oregon ... The top-ranked Bruins are believed to the first No. 1 team to visit East Lansing, and UCLA captured the Big Ten Conference weekend series.

• MSU's three losses to UCLA last weekend were by a combined five runs, the closest run-differential of the season for the Bruins, and only the second single-digit run margin, along with seven runs in UCLA's series win over Minnesota, as MSU hung with the top-ranked team all weekend long, with several leads, including Sunday's Spartan score advantage until the seventh.

• On Friday, MSU led UCLA, 1-0, until the eighth inning when the Bruins scored two runs and two more in the ninth for a 4-1 results ... On Saturday, the visiting team scored four runs in the top of the first, only to see MSU hold UCLA off the board the rest of the game, and the Spartans' comeback came up short in a 4-3 outcome.

• The Spartans opened a 10-2 lead through six innings on Sunday, scoring in five of the six stanzas, with three in the first, none in the second, one in the third, then two in each of the fourth, fifth and sixth ... The Bruins stormed back with a six-run seventh inning to close to 10-8. MSU scored a run in the home half of the seventh for an 11-8 lead, but UCLA scored three in the top of the eighth to tie it up, and then tallied two in the ninth for the go-ahead runs, and MSU was unable to counter in the ninth to end the game ... Every inning saw at least one team or the other score a run, plating runs in the same frame in two innings, the first and the seventh.

• Ohio State had its midweek match-up with in-state foe Miami (OH) cancelled due to inclement weather, and bring a 24-21 overall record and a 13-11 B1G ledger into the weekend showdown with the Spartans ... OSU is among others receiving votes in this week's NCBWA Top 25 Poll ... the Buckeyes are coming off a three-game B1G weekend sweep over No. 16 Nebraska, opening with a 2-1 win on Friday night, before a 7-3 win on Saturday and then completing the sweep with a 10-1 rout on Sunday, belting seven home runs in the game, OSU's most in a game since 2009, including two each from junior catcher Mason Eckelman and graduate outfielder Noah Furcht ... the series sweep over the Huskers was the Buckeyes' fifth series sweep of the season, including third B1G weekend series sweep, with the Nebraska sweep joining sweeps over Minnesota and Maryland, with the Nebraska and Maryland sweeps coming at home, while the Minnesota sweep was in Minneapolis ... the Buckeyes are 13-8 at home this season entering their final home weekend, before hosting Wright State on Tuesday, May 12, then finishing regular-season action at Michigan, May 14-16.

MICHIGAN STATE ATHLETICS ANNOUNCES JAKE BOSS JR. CONTRACT EXTENSION
• Michigan State athletics announced a contract extension for head baseball coach Jake Boss Jr. on Thursday, Feb. 12 on the eve of Opening Day ... With the extension, Boss' contract now runs through 2029.

• Boss is in his 18th year at Michigan State and 19th overall as a collegiate head coach ... Boss entered the 2026 season at No. 3 on MSU's longest coaching list behind John H. Kobs (1935-63), the namesake for Kobs Field, location of McLane Stadium, with 39 seasons, and legendary head coach Denny Litwhiler (1964-82) with 19 seasons ... Now at 486 Victories for MSU entering the weekend at Ohio State, Boss is also No. 3 on the Spartan head coach list for wins and games coached, just behind Litwhiler with 489 wins in 859 games and also behind Kobs with 576 wins in 969 games.

BOSS 500 CAREER WINS
• MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. won his 500th career win on March 21 vs. Iowa, with a 15-5 8-inning run-rule Victory for MSU, and the Spartans' win at CMU on March 24 was number 501 for Coach Boss ... he now has 511 career wins in his 19th overall season with 486 wins in 18+ seasons at Michigan State (2009-pres.), and 25 wins in one season at Eastern Michigan (2008).

SEASON 142 OF SPARTAN BASEBALL
• Michigan State is in its 142nd season of baseball in 2026 and won its 2,500th all-time Victory for MSU vs. Eastern Michigan on May 6, 2025 ... Baseball was the first organized varsity sport on campus with the first season of Spartan baseball in 1884, winning its first recorded game on May 19, 1884, 20-9 over Olivet, 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.

100 YEARS OF SPARTANS
• One hundred years ago, on April 2, 1926, the name "Spartans" was first identified with Michigan State. "Spartans" initially appeared in a Lansing State Journal story about the baseball team, when LSJ editor George Alderton decided the established "Aggies" nickname no longer fit the recently renamed Michigan State College ... Other publications would soon follow in utilizing the nickname, and eventually it was officially adopted by Michigan State ... In the hundred years which have followed, "Spartans" has become more than just a moniker, it's an identity for decades of alumni, representing our uncommon will ... Here's to another century of Spartans!

48 AND FABULOUS
• Michigan State baseball played its 4,800th game in school history on Sunday, May 3, now with an all-time record of 2,523-2,251-30 (.528) in 4,802 games.

PROFESSIONAL STADIUM EXPERIENCE
• Friday's game at Huntington Park, home of the Columbus Clippers, the Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians, is one of four different professional stadiums the Spartans have been scheduled to play in, with a total of 10 games and one exhibition contest, but have played nine games and one exhibition in three different stadiums.

• Michigan State's five games over the end of February and first few days of March at Fluor Field, home of the Greenville Drive, the high-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox were the first five games the Spartans will play in professional stadiums this season.

• The Spartans played five games at their home-away-from-home, Fluor Field, in Greenville, S.C., home of the Greenville Drive, the high-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. Fluor Field nearly replicates the dimensions of Fenway Park, home of the Red Sox. The Greenville ballpark has its own "Green Monster" replica, a 30-foot high wall in left field as opposed to the 37-foot one found at Fenway, and contains a manual scoreboard. Every other dimension is to the same specifications as Fenway Park, including "Pesky's Pole" in right field.

• Michigan State opened Big Ten play with a three game series on March 6-8 at Nebraska, in Lincoln, Nebraska, and the Spartans faced the Cornhuskers at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park in Lincoln, which the Huskers share with the Lincoln Saltdogs of the American Association of Professional Baseball.

• Michigan State tangled with the Lansing Lugnuts, the High-A affiliate of the Oakland A's, in the 2026 Crosstown Showdown on Wednesday, April 1 at Jackson® Field™ in the annual exhibition game.

• MSU was also scheduled to meet Western Michigan on Wednesday, April 15 at LMCU Ballpark in Comstock Park, Michigan, home of the West Michigan Whitecaps, the High-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, but it was cancelled due to inclement weather from the night before and the day of the game.

MITTEN STATERS
• Michigan State has 21 players on its 2026 roster from the state of Michigan ... Ohio State has one Michigander on its roster in senior left-handed pitcher Hunter Shaw, who is from Chelsea, Michigan

Shaw played at Lansing Community College with Spartan graduate senior catcher/designated hitter Noah Bright in 2023.

FROM THE 17th STATE
• MSU has one player from the state of Ohio, in graduate senior pitcher Andrew Siler, who is from Avon, Ohio (Avon HS) and transferred to MSU after four years at Tiffin University in Tiffin, Ohio ... OSU has 14 players from its home state of Ohio on its 2026 roster.

ROUND ON THE END AND HI IN THE MIDDLE...O-H-I-O THAT'S OUR SCHEDULE
• Michigan State's three games this weekend against Ohio State round out four games against teams from the state of Ohio this week in a span of five games, as the Spartans opened the week taking on Bowling Green on Tuesday, flying past the Falcons, 12-4.

PICOT PELTED A PAIR OF PICKLED PITCHES
• Junior outfielder Parker Picot pelted a pair of pickled pitches for home runs in Sunday's wild, 13-11, game vs. No. 1 UCLA , with a two-run homer in the first frame and added a solo home to lead off the fifth ... Picot pelted an opposite-field homer over the wall in right and into the Red Cedar River for his first home run of the day ... He then smashed a solo blast to left center to lead off the fifth frame.

Picot was the first Spartan to hit two homers in a game in the last two weeks, as senior infielder Randy Seymour smacked two homers on April 18 in a 13-8 Victory for MSU at Washington.

HOT & SPICY PICOT
• Picot has four home runs in the last 10 games, including three homers in the last three contests, with two HRs vs. No. 1 UCLA on May 3, and one homer on May 6 vs. Western Michigan.

After a cold stretch during most of March, Picot has turned things around at the plate and his numbers have sky-rocketed of late ... Picot's average was at .088 on March 18 and 20, before starting to climb out of the slump on March 24, then reaching peak climbing speed on April 11, hitting .432 from a span of April 11 - May 3, with his average reaching .271 after the May 3 outing vs. UCLA going 3-for-5 with two HR.

Picot has at least one hit in 12 of the last 15 games, with six multi-hit outings over that span ... he also has five HR and nine doubles over that span, with an .833 slugging percentage, logging 18 RBI and scoring 15 runs, adding three walks and three HBP over that 15-game span since April 11.

11 SLUGGING .611
• Picot, who wears jersey number 11, has a .611 slugging percentage, which leads MSU and ranks 16th in the B1G.

Picot has 58 total bases in 95 at bats, with 25 hits, knocking nine doubles and eight home runs ... he adds 29 RBI.

SPARTANS SMACKING MULTIPLE HOMERS
• Picot's two home run outing vs. UCLA on Sunday was his second two HR game, as he had a pair of round-trippers on Feb. 14 at No. 8 Louisville, as part of eight RBI in MSU's 13-4 upset.

Sunday was the fifth game that a Spartan had smacked multiple home runs, done by three different players, as Seymour also has a pair of outings with multi-homers, first coming on March 24 at Central Michigan with his career-high three HR game in the Spartans' 19-8 rout at CMU, and then on April 18 at Washington in MSU's 13-8 win ... freshman infielder CJ Deckinga also has a two-homer outing with two HR in MSU's 16-13 loss to Purdue on March 24.

WHERE THERE'S A WILL-IAMS THERE'S A WAY
• Senior outfielder Nick Williams is hitting .769 over his last four games played, going 10-for-13 with two doubles, one triple and one HR, tallying five RBI and seven runs scored, adding six walks and one stolen base.

Furthermore, Williams has at least two hits in each of his last six games played, starting with two hits on April 18 at Washington, then two more the next day vs. the Huskies ... Williams then tallied two hits on May 2 vs. No. 1 UCLA, before three hits the next day including a HR ... he then went 3-for-3 vs. Bowling Green on May 5, and followed it up with two hits vs. Western Michigan on Wednesday, for a 14-of-22 showing, good for .636, with three doubles, one triple and one HR, logging eight RBI, eight runs scored, six walks and two stolen bases.

2026 EDITION OF HOME RUN HITTERS MAKING MARK
• MSU hit three home runs over the weekend in the series vs. UCLA, moving up and into the Top 10 of the Spartans' single-season team home runs list, matching the 1990 squad at the No. 9 spot, before adding to that total and climbing further up after adding one homer in each of the two midweeks ... this year's total of 51 homers has now tied last year's total of 51 HR ... the Spartans have 51 home runs in 46 games, averaging 1.1 HR/game, ahead of last year's 51 HR in 55 games, for a 0.9 HR/game average ... at their current pace of 1.1 HR/game, the Spartans will end the season with eight more home runs, giving them 59 to tie for No. 3 on the single-season list and the most since 2004's 75 homers.

MSU SINGLE-SEASON TEAM HOME RUNS
            1.         2002    95
            2.         2004    75
            3.         1994    59
                        1984    59
            5.         1985    57
            6.         1988    54
            7.         2023    52
            8.         2026    51
                        2025    51
            10.       1990    49
            11.       1987    47
                        2017    47
            13.       2024    46
            14.       2015    45
                        1993    45

SEY-MOUR HOMERS CLIMBING LIST, ONE SHY OF GIBBY
• Senior infielder Randy Seymour smacked his 15th home run of the season on Tuesday, climbing up to tie for No. 5 on MSU's single-season HR list, matching former teammate Sam Busch's homer total from last season, and also tying Chris McCuiston with 15 in 2002.

Seymour is now just one homer from tying Spartan great Kirk Gibson with 16 in 1978, along with Matt Riggins (1996) and Bob Malek (2002), for No. 2 on the list ... Mike Eddington is MSU's single-season HR king with 20 homers in 1984.

MSU SINGLE-SEASON INDIVIDUAL Home Runs
1.         Mike Eddington           20        1984
2.         Kirk Gibson      16        1978
            Matt Riggins   16        1996
            Bob Malek       16        2002
5.         Randy Seymour          15        2026
            Sam Busch       15        2025
            Chris McCuiston          15        2002
8.         Rob Ellis          14        1971
            Kyle Geswein   14        2002
10.       Brock Vradenburg       13        2023
            Ryan Krill         13        2015
            Travis Gulick    13        2003
            Jim Sepanek    13        1985
            Scott Ayotte    13        1995
--          Parker Picot    7          2026
--          CJ Deckinga     6          2026

HOME ON THE BANKS OF THE RED CEDAR
• Along with winning two of three in MSU's home-opening series, the Spartans have won 10 of their last 20 home games at Jeff Ishbia Field at McLane Stadium dating back to last season ... MSU was 11-10 at home last season, and are 8-11 at home this season.

Michigan State finished up a season-long nine-game homestand, wrapping up with this week's midweek match-ups with Bowling Green and Western Michigan in games eight and nine of the homestand.

The Spartans are playing 13 of their final 16 games of the regular-season at home, as after this week's midweek match-ups with Bowling Green on Tuesday and Western Michigan on Wednesday ... MSU then plays at Ohio State this weekend, Friday-Sunday, May 8-10, before concluding the regular-season by hosting Eastern Michigan on Tuesday, May 12, then hosting Illinois State in a three-game non-conference weekend series, Thursday-Saturday, May 14-16.

PUSHING NUMBER ONE BRUINS TO THE BRINK
• MSU's three losses to No. 1 UCLA last weekend were by a combined five runs, the closest run-differential of the season for the Bruins, and only the second single-digit run margin, along with seven runs in UCLA's series win over Minnesota, as MSU hung with the top-ranked team all weekend long, with several leads, including Sunday's Spartan score advantage until the seventh.

• On Friday, MSU led UCLA, 1-0, until the eighth inning when the Bruins scored two runs and two more in the ninth for a 4-1 results ... On Saturday, the visiting team scored four runs in the top of the first, only to see MSU hold UCLA off the board the rest of the game, and the Spartans' comeback came up short in a 4-3 outcome.

• The Spartans opened a 10-2 lead through six innings on Sunday, scoring in five of the six stanzas, with three in the first, none in the second, one in the third, then two in each of the fourth, fifth and sixth ... The Bruins stormed back with a six-run seventh inning to close to 10-8. MSU scored a run in the home half of the seventh for an 11-8 lead, but UCLA scored three in the top of the eighth to tie it up, and then tallied two in the ninth for the go-ahead runs, and MSU was unable to counter in the ninth to end the game ... Every inning saw at least one team or the other score a run, plating runs in the same frame in two innings, the first and the seventh.

UCLA RECAP
• Senior outfielder Nick Williams his .714 for the weekend series vs. UCLA in two games, going 5-of-7 with one HR and three RBI, with a 1.143 slugging percentage and an .800 on-base percentage, drawing three walks.

• The Spartans scored 15 runs on 24 hits in the three games, averaging 5.0 runs and 8.0 hits per game.

QUICK LOOK BACK AT MARYLAND SERIES WIN
• The Spartans' offense erupted for 35 runs on 37 hits, including five home runs, in the three games, posting a .343 batting average for the series.

• The 35 runs, 11.7 runs per game average and .343 batting average were all season-highs.

• MSU's five home runs tied a season-best marking the fourth weekend series this season belting five home runs in the series, including the second in a row ... however, it was a season-high for round-trippers in a home series, as the Spartans also had five homers in the series at No. 8 Louisville on opening weekend (Feb. 13-15), at Rutgers (March 13-15) and at Washington (April 17-19).

• The Spartans run-ruled the Terps on Sunday, 13-1, in 7-inning, marking their third game to end in 7-innings this season, but the first won with a win, after losing in 7-innings twice in a span of four games, vs. No. 10 Clemson (12-1) on March 4 at Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C., then at Nebraska (12-2).

• Michigan State scored 10+ runs in all three games of the Maryland series, marking the first time with 10 or more runs in back-to-back games this season, last doing so in the 2025 season nearly the same dates, with 10 runs April 19 vs. Ohio State, and 14 runs the next day, Oct. 20, also vs. Ohio State ... the three games with 10+ runs was the Spartans most since plating 10 or more runs in four-straight games on April 15-20, with a 14-4 win over Western Michigan, an 11-4 win over Ohio State, 10-9 (11 inn.) win over Ohio State and a 14-4 (7-inn. run-rule) win over Ohio State.

• Junior infielder Ryan McKay tallied five RBI in Sunday's win, belting a grand slam in the second inning, adding an RBI single in the fifth ... McKay was the first Spartan with five RBI in the last two weeks, as freshman teammate CJ Deckinga had five RBI on April 12 vs. Michigan, with a grand slam and an RBI double.

NINE-RUN INNING
• Michigan State hung nine runs on the scoreboard in the second inning of Sunday's 13-1, 7-inning run-rule rout of Maryland.

• It was the Spartans' most runs in an inning since also scoring a nine-spot on May 15, 2022 in an 11-8 win over Iowa ... All seven hits and nine runs in the inning on Sunday were in consecutive order after retiring the leadoff hitter, rallying to bat around with one out.

WHERE IN THE USA IS CARMEN SPARTANDIEGO
• The Spartans are doing their best Carmen Sandiego impression this season, having already played in nine different states since Opening Day on Feb. 13, and last weekend's trip to Washington marked the ninth different state that MSU has played in, as well as the Spartans' first-ever trip to Seattle ... the Spartans have already played in the states of Kentucky, Texas, South Carolina and Nebraska, adding the Mitten State with the midweek match-up at Eastern Michigan on March 10 ... MSU then added New Jersey on March 13-15, as the Spartans played Rutgers at Piscataway, N.J. for a three-game Big Ten weekend series ... Michigan State added Illinois to the list with the B1G weekend series at Northwestern, April 3-5 ... the Spartans added Indiana as their eighth state with the trip to South Bend, Ind., on April 8.

MSU will add its 10th different state this weekend, May 8-10 heading to Columbus, Ohio to play at Ohio State in the Spartans' final road trip of the regular-season.

FIRST WASHINGTON EXPEDITION FOR STATE NUMBER 31
• The Spartans made their first ever trek to the state of Washington on April 17-19 ... crossing Washington off its states checklist, Washington was the 31st different state that the Spartans have played in during their 142-season history.

While MSU has played teams from nearly all 50 states, they haven't played in that respective state, i.e. the Spartans played Montana State in 1986 in Florida, but haven't played a game on Montana soil.

35 FOR 35 AND NOW UP TO 49
• Senior infielder Randy Seymour wears jersey number 35 and registered his 35th RBI of the season on April 12 vs. Michigan ... he added his 36th RBI of the season vs. Oakland on April 14 for a new career-high , then added five ribbies in the three games at Washington, and two more in the Maryland series, and one last weekend vs. UCLA ... Seymour then notched five more in the two midweek games, giving Seymour 49 RBI for the season and setting a new single-season career-high for RBI, bettering his season total of 35 for 2025 in 207 AB in 58 games played (0.6 RBI/game), as this season he has 49 RBI in 189 AB in 46 games played (1.1 RBI/game).

With the 49 RBI, Seymour not only leads MSU, but also ranks tied for 10th in the B1G ... Seymour is also tied for 10th in the B1G in RBI/game (1.00).

TOUGHEST SCHEDULE IN B1G TO OPEN SEASON
• MSU's game against No. 10 Clemson on March 4 was Michigan State's seventh game this season against a ranked opponent, going 2-5 to that point.

• Michigan State opened the season with a three-game series at No. 8 Louisville, taking 2-of-3 and then a three-game series at No. 3 Texas, falling in all three.

• After being at No. 1 in the Big Ten in the first two weeks of the season, MSU was No. 2 for the week of Feb. 23, behind UCLA in the Baseball Strength of Schedule (SOS) by warrennolan.com.

• Following three weeks in a row at No. 1 in the B1G (weeks of March 2, 9 and 16), MSU was at No. 2 in the B1G for the weeks of March 23 and 30, but behind Maryland at No. 1 in the conference in the April 6 rankings, up from No. 3 in the league and No. 18 in the nation for the March 30 rankings.

• In this week's rankings as of May 3, the Spartans are No. 3 in the B1G and No. 36 in the NCAA, just behind conference mate Maryland at No. 35 in the nation and No. 2 in the league ... UCLA is No. 1 in the B1G and No. 31 in the NCAA ... USC is No. 3 in the B1G and No. 39 in the NCAA, followed by Illinois at No. 4 in the B1G and No. 49 in the NCAA, then Nebraska at No. 5 in the B1G and No. 51 in the NCAA.

• Other B1G teams in the Top 90 in the nation include Penn State at No. 59, Indiana at No. 70, Ohio State at No. 71, Rutgers at No. 78, Northwestern at No. 79 and Michigan at No. 86.

• Several others of MSU's non-conference opponents also listed including Texas (No. 7). Clemson (No. 22), Notre Dame (No. 57), Louisville (No. 84) and James Madison (No. 102) ... this week's opponents, Bowling Green (No. 119) and Western Michigan (No. 228).

MITTEN STATE MARCH MADNESS
• The Crosstown Showdown on April 1 was Michigan State's ninth game of nine-straight games in the state of Michigan, after the March 31 home game vs. Central Michigan was cancelled due to inclement weather ... the Spartans started the stretch on March 18 at Michigan, before their home opening series vs. Iowa on March 20-21, playing a DH on the 21st due to inclement weather ... MSU played at Central Michigan last Tuesday, before returning home to host Purdue last weekend in a three-game series ... the Spartans wrapped up the nine-game in-state stretch with the 2026 Crosstown Showdown, taking on the Lansing Lugnuts, the High-A affiliate of the Oakland A's, on Wednesday, April 1 at Jackson® Field™ in the annual exhibition game.

STURGESS COLLECTING GAME-WINNING RBI
• Spartan sophomore outfielder Isaac Sturgess has over of MSU's game-winning RBI aka "The RBI that gives team the lead it never relinquishes" with six official GW RBI through the Spartans' 14 wins, adding one unofficial RBI.

Sturgess started his game-winning RBI collection in the season-opener at then-No. 8 Louisville with a home run in the eighth inning that proved to be the winning run in the Spartans' 4-3 upset of the Cardinals ... he then knocked his second game-winning RBI in as many days with an RBI double in the fourth that put MSU ahead for good on the way to a 13-4 Victory for MSU.

He then posted his third game-winning RBI with a bases-loaded walk vs. Albany in the third inning in MSU's win on Feb. 28.

Sturgess collected the GW RBI in both of MSU's wins over Iowa, with a double in the first inning on March 20 and an RBI groundout the next day.

In the win at Northwestern on April 3, Sturgess had a 2-run single in the sixth that put MSU ahead for good on the way to the 5-1 win.

At Notre Dame on April 8, Sturgess hit a solo home run in the top of the first inning to give MSU the lead and the Spartans didn't look back on the way to a 7-4 Victory for MSU, for Sturgess' sixth game-winning RBI.

In the April 12 Victory for MSU over Michigan, Sturgess hit into a double play, but it allowed teammate CJ Deckinga to score, pushing MSU ahead at 3-2 ... while he doesn't officially get credit as the game-winning RBI because of the RBI, it marked the seventh time this season that Sturgess was involved in what proved to be the run that gives the Spartans the lead they never relinquish out of their wins.

DECKINGA COMPLETES HOME RUN CYCLE
• MSU freshman infielder CJ Deckinga hit a two-run home run on April 4 at Northwestern, completing his home run cycle in only four home runs.

The Spartan freshman hit the first home run of his collegiate career on March 14 at Rutgers with a solo homer to lead off the inning ... Deckinga then decked a grand slam and a three-run home run in the same game on March 28 vs. Purdue ... he then completed his home run cycle with a two-run homer on Saturday, April 4 at Northwestern.

PICOT ALSO COMPLETES HR CYCLE, DOING SO IN SUCCESSIVE ORDER
• Junior outfielder Parker Picot joined Deckinga in the home run cycle with his fourth HR of the season coming on a solo homer at Washington on April 17, completing the cycle in successive order ... Picot's first HR of the season was a grand slam in the fourth inning on Feb. 14 at Louisville, then adding a three-run homer in the sixth for his first two-HR game of his career ... Picot checked two-run home run off the list on March 24 with a two-run home at Central Michigan, before completing the cycle in successive order with a solo home run at Washington on April 17.

BRIGHT BELTS FIRST HOME RUN WITH TEAMMATE ON BASE
• Graduate catcher/designated hitter Noah Bright belted his fourth HR of the season and eighth of his career on April 17 at Washington with a two-run homer in the third inning, but that was the first home run he'd hit with a teammate on base, as all of his previous HR had been of the solo variety.

SLUGGIN' IN SEATTLE
• Despite the three-hour time difference, MSU's offense was anything but sleepless in Seattle, as the Spartans hung a combined 24 runs on the board in the three-game series, averaging 8.0 runs per game, for their most runs in a three-game series this season, topping the previous mark of 21 runs (7.0 rpg) from the Purdue series (March 27-29) ... MSU belted five HR in the series, tying a season-high for the third time, with all three times coming on the road, matching five homers in the series at Louisville (Feb. 13-15) and at Rutgers (March 13-15).

SEYMOUR AMONG B1G LEADERS IN HR AND RBI
• Senior infielder Randy Seymour's three HR at CMU vaulted him up the B1G HR leaderboard ... now with 15 HR on the season, Seymour not only leads MSU, but jumped up to third on the B1G HR list, but has now slid to tied for No. 6 ... Penn State's Michael Anderson (19), UCLA's Roch Cholowsky (18) and Will Gasparino (18), hold the top spots ... Seymour was in the top 25 in the NCAA in HR at one point, but since cooling off, his is now 52nd in the nation ... he also is eighth in the league and tied for 55th in the nation in HR/game (0.33).

• Now with his jersey-number matching 35 RBI coming on April 12 vs. Michigan, and now at a career-high 49 RBI, Seymour is now tied for 10th in the league in RBI, and tied for 12th in the conference in RBI/game (1.07).

DONOVAN ON B1G ERA LEADERBOARD
• Sophomore pitcher Aidan Donovan is 12th in the Big Ten with a 3.88 ERA ... Donovan had a stretch where he yielded just six earned runs in a span of four outings in 27.1 IP, for an ERA of 1.99 over those four starts ... highlighting that spurt was no earned runs in 7.0 IP vs. Iowa on March 20 and one earned run in 8.0 IP at Northwestern on April 3.

AND THEN THERE WAS ONE
• Senior Randy Seymour started at DH on April 14 vs. Oakland, after starting at first base in the previous 33 games, with Sturgess handling first base duties in that game ... Seymour returned to starting at first base in all three games at Washington ... While Seymour and junior infielder Ryan McKay are the only two Spartans to start all 46 games, McKay is now the lone MSU player to start at the same position every game, starting every game at second base.