The Michigan State football program has landed a commitment from preferred walk-on offensive lineman Hayden Lorius. He visited in late January when he received the PWO offer. He also had offers from several Division II, Division III and NAIA schools.

Lorius is also a two-time state champion power lifter.

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Article coming soon, but Sissoko has entered the portal.

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Hoggard enters the NBA draft while retaining his college eligibility. He has until May 29 to withdraw from the draft.

Scouting Report:

Hoggard is a big-bodied 6-4 point guard who excels in all aspects of the game except for shooting the rock.

He’s a feisty defensive player who plays an aggressive style.

He is good from the FT line and has a pretty good touch around the rim."



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Earlier in the day he entered the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament to draw attention

Since 1953, the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament has invited 64 senior college basketball players from across the nation to compete before professional scouts. Eight teams of eight players play a 12 game tournament over 4 days, with each player hoping to reach their dreams of becoming a professional basketball player.

Over the years, the P.I.T. has welcomed players that are now household names, like Rick Barry, Earl “The Pearl” Monroe, Dave Cowens, Scottie Pippen, Tim Hardaway, Dennis Rodman, Jimmy Butler
.

In his latest podcast Rod said that if a particular job opened up we’d be losing a second assistant. He wouldn’t say who it was, but later in the show Eric let it slip that it was Wojcik. Anyone know what school he was talking about or what the odds are of him leaving?

As we've been reporting, now official:

"On April 10th, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with cancer.He was surrounded by his children and grandchildren. During this time of transition, his family asks that you please respect their wishes for privacy and grace." -The Simpson Family

Michigan State hosted 2026 three-star cornerback De'Mari Clemons for an unofficial visit on Thursday, and the Buffalo, New York native left East Lansing with a re-offer from MSU's new coaching staff.

Clemons had previously been offered by the Spartans from then-cornerbacks coach Jim Salgado under the last regime. Now, with a whole new coaching new staff at Michigan State, led by head coach Jonathan Smith, Clemons still has an opportunity to play for MSU in the future.

The re-offer from the new Michigan State coaching staff means a lot for Clemons. While on the visit, he was able to spend quality time with cornerbacks coach Demetrice Martin, secondary coach Blue Adams, director of scouting Darius Hicks and others.

Clemons spoke with Spartans Illustrated to detail his visit, reflect upon the re-offer and provide his thoughts on Michigan State's football program.

"I had time to talk to Coach Blue (Adams), Coach Meat, and a few others," Clemons said. "They all had the same tune on what it takes to be a Michigan State Spartan and the expectations they expect from the athletes, which is to be great, and most importantly, how they prepare their athletes for life after football."

Spartans battling Boilermakers in first visit to West Lafayette since 2019.​

• After a weekend hiatus from league play, Michigan State baseball resumes Big Ten Conference action with a three-game weekend series at Purdue, Friday-Sunday, April 12-14 at Purdue's Alexander Field in West Lafayette, Ind. ... The series opens on Friday at 6 p.m. ET, followed by Saturday's game two at 3 p.m. ET and Sunday's series finale at 1 p.m. ET.

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

• Fans can follow this weekend's action with "Watch Live," "Live Stats" and "Listen Live" links, where available, at MSUSpartans.com.

• For the eighth-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 ... There will be no Spartan Media Network broadcast from Purdue, but the "Listen Live" link will be for Purdue's broadcast.

COACH VAN AMEYDE AWAY FROM TEAM
• Michigan State will be without veteran pitching coach Mark Van Ameyde (VAN-uh-mead) for an extended amount of time, as he will be away from the team after undergoing a successful kidney transplant on March 20.

HOME STATERS
• The Spartans have 22 players on its 2024 roster from the state of Michigan, while the Boilermakers have 13 Indiana natives on their roster.

SPARTANS FROM INDIANA
• Michigan State has one player from the state of Indiana: junior designated hitter/catcher Christian Williams (Carmel/Carmel HS) ... Purdue senior outfielder Weston Gingerich is one of the 13 Indiana natives on the Boilermakers' roster and is also from Carmel (Guerin Catholic).

MICHIGANDER BOILERMAKERS
• Purdue has two players from the state of Michigan on its roster in graduate catcher Aaron Dolney (Plymouth/Detroit Country Day HS/Eastern Michigan) and freshman pitcher Easton Storey (Brighton/Brighton HS)

MSU VS. INDIANA TEAMS
• This weekend's series against Purdue will be MSU's fifth of six different opponents from the state of Indiana on the Spartans' 2024 regular-season schedule, having played six games against teams from Indiana and had another rained out ... Michigan State enters this weekend 3-3 against Indiana teams, as MSU has already played Ball State (L, 4-1, on Feb. 18 in Charleston, S.C.) and Indiana State (L, 7-6 (10 inn.) in Port Charlotte, Fla. ... the Spartans won the three-game series with Evansville (March 15-17), taking the opener, 11-3, before dropping game two, 5-3 in 11 inn., but then bouncing back to win the series with a 6-5 Victory for MSU ... Michigan State also beat Purdue Fort Wayne, 11-1 in 8-innings via run-rule ... MSU was scheduled to take on Notre Dame on April 2 at South Bend, but it got rained out and no make-up date has been announced yet, but the Spartans and Irish are scheduled to meet April 30 at East Lansing ... MSU also plays one of the two Big Ten teams from Indiana this season, playing at Purdue this weekend in West Lafayette, but does not play Indiana during the regular-season.

BOSS 800
• Tuesday's game vs. Central Michigan was MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr.'s 800th game at the helm of the Spartans, becoming the third MSU baseball head coach to coach 800 games leading the Spartans, joining John Kobs and Danny Litwhiler.

Coach Years Gms. W L T Pct.
John H. Kobs 1935-63 (39) 969 576 377 16 .603
Daniel W. Litwhiler 1964-82 (19) 859 489 362 8 .574
Jake Boss Jr. 2009-pres. (16th) 800 430 370 0 .538

LAST TIME OUT LOOK BACK
• Michigan State was shutout by Central Michigan, 10-0, in 7 innings via the run-rule on Tuesday, April 9, just one day off from being one year to the day of MSU's last run-rule loss, coming on April 8, 2023 vs. Ohio State, losing 13-2 in 7 innings in game 1 of a doubleheader, bouncing back to win the nightcap, 16-3 in 7 innings, for an alternating run-rule doubleheader result.

• MSU was shutout for just the second time this season and both times the Spartans had five or fewer hits, with five hits Tuesday, and three hits in a 2-0 loss to Lehigh on Feb. 17 in Charleston, S.C.

LAST WEEKEND SHUT OUT RECAP
• Michigan State blanked Niagara, 9-nil in the opener of last weekend's series opener, as MSU posted its first shutout since March 20, 2022 when the Spartans beat Houston Baptist, 1-0.

• Spartan starter sophomore southpaw Joseph Dzierwa went 7.0 IP, before senior reliever Aaron Mishoulam (1.0 IP) and freshman reliever Garrett Brewer (1.0 IP) finished it off for the combined shutout ... in the last blanking, three Spartans pitchers also combined for the shutout as well, with Nick Powers (6.1 IP), Andrew Carson (1.2 IP), Kyle Bischoff (1.0 IP) vs. Houston Baptist, March 20, 2022.

• Dzierwa was dominant, as he tied his career-high for third time this season with nine strikeouts in 7.0 IP as MSU snapped hot-hitting Niagara's eight-game win streak Friday.

• He retired 11-straight Niagara batters with six strikeouts in that span, covering the first through the fourth innings.

• After allowing two singles to open the game, Dzierwa got out of the inning with a flyout, then back-to-back Ks ... He opened the second with two more strikeouts in a row for four in a row, part of the 11-straight retired Purple Aces, until a single in the top of the fourth.

• Dzierwa, Mishoulam and Brewer combined to stymie Niagara's bats as they came into game ranking No. 16 in the NCAA with a team average of .321, averaging over 11 hits and nine runs per game, and were held in check to five hits and no runs Friday night ... Two Purple Eagles were in the top 15 in the nation in average, as Eric Rataczak was No. 13 at .446, while Nick Monile was hitting .438 coming into Friday ... They were a combined 1-for-8 with a strikeout apiece, with Monile lacing a two-out single in the fourth for the lone hit between them ... Rataczak had a season-long 13-game hitting streak snapped by going hitless for just the fourth time this season.

PUTTIN' THE SWEET IN HOME SWEET HOME
• Michigan State is off to a 7-5 ledger at home after winning the home-opening series over Evansville March 15-17, winning two of three, and beating Purdue Fort Wayne on March 19, before losing to Oakland on March 27 ... MSU went 17-4 at home last season and the Spartans have now won 30 of their last 42 home games (30-12) in their last 42 home games dating back to the 2022 season.

POWERS NO. 125 ON D1BASEBALL'S TOP 150 STARTING PITCHERS
• Senior left-handed starting pitcher Nick Powers is No. 125 on D1Baseball.com's Top 150 Starting Pitchers and is the lone Spartan representative on the publication's mid-season player rankings.

• Powers leads MSU with a 2.57 ERA, logging a 4-2 record in seven starts, including one complete game ... he has 36 strikeouts to just seven walks, yielding 16 runs, 14 earned, in 49.0 IP.

• Powers is fifth in the B1G and 61st in the NCAA in strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.14), while ranking third in the league in both wins (4) and walks allowed per nine innings (1.29), along with fourth in WHIP (1.08).

FRANK-ING FAST ON THE BASEPATHS AND UP THE RECORD BOOK
• Senior outfielder Jack Frank snagged three stolen bases in the weekend series vs. Niagara, now with 16 on the season and 49 stolen bases for his career ... with the 49 swipes, Frank has climbed within one of No. 5 on MSU's career stolen bases, one shy of Brandon Hughes (2015-17).

• Frank is also third in the B1G and 39th in the NCAA with the 16 stolen bases ... he also is fourth in the conference and 46th in the country in stolen bases per game (0.53).

• The 16 swipes is just three shy of his single-season career-high of 19 stolen bases last season, and is his third-straight double-digit swipes season after 10 in 2022.

SPARTANS VS. BOILERMAKERS SERIES NOTES
MSU making first trip to West Lafayette since 2019 ... The Spartans have won the last two three-game series played in West Lafayette as part of winning the last six three-game series, including taking last year's series in East Lansing in both teams' B1G openers ... Purdue won the opener on March 24, before game two was postponed until March 26 for a doubleheader, with MSU winning both, 5-4 and 12-6 ... Prior to last season's meeting, the Spartans welcomed Purdue to East Lansing in 2021, when MSU hosted Purdue and Penn State during the COVID-19 pandemic altered schedule of only a Big Ten Conference-only ledger in 2021, with some weekends featuring three-team pod play ... Michigan State hosted Purdue and Penn State on April 9-12 and played Purdue and Illinois in Champaign, Ill., on April 16-18 during the 2021 season ... The Spartans and Boilermakers have alternated win streaks in the series, with MSU winning the last two after Purdue won the previous four, that came on the heels of a three-game Spartan win streak in the series ... overall, MSU leads the all-time series, 87-77, while the series is level at 41-41 in games played at West Lafayette, with MSU winning four of the last six match-ups at Alexander Field winning the last six three-game series since Purdue's last series win in 2012 in West Lafayette, a year after Michigan State was the last team two sweep a three-game set in the all-time series, winning all three in 2011 in East Lansing ... Purdue was the last team in the series to post a sweep in West Lafayette doing so in 1987, back when the teams played four-game series, doing so until 2006, before shifting to playing three-game series in 2007.

ABOUT PURDUE
• The Boilermakers are 20-13 overall and 5-4 in B1G action ... Purdue is coming off a 9-3 loss to Indiana State on Tuesday night, as ISU pulled away from a 2-2 tie entering the eighth inning with a three-run eighth and four runs in the ninth before the Boilermakers added a run in the ninth ... the Indiana State loss snapped a four-game win streak for Purdue, as the Boilermakers swept Rutgers last weekend in Piscataway, N.J., winning the opener, 5-3 in 10-innings, before capturing the series with an 8-6 triumph and completed the sweep with a 5-3 in on Sunday.

• Purdue is hitting .283 as a team, with 317 hits (9.6 pg) and 254 runs (7.7 pg), with 32 HR ... the Boilermakers also have 50 stolen bases (1.5 pg).

• Redshirt-freshman catcher/first baseman Luke Gaffney leads Purdue and ranks third in the B1G and 63rd in the NCAA in batting average at .395 ... Gaffney also shares the team-lead and ranks tied for second in the conference and 50th in the country in RBI (39) ... He's also ranked second in the B1G and 27th in the NCAA in hits (51), in addition to ranking fourth in the league and 34th in the nation in hits per game (1.6) ... Gaffney is second on the team in HR (6), while tied for second on the team in both doubles (10) and triples (2).

• Senior catcher Connor Caskenette is tied with Gaffney with the 39 RBI, while adding a team-high seven HR.

• Redshirt-sophomore infielder Camden Gasser leads Purdue and ranks fifth in the B1G in stolen bases (13), while fifth-year outfielder Mike Bolton Jr. is seventh with 11.

• On the mound, Friday's starter is graduate left-hander Jordan Morales, who has a 4-3 record with a 4.00 ERA, ranking seventh in the B1G in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.3) ... Morales has 43 Ks to just 10 BB in 45.0 IP in eight starts, allowing a .291 average to the opposition.

• Saturday's starter is senior southpaw Luke Wagner, who is 4-0 with a 4.93 ERA, logging 31 Ks to 11 BB in 38.1 IP, with a .340 BAA.

• Senior lefty Jonathan Blackwell is Sunday's probable starter, with a 2-2 mark and a 5.01 ERA, also with 31 strikeouts and 11 walks in 32.1, with the opposition hitting .258 against him.

• Senior righty reliever Jackson Dannelley leads the B1G with five saves, logging an 0-3 record with 4.66 ERA, ringing up 31 Ks to 15 BB, while stymieing the opposition bats to the tune of just .180, and had been a part of both of Purdue's shutouts.

• Purdue head coach Greg Goff is in his fifth year engineering the Boilermakers with a 96-96 mark in West Lafayette, and has a 422-435-1 all-time career record in his 19th season as a head coach.

SPARTANS VS. SOUTHPAWS
• Michigan State is slated to be facing three left-handed starters, as all three of Purdue's probable starters are southpaws ... MSU is currently 4-7 against lefty starters.

COMMON OPPONENTS
• Michigan State and Purdue have two common opponents in Rutgers and Indiana State, and would have a third in Notre Dame, as the Boilermakers lost to their in-state foes Fighting Irish, 11-2 on March 5, but MSU's game at Notre Dame scheduled for April 2 was rained out ... MSU lost to Indiana State on 7-6 in 10-innings on Feb. 23 in Port Charlotte, Fla., while Purdue has played Indiana State twice, losing 8-7, on March 26 in Terre Haute, and lost to the then No. 18th-ranked Sycamores, 9-3, this past Tuesday in West Lafayette ... The Spartans took two of three from Rutgers in a three-game B1G weekend series March 29-31, dropping the opener, 4-2, before winning game two, 5-2, and the rubber match, 3-2 ... The Boilermakers went out to Piscataway, N.J., and swept the Scarlet Knights, winning 5-3 in 10-innings in game one, 8-6 in game two, and completing the sweep with a 5-3 in on Sunday.

Preview courtesy of MSU Athletics.

EAST LANSING, Mich. – 18th-ranked Men's Tennis will travel for a pair of critical Big Ten matches at national No. 1 Ohio State Saturday and Penn State Sunday, with first serves set for noon.

With both the Spartans and Buckeyes sitting atop the B1G standings with unblemished records, it is likely that Saturday's winner will clinch at least a share of the Big Ten regular season title if they win their Sunday match as well. MSU faces bottom of the table Penn State while OSU hosts No. 35 Michigan, who is also in pole position in league play.

With one win Michigan State would tie the program's second best Big Ten season with seven wins (last 1970) and with a weekend sweep the 2023-24 Spartans would be off to their best B1G start since winning the league title at 9-0 in 1967.

Last Time Out
Last weekend the Spartans achieved the winningest season in program history with a 5-2 win over Purdue on Saturday, April 6, MSU's 19th win, and extended that historic mark the following day with a 7-0 sweep of No. 62 Indiana on senior day in East Lansing.

Sunday's shutout of the Hoosiers marked the first time the Spartans have racked up multiple 7-0 sweeps in a Big Ten season since the ITA moved to the best-of-seven format in 1993 and first time with multiple B1G sweeps in a season since 1967.

Spartans in ITA DI Men's Tennis Rankings Update (April 9, 2024)
Singles

• No. 14 – Ozan Baris
• No. 43 – Ronald Hohmann III
• No. 112 – Graydon Lair

Doubles

• No. 6 – Max Sheldon/Ozan Baris
• No. 61 – Ronald Hohmann III/Sebastien Collard
• No. 73 – Ozan Baris/Ronald Hohmann III

They've got Chemistry
In 23 matches second-year head coach Harry Jadun has lined up 19 different doubles pairings, all of which have recorded at least one win while 14 of the duos have winning records.

Scouting No. 1 Ohio State
The Buckeyes are 23-1 on the season, 5-0 in conference play and have held the top spot in the national rankings for 11 consecutive polls since Jan. 17. OSU has won seven straight, it's lone loss on the season being 2-5 on the road at No. 12 Texas on March 10.

Buckeyes in ITA DI Men's Tennis Rankings Update (April 9, 2024)
Singles

• No. 16 – JJ Tracy
• No. 19 – Cannon Kingsley
• No. 25 – Jack Anthrop
• No. 28 – Justin Boulais
• No. 114 – Robert Cash

Doubles

• No. 2 – Robert Cash/JJ Tracy
• No. 20 – Justin Boulais/Andrew Lutschaunig
• No. 49 – Alexander Bernard/JJ Tracy
• No. 67 – Jack Anthrop/Preston Stearns
• No. 80 – Bryce Nakashima/Robert Cash
• No. 86 – Justin Boulais/Robert Cash

Series History vs. Ohio State
Ohio State hold the series lead between the two sides, 55-39, 33-18 in Columbus, Ohio. The Buckeyes have won the last 31 matchups, including 13 straight sweeps as the Spartan last got a point in 2014 and last came out on top 4-2 on April 29, 1998 in the Big Ten tournament. MSU last won in Columbus on March 21, 1998.

Scouting Penn State
The Nittany Lions are 4-16 on the year, 0-5 in conference action, while having lost 13 straight as their last win was a narrow 4-3 victory on Feb. 4 against Mount St. Mary's. PSU has been swept nine times on the season. Penn State is not ranked nor represented in the ITA's top 125 singles player nor top 90 doubles pairings.

Series History vs. Penn State
Penn State is 27-13 all-time against Michigan State, 18-5 in State College, Pa.. The Spartans came out on top in the last meeting between the two squads, 4-1 in East Lansing on April 9, 2023. The Spartans last defeated the Nittany Lions in their home territory on April 22, 2012.

Preview courtesy of MSU Athletics.

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Following a three-match homestand, the Michigan State women's tennis team are back on the road this weekend as its slated to take on Minnesota on Friday, April 12 at 4:30 p.m. ET. Then the Spartans will also travel to Wisconsin on Sunday, April 14, first serve is slated for 1 p.m. ET.

KNOW THE FOE: MINNESOTA

Minnesota enters the weekend with a 10-9 overall record with a 3-4 B1G record. In their last outing, the Gophers were shutout in a pair of duals to two nationally ranked B1G foes last weekend, falling to No. 32-ranked Illinois, 4-0, and No. 37-ranked Northwestern, 7-0. Minnesota has defeated two ITA ranked opponents this season with victories over No. 48-ranked Purdue, 4-1, and No. 62-ranked Iowa, 4-1.

It will be the 45th all-time meeting between the Spartans and the Gophers with two of the three last meetings going in the favor of MSU. Minnesota leads the all-time series 29-15.

KNOW THE FOE: WISCONSIN

Wisconsin enters the week with a 15-3 overall record and is the No. 25-ranked team in the latest ITA rankings. The Badgers are 6-1 in conference play, they suffered their first conference lost last weekend in a controversial fashion. Originally beating No. 37-ranked Northwestern, 4-3, but a lineup protest filed by Northwestern regarding the No. 1 and No. 2 singles position. The committee decided the No. 2 singles point is awarded to the Wildcats, giving them the 4-3 victory over Wisconsin.

The Badgers have one ITA ranked singles competitor in No. 78 Maria Sholokhova who leads the team in single dual victories with a 15-3 record. Along with Sholokhova, three other players amassed 10 or more single wins this dual season; Taylor Cataldi is second on the team with a 13-3 record; Ariel Johnson follows with a 11-2 record and Xinyu Cai rounds out the group with a 10-2 record. On the doubles court for Wisconsin, the winningest group has been the pairing of Caltaldi and Rosie Gross-Garcia whit an 8-1 record and are a perfect 6-0 on the No. 3 court.

The Badgers own the all-time head-to-head series record, 14-46. Despite the historic record, the last 10 meetings been back-and-forth between the two programs with Wisconsin winning six matches to the Spartans four.

B1G PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Freshman No. 92-ranked Ria Bhakta became the first Spartan since 2019 to be named the Big Ten Women's Tennis Player of the Week, as announced by the conference on Wednesday, following her top 20 victory against Michigan's No. 19-ranked Julia Fliegner last Saturday. The Delray Beach, Florida, native Bhakta would pull off a come from behind victory over Fliegner for the biggest victory of her young career. Bhakta worked her way back after dropping the first set, 4-6, to rattle off two-straight set victories (6-4, 1-0 [11-9]) in a true back-and-forth matchup.

Bhakta has been Michigan State's top performer on the singles court garnishing an impressive 10-2 overall record in the dual season, 2-1 in B1G duals and 8-2 in her last 10 complete matches.

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A NEW FACE IN THE RANKINGS

Following her impressive victory last weekend, Bhakta has earned national recognition with her first collegiate ranking, entering at No. 92 in the latest ITA singles ranking.

For the eighth week in a row, the Green and White tandem of senior Ayshe Can and graduate student Nicole Conard appeared in the ITA doubles ranking. The doubles stock continues to rise as they jumped up three spots this week to No. 34.

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Release courtesy of MSU Athletics.

EAST LANSING, Mich. - After defeating Western Michigan in a midweek contest on Wednesday the Michigan State softball program is back on the road for a three-game series against Penn State in State College, Pa. Action kicks off on Friday, April 12 with a 5:00 p.m. first pitch. All games throughout the weekend will be streamed on B1G+.

ABOUT PENN STATE
Penn State is 28-8 overall and 7-2 in B1G action. The Nittany Lions have seen success at home going 11-1 in State College. PSU is No. 27 in the latest NCAA RPI rankings with a signature win over Arkansas in non-conference.

The Nittany Lions rank #86 nationally in batting average (.289), #77 in ERA (2.96), #171 in fielding (.960), #121 in OBP (.358), #66 in scoring (5.22) and #47 in SLG (.480).

Bridget Nemeth is one of the best pitchers in the country as a freshman ranking #18 in ERA and #42 in strikeouts. Nemeth is 17-1 with a 1.17 ERA, .90 WHIP and 114 strikeouts in 113.2 innings. Opponents hit just .191 against her. Mady Volpe leads the team in pitching appearances (27) with a 3.83 ERA in 80.1 innings of work. Opponents hit .237 against her.

Penn State has five starters hitting over .300 led by Kaitlyn Morrison's .350. Maddie Gordon is hitting .345 and her 14 doubles rank #15 nationally. Emily Maddock, hitting .328, is one of the toughest players to strike out in the country with just three strikeouts in 116 at-bats. Haylie Brunson leads the team with 30 RBI hitting .289.

SPARTANS SPLIT MIDWEEK CONTESTS
Michigan State played a pair of midweek games this past week prior to arriving in State College, Pa. The Spartans were defeated by Michigan on Tuesday night, 11-5, before defeating Western Michigan on Wednesday, 4-3.

Macy Lee was 3-for-3 on Tuesday against the Wolverines, adding a walk to have a perfect night at the plate. Britain Beshears and Anna Fox each had two hits for MSU. Sydney Doloszycki and Hannah Hawley hit back-to-back home runs for the Spartans on Wednesday against Western Michigan. Madison Taylor allowed just three hits in the circle against the Broncos on Wednesday in a complete game effort.

DOLOSZYCKI DOING DAMAGE
Sophomore outfielder Sydney Doloszycki has been a bright spot in the Spartan lineup over the last seven games, matching MSU's longest individual hitting streak of the season (Alexis Ross, 7). Over her last seven games, Doloszycki is hitting a team-high .450 (9-for-20) with three home runs, seven runs scored, five RBI and five walks. In that span, Doloszycki leads MSU in batting average (.450), OBP (.560), SLG (.950) and OPS (1.510).

PRODIGIOUS POP
MSU has hit 38 home runs through 37 games, which marks the most home runs by the program since the 2019 season (44 in 50 games). In 2024 Michigan State ranks No. 36 nationally in home runs per game (1.03). The Spartans are now tied for No. 7 in program history for single season home runs.

#1 - 66, 2017
#2 - 53, 2011
#3 - 50, 2007
#4 - 46, 2009
#5 - 44, 2019
#6 - 41, 2016
#7 - 38, 2024/2015

UP NEXT
After its series with Penn State, Michigan State will head to Ann Arbor, Mich. for a midweek game at intrastate rival Michigan on Tuesday, April 16. First pitch on Big Ten Network is set for 7:02 p.m.

Preview courtesy of MSU Athletics.

George Mason Transfer Keshawn Hall a 6’7 230 lbs SF averaging 16 pts per game 8 rebounds. He has MSU in his top 4 schools. UCF USC Arkansas and of course MSU.

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As I reported earlier today, in-state priority linebacker Charles White out of Orchard Lake St. Mary's will take an official visit to Michigan State during the weekend of June 7 through June 9.

"Something that stands out to me is definitely just them being a big in-state school," White said about Michigan State. "I definitely feel like a priority. I talk to Coach Joe (Rossi) almost every day."

White is expected to see a bump in his rating this week.

More here:

I love the Masters.

I love the history, the competition, the azaleas, the pines, the peach ice cream sandwiches, the silly rules... All of it.

My bets were (before today) Abeg, Dechambeau, and Fleetwood.

Who else loves the Masters and who else has a pick for the winner?

(Even if you say Scottie, that's OK, still a good pick. Not exciting or sexy but still ok).

On Monday, Mex Carey (associate director of athletic communications for MSU men’s basketball) is running the Boston Marathon, for a great cause. Make a donation and receive a free MSU t-shirt courtesy of Spartans Illustrated and Nudge Printing. Read all about it here:

New defensive coordinator Joe Rossi has a position in his defense called "rush end". You're going to hear a lot about this position as long as Rossi's the coordinator because it has been very successful in the past, especially at Minnesota.

Michigan State even hired a rush ends coach in Chad Wilt.

The rush ends operate as its own position room, separate from the interior of the defensive line and the typical defensive end position.

Who's in the rush ends room?

It's a small position room of just five players right now. Keep in mind there is typically going to be one rush end on the field at a time in Rossi's system.

Here are the five players working at rush end in practice:

#2 6th-Yr. Khris Bogle (6'4" 244 lbs)
#9 So. Jalen Thompson (6'3" 260 lbs)
#22 So. Bai Jobe (6'4" 252 lbs)
#32 R-So. James Schott (6'4" 228 lbs)
#56 R-So. Jay Coyne (6'1" 229 lbs)

Difference between rush ends and defensive ends?

When we (the media) talked to Jalen Thompson this week, he said that the rush ends will tend to be lighter in weight than the normal defensive ends. Rush ends will be asked to rush the passer AND be athletic enough to drop back in coverage, similar to the role of an outside linebacker.

The idea is that this can create a hybrid look up front, sometimes three down linemen, sometimes four down linemen, and it could confuse opposing offenses. You'll also see these rush ends be in a two-point stance (standing up) more times than not.

This is definitely one of the bigger schematic/positioning differences from the previous regime to the current regime. Players seem excited about. Bogle and Thompson told the media on Tuesday that they have experience playing something similar to rush end, Bogle at Florida and Thompson in high school.

We need him!

Jonathan Smith had an intro meeting with Jalen Thompson and they talked about how Thompson fit in the team, what he could do for the Spartans and that he still wants Thompson in East Lansing.

“He sat down with everybody,” Thompson said about Smith. “So I feel like that really helped because now I get to know how he is as a person and he tells you his plan, his process. I mean, I would say Coach Smith has been a man of his word ever since he stepped in the door. Everything he said he was going to do, he’s done.”

More on Thompson, his thoughts on the new staff, his new role as a rush end and his development as a player:

Some videos from Tuesday's media availability session.

DL coach Legi Suiaunoa
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Rush end Khris Bogle
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Rush end Jalen Thompson
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EAST LANSING, Mich – Freshman No. 92-ranked Ria Bhakta became the first Spartan since 2019 to be named the Big Ten Women's Tennis Player of the Week, as announced by the conference on Wednesday, following her top 20 victory against Michigan's No. 19-ranked Julia Fliegner last Saturday.

"She has been knocking on the door for her whole young career here. Each day she embraces the process," said head coach Kim Bruno. "She has the ability to listen to her teammates, coaches and do the little things that matter. She wants to be great, that says a lot about a kid. If they want to be great, they'll do what it takes. Every aspect of her game has gotten better. I haven't seen this amount of growth in a short period of time from a player in a very long time. She's a joy to be around. I'm so proud of here and it was so fun to see her ear to ear smiling the last two days."

The Delray Beach, Florida, native Bhakta would pull off a come from behind victory over Fliegner for the biggest victory of her young career. Bhakta worked her way back after dropping the first set, 4-6, to rattle off two-straight set victories (6-4, 1-0 [11-9]) in a true back-and-forth matchup.

Bhakta has been Michigan State's top performer on the singles court garnishing an impressive 10-2 overall record in the dual season, 2-1 in B1G duals and 8-2 in her last 10 complete matches. With her big victory, the freshman has earned national recognition with her first collegiate ranking, entering at No. 92 in the latest ITA singles ranking.

"I'm feeling really good. Coming off the big win last Saturday. It was a big confidence boost for me. That win was a lot of hard work put together and I'm seeing it paying off now," said Bhakta. "For me, nothing changes. I'm keeping the same mindset I've had since the fall. Every day is a new day where I'm going to come out on the court and get better."

This accomplishment marks the first for the Green and White since Maja Pietrowicz in March of the 2019 season.

The Spartans and Bhakta will be back in action as they travel for a B1G weekend slate to Minnesota on Friday, April 12 at 3:30 ET, then to Wisconsin on Sunday, April 14, first serve is scheduled for noon ET.

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Release courtesy of MSU Athletics.

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