Frank, Dzierwa lead Spartans into home state for MSU's penultimate conference road weekend series.
| MICHIGAN STATE (17-20, 5-7 B1G) at OHIO STATE (19-18, 6-6 B1G) | |
| Location | Nick Swisher Field at Bill Davis Stadium || Columbus, Ohio |
| Tickets | Ohio State Ticket Office |
| Weather | High/Low - Fri: 76° / 61° | Sat: 81° / 62° | Sun: 84° / 63° |
| Game Notes | MICHIGAN STATE | OHIO STATE |
| Television | None |
| Game 1 | Friday, April 26 - 6 p.m. ET |
| Probable Pitching Match-Up | OSU: #35 SO LHP Landon Beidelschies (4-6, 3.86 ERA) MSU: #16 SO LHP Joseph Dzierwa (4-2, 3.88 ERA) |
| Coverage | Live Stats | Watch Live | Listen Live |
| Game 2 | Saturday, April 27 - 2 p.m. ET |
| Probable Pitching Match-Up | OSU: #10 JR LHP Gavin Bruni (3-2, 4.60 ERA) MSU: #46 SR LHP Nick Powers (6-3, 3.98 ERA) |
| Coverage | Live Stats | Watch Live | Listen Live |
| Game 3 | Sunday, April 28 - 1 p.m. ET |
| Probable Pitching Match-Up | OSU: TBA (0-0, 0.00 ERA) MSU: #37 GR RHP Nick Ferazzi (0-3, 7.82 ERA) |
| Coverage | Live Stats | Watch Live | Listen Live |
• Michigan State hits the road for its penultimate conference road weekend series, heading to Columbus, Ohio to battle the Buckeyes of Ohio State in a three-game Big Ten Conference series, Friday-Sunday, April 26-28 at OSU's Nick Swisher Field at Bill Davis Stadium ... Friday's series opener is slated for a 6 p.m. start time, followed by Saturday's 2 p.m. first pitch, before wrapping up on with Sunday's series finale at 1 p.m.
• This weekend marks the third time in the last four seasons that MSU and OSU have played in Columbus.
• 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 for select home games.
COACH VAN AMEYDE BACK WITH TEAM
• Michigan State veteran pitching coach Mark Van Ameyde (VAN-uh-mead) is returning to the dugout this weekend after behind away from the team since mid-March after undergoing a successful kidney transplant on March 20 ... Van Ameyde's wife, Melissa was his donor.
RETURNING TO COLUMBUS
• After not traveling to Columbus from 2015 until 2021, Michigan State is now making its third trek to Columbus in the last four years ... the Spartans and Buckeyes played in Columbus in 2021 and 2022, after not playing there since 2015 ... the 2015 series was end of streak of 10 games there in a row, the longest stretch in the series history.
ABOUT OHIO STATE
• The Buckeyes have a 19-18 overall and 6-6 B1G ledger ... OSU is 2-3 in its last five games and 6-4 in its last 10 ... the Buckeyes are coming off a wild 14-13 loss at Wright State on Tuesday, getting overtaken and walked off in the bottom of the ninth after taking a 13-12 lead in the top of the ninth ... the 14-13 score was identical to OSU beating Wright State in Columbus the previous Tuesday on April 16.
• Last weekend Ohio State lost a weekend series at Michigan, dropping the opener, 4-0, before bouncing back in a big way with a 16-1 walloping of the Wolverines, but dropped the rubber match on Sunday, 7-5.
• Ohio State is hitting .277 as a team, with 349 hits (9.4 pg) and 253 runs (6.8 pg), with 36 HR (0.97 pg) ... the Buckeyes are also 67-of-90 on the basepaths (1.8 stolen bases per game) ... OSU leads the B1G and ranks 36th in the NCAA in stolen bases per game, while ranking second in the league and 45th in the nation in total stolen bases, trailing league-leader Rutgers with 70.
• The Ohio State pitching staff has a combined ERA of 5.70, with 298 strikeouts (8.1 pg) and 176 walks (4.8 pg), with no shutouts ... the opposition has a .272 average.
• OSU head coach Bill Mosiello is in his second season leading the Buckeyes, with a 50-43 record ... Mosiello came to Columbus following nine seasons as the associate head coach at TCU for nine seasons (2014-22).
OSU TEAM LEADERS
STAT VALUE NO NAME (YR, POS)
AVG .329 #6 Henry Kaczmar (SO, INF)
SLG .571 #7 Nick Giamarusti (OF)
OB % .458 #1 Joseph Mershon (GR, INF)
H 48 #6 Henry Kaczmar (SO, INF)
HR 5 #42 Tyler Pettorini (JR, INF) & #28 Trey Lipsey (JR, OF)
RBI 34 #42 Tyler Pettorini (JR, INF)
SB 13 #1 Joseph Mershon (GR, INF)
ERA 1.59 #11 Gavin DeVooght (FR, RHP)
Ws 4 #35 Landon Beidelschies (SO, LHP) & #31 Jacob Morin (GR, RHP)
SO 65 #35 Landon Beidelschies (SO, LHP)
IP 56.0 #35 Landon Beidelschies (SO, LHP)
SV 6 #4 Justin Eckhardt (GR, RHP)
COMMON OPPONENTS
• Michigan State and Ohio State have two common opponents in Michigan and Purdue.
• The Spartans played Michigan in a non-conference game on March 26 in Ann Arbor, with a deluge of runs and rain in a 16-6 Victory for MSU ... Michigan State hosts UM next weekend, Friday-Sunday May 3-5 in a B1G series ... the Buckeyes are coming off a weekend series at UM in Ann Arbor, dropping the opener, 4-0, before bouncing back in a big way with a 16-1 walloping of the Wolverines, but dropped the rubber match on Sunday, 7-5
• OSU hosted Purdue March 29-31, and the Buckeyes won the series, winning the first two games, 8-2 and 12-10, before falling in the finale, 7-1, to deny Ohio State the sweep ... MSU played at Purdue on April 12-14, losing 7-2, 14-0 and 21-1 in the weekend series in West Lafayette.
HEADIN' HOME TO THE BIRTHPLACE OF AVIATION
• The Spartans have two players who are from Ohio, the Birthplace of Aviation, on their roster, in senior outfielder Jack Frank (Strongsville/Strongsville HS) and sophomore pitcher Joseph Dzierwa (Haskins/Otsego HS) ... Frank is MSU's starting right fielder, while Dzierwa is Friday night's probable starter on the mound.
• MSU also has one member of its staff from Ohio in Director of Player Development Adam Eaton, who is a native of Springfield, Ohio (Kenton Ridge HS) and played at Miami, where he was a two-time All-Mid-American Conference honoree for the RedHawks, earning first-team accolades in 2009 and second-team honors in 2010 ... Eaton also earned second-team All-Mideast Region recognition in both 2009 and 2010, before being drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 19th round of the 2010 MLB Draft ... Eaton played Major League Baseball for 10 seasons (2012-21), before retiring prior to the 2022 season, including winning the World Series with the Washington Nationals in 2019 ... He was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 19th round of the 2010 MLB Draft out of Miami of Ohio.
• Eaton is still Miami's single-season triples record holder with nine in 2010, along with the career record holder with 18 from 2008-10, in addition to several other career and single-season marks in the RedHawk record book ... Eaton also holds the Miami single-game record for both hits and runs, with six of each in a game at Furman on Feb. 20, 2010.
HOME STATERS
• The Spartans have 22 players on its 2024 roster from the state of Michigan, while the Buckeyes also have 22 Ohio natives on their roster ... MSU has the aforementioned three Ohio natives on its roster, while Ohio State has three Michiganders on its roster in freshman pitcher Gavin DeVooght (Walled Lake/Walled Lake Central HS), junior outfielder Trey Lipsey Southfield/Birmingham Grove HS) and sophomore pitcher Hunter Shaw (Chelsea/Chelsea HS/Lansing CC).
FROM STARS TO FOES
MSU junior catcher Hunter Bright and OSU sophomore pitcher Hunter Shaw were teammates at Lansing Community College last season for coach Steven Cutter ... Bright and Shaw helped LCC to the NJCAA Division II World Series for the second-straight season, advancing to national semi-finals, finishing third with a 50-12 overall record, winning back-to-back Region 12 championships.
BOSS 800
• MSU's game vs. Central Michigan on April 9 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 and also the third with 400+ wins, 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) 807 433 374 0 .537
POWERS-ING WAY UP RECORD BOOK
• Spartan senior southpaw Nick Powers earned the win in Saturday's 11-5 Victory for MSU over Penn State ... the win was Powers' sixth of the season and 19th of his career, moving up to tie for No. 9 on MSU's career wins list, matching Tim Day (2002-05) and Andrew Waszak (2010-13).
• Powers is also just two strikeouts away from cracking the top 10 strikeouts list, as he enters the weekend with 178 career Ks, just two shy from tying Mick VanVossen (2012-15) and Mickey Sinks (1959-61) with 180 ... Powers is just 22 strikeouts away from becoming just the sixth Spartan pitcher to reach the 200 Ks plateau.
• Powers is third in the B1G and 73rd in the NCAA in strikeout-walk ratio (4.17).
NIFTY FIFTY FOR FRANK IN RECORD BOOK
• Senior outfielder Jack Frank swiped his 17th stolen base of the season and the 50th of his career, becoming the sixth Spartan to swipe 50 career stolen bases and the first since former teammate and fellow outfielder, Bryce Kelley (2017-21), who became MSU's stolen base king, breaking the record and finishing with 83 stolen bases.
• Frank is tied with Brandon Hughes (2015-17) for No. 5 on MSU's stolen base list.
FRANK-ING FAST ON THE BASEPATHS
• Senior outfielder Jack Frank is also third in the B1G and 68th in the NCAA with the 17 stolen bases ... he also is fourth in the conference and 75th in the country in stolen bases per game (0.46).
• The 17 swipes is just two 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.
Preview courtesy of MSU Athletics.
