MSU Baseball Schedule Update: Spartans Game At Notre Dame Postponed
A possible make-up date will be announced at a later date
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Tuesday's Michigan State baseball game at Notre Dame has been postponed due to inclement weather in the South Bend area. The teams will work on a possible make-up date that will be announced at a later date.MSU's next action will now be Wednesday, April 3 is the 16th-annual Crosstown Showdown when MSU meets the Lansing Lugnuts, the high A-affiliate of the Oakland A's, in an exhibition contest. First pitch from Jackson Field is at 6:05 p.m.
The Spartans return home to host Niagara in a three-game non-conference series, Friday-Sunday, April 5-7. Friday's series opener is at 6:05 p.m., before Saturday's game two at 3:35 and Sunday's series finale at 1:05 p.m.
Spartans Downed By Lugnuts In Crosstown Showdown
LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State baseball was defeated by the Lansing Lugnuts in the 16th Crosstown Showdown, presented by Delta Dental, on a rainy Wednesday night at Jackson® Field™ in a seven-inning exhibition.
Once again, Mother Nature made her presence known throughout the day and night, with rain and drizzly conditions throughout pre-game activities and during the game.
A crowd of 4,118 was in attendance, with the early fans receiving a Spartan green-colored Crosstown Showdown jersey.
"It's always a fun night, the weather was a bit questionable early, but we had a lot of people show up," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. "Always a lot of fun to play against the Lugnuts, it's a first-class organization. (Lugnuts manager) Craig [Conklin] does a great job with that group, and (Lugnuts general manager) Zac [Clark] and everybody on his staff just makes us really, feel welcome out here. It's one of those things that's an experience our guys are never gonna forget. You hear (MSU basketball head coach) Coach Izzo talk about it all the time that we're in the business of creating experiences for our guys, creating memories for our guys and this is definitely one of them."
The Lugnuts are the High-A Affiliate of the Oakland Athletics, and Wednesday night was their first action in Lansing, before beginning their 28th Midwest League season this weekend at Dayton, before their home opener next Tuesday, April 9.
Pre-game festivities included autographs from selected Spartan players, along with performances from the Spartan Spirit Squad and Spartan Marching Band, and Zeke the Wonderdog.
"It's an awesome atmosphere. We had a lot of people come out and it's super fun to play in front of a bunch of fans," junior designated hitter Christian Williams said. "Just being able to play in front of a park like this against such a good team. The experience is awesome, I always look forward to it every year."
The experience is equal parts memorable and educational for C.Williams and his teammates.
"I'll take away just being able to play in front of people, also just looking across to the guys across the field, seeing how they warm up, how they play the game. Ultimately, that's where I want to get to. Just being able to play on the same field as those guys it's an experience I'll always remember," C.Williams said.
Boss and the Spartan coaches use the Crosstown Showdown as a teaching tool as well.
"We talked about it a lot yesterday actually, the message is that you've got to come in here and pay attention," Boss said. "You've got to pay attention to how these guys prepare before the game, some of the adjustments that they make during the game, defensive positioning, adjustments within the at-bat from one pitch to the next. We said if you are not paying attention then you missed a great opportunity. Everybody wants to play at this level and it's kind of a taste of what it's like. Hopefully our guys learned a lot tonight."
In the game, the Lugnuts added a run in the first, before pulling away with a four-run second inning, then a one-run third, a five-run fourth frame, and seven runs in the fifth to break it open for the final 18-0 score in the seven-inning exhibition game with amended rules, limiting the Lugnuts' pitch count, so several of the Spartan innings at bat were shortened.
C.Williams knocked a double, while freshman infielder Ryan McKay added a single.
With Wednesday being an exhibition and not an official game to count toward the record, the Spartans had a total of 23 players see action.
At the plate, sophomore outfielder Jake Dresselhouse, freshman outfielder Jayden Holloway, redshirt-sophomore Jayden Terres and junior catcher Noah Bright all came on as substitutes.
Senior pitcher Harrison Cook opened on the mound, before turning the ball over a rotation of Spartan pitchers. Redshirt-sophomore Aidan Arbaugh, junior Dominic Pianto, sophomore Robert Klann, freshman Sam Bassett-Kennedy, freshman Gavin Moczydlowsky, redshirt-freshman Stephen Ruhle, sophomore Nolan Higgins, freshman Garrett Brewer and freshman Jaxon Huffman saw action on the mound.
For the Lugnuts, starter Grant Judkins played at Iowa from 2017-19, and he pitched against MSU on May 12, 2019, going 6.0 IP with 5 H, 1 R, 1 BB and 7 Ks.
The Spartan starting pitcher in the match-up in that 2019 match-up was Caleb Sleeman – currently Michigan State's pitching coordinator filling in for pitching coach Mark Van Ameyde, who is away from team for medical reasons after a kidney transplant on March 20.
In that Spartans vs. Hawkeyes, the Spartans rallied late for a 7-5 Victory for MSU.
Judkins also played against MSU in 2017 as a DH, going 2-for-12 with two RBI in the three games with Iowa winning 3-2 in opener before a 2-1 Victory for MSU in game two and Iowa won the series with a 9-4 triumph in the finale.
The Spartans now return home to host Niagara in a three-game non-conference series, Friday-Sunday, April 5-7. Friday's series opener is at 6:05 p.m., before Saturday's game two at 3:35 and Sunday's series finale at 1:05 p.m.
Fans can follow this week's action with "Tickets," "Watch Live," "Listen Live" and "Live Stats" links at MSUSpartans.com.
Michigan State's schedule is subject to change, stay tuned to MSUSpartans.com and @MSUBaseball on Twitter for schedule updates.
Game recap courtesy of MSU Athletics.
