EAST LANSING- The Michigan State Spartans baseball team will look to improve off their series win against Penn State last week, as the Spartans travel down to Columbus Ohio for a pivotal three-game set in the Big Ten standings against the Ohio State Buckeyes on April 26-28.
The Spartans enter this series winners of three out of their last four but were unable to complete the sweep of Penn State last weekend at McLane, after dropping the Sunday game.
As for the Buckeyes, they come in losing three out of four including a loss on the road in the midweek to their instate rival Wright State. Ohio State lost two out of three at U of M last weekend and is looking to bounce back at home against MSU.
The weekend probable pitchers for Michigan State are the usual suspects, with Ohio native and Spartan ace Joseph Dzierwa taking the bump on Friday night.
Reliable lefty Nick Powers will get the nod on Saturday, with Nick Ferazzi likely to get the start in the final game of the series.
Ohio State will be sending Landon Beidelschies to the mound on Friday and Gavin Bruni on Saturday.
The probables for both teams are lefty pitchers in both Friday and Saturday’s games. There is no probable for OSU’s Sunday starter, but freshman Gavin DeVooght has made the last three Sunday starts for the Buckeyes.
The Spartans will look to stay hot offensively, behind their senior leader and Ohio native Jack Frank, after going 8 for 18 last week, with 2 home runs and 6 runs batted in. Frank is leading the Spartans in OPS, RBIs, Home Runs, and stolen bases as well.
Another Spartan who will look to stay hot is fellow senior and outfielder Greg Ziegler, who has been excellent since returning from injury. Ziegler is also sporting an 11-game on-base streak to go with his eight-game hitting streak.
Dillon Kark will also look to build off a strong weekend last weekend, where he upped his hitting streak to 6 games and overtook his teammate Frank for the team lead in batting average.
As for Ohio State, they have plenty of dynamic bats in their lineup, highlighted by Henry Kaczmar who leads the Buckeye in batting average, hits, and runs scored. He is a legitimate threat at the top of their lineup.
Michigan State pitchers will also have their hands full with sophomore infielder Tyler Pettorini, who has recorded a team-high in RBI this season and is tied for the team lead in home runs with Trey Lipsey. Pettorini also leads OSU with 11 multi-hit games this year.
This weekend set holds a ton of weight in the Big Ten standings, with the Spartans entering the weekend at 5-7 in conference play, and the Buckeyes just ahead of them with a 6-6 record.
The two teams currently sit in the seventh and eighth spots in standings respectively, making this weekend a pivotal matchup, and an opportunity for both teams to make a big swing in the conference standings.
Michigan State took two out of three from Ohio State last season at McLane Stadium, and are now looking to pick up a series win against their rivals for the second consecutive season.
The Spartans look to win their first series in Columbus since the 2021 season, attempting to win their regular season series vs the Buckeyes for the third time in four years.
Michigan State is 5-4 vs Ohio State since the start of 2021. The first pitch on Friday evening is scheduled for 6 p.m., with afternoon games to round out the weekend with Saturday at 2 p.m., and Sunday at 1 p.m.
