EAST LANSING— Michigan State baseball will travel to Corpus Christi, Texas this week for three games, the first of which is against Washington State.
The Spartans have gotten off to a hot start, going 4-0 against Western Michigan and Monmouth in Cary, North Carolina. It’s very early, but the Spartans have to be content with how they’ve played so far in the young season.
MSU is just one of five remaining unbeaten teams in the Big Ten, along with Michigan, UCLA, USC and Purdue.
Senior outfielder Will Shannon currently leads the Spartans with a .400 batting average and a .900 OPS. Junior infielder Randy Seymour and senior outfielder JT Sokolove lead the Spartans in hits with three each. Sokolove is also tied for the team lead in runs with three, sharing that lead with senior outfielder Nick Williams.
On the mound, junior pitchers Nolan Higgins and Joseph Dzierwa had strong outings in their first starts of the season, both pitching six shutout innings. Dzierwa struck out eleven batters in his outing while only allowing one hit, and the Spartans will need similar performances on the mound to continue their momentum. Sophomore Logan Pikur has been a reliable option out of the bullpen so far, already tallying two saves, as has graduate student Tyler Horvath.
On the flip side, it has not been a great start for Washington State, as it sits at 0-4 after being swept by No. 4 Arkansas in Fayetteville.
Junior infielder Ryan Skjonsby has gotten off to a hot start for the Cougars, leading the team in average, OPS and hits. Skjonsby has tallied four hits with a .400 average and an OPS of 1.064. Redshirt junior outfielder Logan Johnstone currently leads the team in runs with three.
On the mound, it was a struggle for the Cougars against a loaded Arkansas team, but junior pitcher Griffin Smith pitched five shutout innings with four strikeouts and three hits. Wazzu will need more of those performances if they want to turn it around after a slow start.
The game will be played on Feb. 21 at 1 p.m. and will be streamed on FloCollege.
