Baseball Gameday: at Michigan State

EAST LANSING, Mich.– After four months of college baseball, the final week of the regular season has arrived. The Indiana baseball program will travel to Michigan State for a three-game, nationally televised series with a chance to earn a share of the Big Ten regular season crown.

Indiana (39-14, 15-6) have won six straight Big Ten games entering the weekend and are on an eight-game winning streak overall, which ranks No. 7 nationally. Michigan State (30-19, 10-11) enters after a midweek win over Central Michigan and are looking to snap a conference skid and improve on a 15-3 home record.

Gameday Info
Thursday, May 18, 2023 | 8 p.m. ET
TV: Big Ten Network
Live Audio: bit.ly/IUAudio
Live Stats: bit.ly/IUStatbroadcast

Friday, May 18, 2023 | 8 p.m. ET
TV: Big Ten Network
Live Audio: bit.ly/IUAudio
Live Stats: bit.ly/IUStatbroadcast

Saturday, May 19, 2023 | 3 p.m. ET
TV: Big Ten Network
Live Audio: bit.ly/IUAudio
Live Stats: bit.ly/IUStatbroadcast

Quick Hitter

Indiana and Michigan State will meet for the 203rd time in program history on Thursday to start the series. The Spartans lead the series, 105-96-1, but IU has won the last three series in East Lansing.
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Indiana's 15-straight wins to open the season marks the longest home winning streak in Bart Kaufman Field history and the second-longest streak in program history.
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Senior Phillip Glasser saw his 45-game reached base come to an end at Northwestern, which tied for the longest streak in program history since at least 2005.
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Glasser is among the top-50 active hitters in a bevy of categories, including No. 5 with 269 career hits.
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Indiana has won six of seven Big Ten series, including three on the road entering the final weekend of the regular season. That mark is among the best in program history.
With 51 runs scored over three games against Purdue, Indiana posted its most potent scoring weekend in its Big Ten history.
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Among relief pitchers nationally, sophomore Ryan Kraft's 53 innings of relief work is among the most in the country, sitting No. 6 nationally.
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Freshman Devin Taylor carried a 32-game reached base streak that spanned Feb. 25-April 28, which is the longest streak for an IU freshman since at least 2005.
Taylor earned his third B1G Freshman of the Week award on April 17 and joined some exclusive company at IU and the Big Ten in the process.
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Sophomore Josh Pyne was named NCBWA National Player of the Week and B1G Player of the Week after a 10-hit, 14-RBI week versus Xavier and Purdue.
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Sophomore Luke Sinnard is tied for the biggest strikeout game in the Big Ten this season at 13 versus Morehead State.
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Head coach Jeff Mercer became the eighth IU skipper to reach 100 victories in the cream and crimson with a series finale win at Auburn on February 19, 2023. He then won his 200th career game as a head coach at Illinois on April 15.
FULL BIO ON PAGE 3

Scouting the Opponents

Michigan State enters the weekend with a 30-19 overall record and a 10-11 mark in Big Ten play. MSU won its midweek contest versus Central Michigan, 9-2.
The past two Big Ten weekends have not been kind to the Spartans, as they were swept in a pair of road series at Illinois and at Nebraska.
As a team, Michigan State has 100 doubles, 51 home runs and a nation-best 28 triples.
Brock Vradenburg leads the team with a .419 average, 60 runs scored, 80 hits and 64 RBIs. His 147 total bases are 57 total bases more than the next closest Spartan.
Trent Farquhar has been the table setter at the top of the order with 57 runs scored and .480 on-base percentage. He has walked 38 times with 11 HBP to just 19 strikeouts.
Joseph Dzierwa has started 12 games on the season with a 5-3 record and a 5.83 ERA. He owns 51 strikeouts to just 18 walks in 66 1/3 innings of work.
Wyatt Rush anchors the bullpen with eight saves and a 4-0 record. Over 39 innings he has 36 strikeouts and just seven walks.

Inside the Series

In 202 all-time meetings between Indiana and Michigan State, MSU leads the series 105-96-1 dating back to the first meeting in 1918.
This will be the fourth straight visit to East Lansing for Indiana, as the Hoosiers are 7-5 in those games with three series wins.
Last home series came in 2015, which Michigan State won (2-1). The last home team to win a series was Indiana during the 2014 season.
Over the 202 all-time meetings, 59 of those have been one-run games. Michigan State is 30-29 in those games.
Prior to last weekend's 51-run outburst versus Purdue, Indiana's previous B1G series high run output was a 46-run outburst versus Michigan State (1988) and Michigan (2010).

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Players Mentioned

Phillip Glasser

Ryan Kraft

Josh Pyne

Luke Sinnard

Devin Taylor