CMU baseball renews rivalries with Michigan State, Michigan this week
After Wednesday's game was postponed due to poor field conditions, CMU baseball will renew its rivalry with Michigan State on Tuesday in East Lansing.
This is the first of a three-game series that will be played in East Lansing, Mount Pleasant and a neutral site (Detroit's Comerica Park).
Following the game at MSU, the team will travel to Ann Arbor to take on Michigan at 4:05 p.m. on Wednesday.
"We've got Michigan State and Michigan back-to-back due to weather, and we've got some things we need to work on," said head coach Steve Jaksa.
Last season, the Chippewas were swept by the Spartans in all three games and also dropped its yearly game against the Wolverines to go 0-4, the first time they have been swept in their Big Ten match-ups since the three-game series with MSU started in 2009.
The history with the rivalry against the Spartans is much deeper than with the Wolverines, and CMU holds a 62-51 record against its rival since 1911 when the two first met.
Last season, MSU played like the team one would expect coming from the Big Ten by beating the Chippewas at home 6-5 before an 11-1 blowout at Theunissen Stadium and a 5-2 win at Comerica Park.
In fact, the Spartans are 8-4 since the three-game series and have won the last five games in a row, including both games at Comerica Park, while CMU won both games played at Midland's Dow Diamond in 2009 and 2010.
MSU is 14-8 this season and is led by senior outfielder Jordan Keur, who has a team-leading .329 average, 15 RBI and 11 walks as of Saturday, along with nine stolen bases.
The Wolverines won the annual game last season in Ann Arbor 7 -3 but will have a different look after finishing the season 22-34 and firing head coach Rich Maloney.
Eric Bakich has since taken over after three seasons at Maryland.
He has his Wolverines at 11-14 who will play Bowling Green on Tuesday. The Falcons picked up two wins at Theunissen Stadium over the weekend. They are led by senior outfielder Patrick Biondi, who has a .393 batting average, while junior and fellow outfielder Michael O'Neill has a .378 average and a team-leading 10 stolen bases.
CMU is also 11-14 and before freshman first baseman Zack Fields hit a home run in the second inning of the first game of Saturday's doubleheader, the team was facing a 20-inning scoreless streak.
The Chippewas scored five runs in both games Saturday and hopes it's a sign of things to come at the plate.
"We were focused on (batting), and I thought we hit the ball really well," Jaksa said. "I thought we hit the ball hard, and, from that standpoint, I thought it was a good effort"
