Michigan State baseball secures weekend series victory over Penn State
On Friday afternoon, Michigan State opened the weekend with a win over Penn State, 4-0, behind an outstanding performance from their star pitcher Joseph Dzierwa and bullpen. To finish the weekend, the Spartans and Nittany Lions split, giving Michigan State the series win. While offense was at a premium on Friday, that changed over the weekend.
Penn State defeated Michigan State on Saturday 11-5, but the Spartans were able to flush that down the toilet, gaining a massive 10-5 win on Sunday. It is the first series win on the road at Penn State since 2016.
Ryan McKay starred for the Spartans this weekend, going 9-for-14 over the weekend, being a menace at the plate and causing a lot of problems for Penn State.
Michigan State now improves to 16-7 (3-3 B1G) for the season, and will resume action on Wednesday when they travel for a massive mid week game at Notre Dame.
Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Cory Linsner on X @Cory_Linsner
This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: Michigan State baseball beats Penn State, takes weekend Big Ten series
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
17 minutes ago
- USA Today
Date announced for annual Michigan State Madness event
Michigan State basketball has announced the date for its annual Michigan State Madness event. Michigan State Madness will be held on October 3, with the doors expected to open at 8 p.m. ET. Michigan State Madness is the annual preseason event held by the Spartans' men's and women's basketball programs that includes open practice, player contests and fun themed entrances. This is essentially the event previously known as midnight madness. Michigan State Madness is considered a celebration of the start of the college basketball season, which will officially start in early November with the first regular season games taking place. Admission is free for the event. Both the men's and women's basketball teams are coming off strong seasons last year, with both reaching the NCAA Tournament. Similar expectations are in play again for both teams as we look ahead to the 2025-26 season. Click here to see the complete details on the event from Michigan State. Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Robert Bondy on X @RobertBondy5.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
College football Top 25: No. 2 Penn State hoping to take step forward from 2024 and play for national title
College football officially begins this month. Now that it's mid-August, there's just over a week until Kansas State and Iowa State meet in Dublin to begin the 2025 regular season. And since the season is quickly approaching, we're rolling out our preseason Top 25. Next up in our rankings is the No. 2 team, and the No. 1 team will be revealed Friday. (All odds are from BetMGM.) Previously: Nos. 11 through 25, No. 10 Miami, No. 9 Alabama, No. 8 Notre Dame, No. 7 LSU, No. 6 Ohio State, No. 5 Georgia, No. 4 Oregon, No. 3 Texas No. 2 Penn State 2024 record: 13-3 National championship odds: +700 Odds to make College Football Playoff: -300 [Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season] 2024 in 100 words The Nittany Lions won every game they were favored in and lost every game they were underdogs in. OK, we'll go deeper than that. Penn State started the season 7-0 with a 14-point win over Illinois and a 33-30 road overtime win at USC. But the Nittany Lions couldn't get to 8-0 thanks to a 20-13 home loss to Ohio State. The Buckeyes were yet another thorn in Penn State's side. But Ohio State gave Penn State a gift at the end of the season with a loss to Michigan. That left the Nittany Lions needing to beat Maryland — and they did, 44-7 — for a spot in the Big Ten title game. There, Penn State lost to Oregon, 45-37. PSU smothered SMU to open the College Football Playoff and then easily dispatched Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl before losing 27-24 to Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff semifinal as a 1-point underdog. The quarterback Drew Allar Allar posted the best season of his Penn State career in 2024 thanks to a scheme change. In 2023, Allar completed just under 60% of his passes for 2,631 yards and 25 TDs. He threw only two interceptions, but averaged fewer than 7 yards a pass attempt. Penn State brought in former Kansas co-offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki to run the offense and Allar's numbers improved a year ago. He completed two-thirds of his passes for 3,327 yards and 24 TDs. His interceptions quadrupled to eight, but he also averaged 8.4 yards a throw. There are still a few questions about Allar against top competition, however. In 2023, he completed less than half his passes in losses to Ohio State, Michigan and Ole Miss while throwing for just 70 yards against the Wolverines. In 2024, he didn't have a game with a completion percentage south of 50% … but he threw for just 146 yards against the Buckeyes, 127 yards against SMU, 171 yards against Boise State and 135 yards against Notre Dame. To be fair, Allar also wasn't needed to carry the offense in the College Football Playoff. SMU's turnovers gave Penn State short fields and the team's run game was dominant in the postseason. Penn State rushed for at least 189 yards in each of its final four games. But if Allar is going to put together a Heisman-worthy season and show why he can be a first-round pick, it'd be great to see him seize a game against a top-flight opponent. Especially with better receivers on the roster in 2025. Non-QB to watch WR Trebor Pena Tyler Warren was Penn State's leading receiver in 2024 with 104 catches for 1,233 yards. The tight end did everything because Penn State didn't have a go-to wide receiver. Harrison Wallace was the team's leading receiver with 46 grabs for 720 yards. He's gone too, and no other receiver had more than 21 catches in 2024. Enter Pena, who should be Allar's top target in 2025. The Syracuse transfer is entering his sixth season of college football after redshirting due to injury in 2023. In 2024, Pena had 84 grabs for 941 yards and nine TDs. That was quadruple the number of catches last year than any receiver returning to Penn State's roster in 2025. In addition to Pena, the Nittany Lions also added Kyron Hudson from USC. He had 38 catches for 462 yards and three scores with the Trojans last season. Best position group Running back The Nittany Lions boast the top returning running back duo in the country, with Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen both electing to return to school in 2025. Allen just barely led Singleton in rushing yards last year with 1,108 to Singleton's 1,099, but Singleton had 12 rushing scores to go along with five receiving TDs while Allen had 10 total touchdowns. If Penn State makes another deep postseason run, the duo could easily match or top those numbers. Four starters return on one of the best offensive lines in the country as well. Biggest game Nov. 1 at Ohio State The rematch with Oregon at home on Sept. 27 will be huge, but Ohio State has bossed Penn State for much of James Franklin's tenure with the team. Penn State's last win over the Buckeyes came in 2016 and the offense has mustered just 25 combined points over the last two matchups. Penn State signed away defensive coordinator Jim Knowles from Ohio State in the offseason, and he'll be very familiar with the personnel and tendencies that Ohio State will have on the offensive side of the ball ahead of the matchup in Columbus. Why Penn State is No. 2 Knowles became the highest-paid defensive coordinator in college football when he moved to State College. The Pennsylvania native said during the spring that he'd have stayed at Ohio State had the school offered him a new contract earlier. But he didn't have a new deal ahead of Ohio State's title game win over Notre Dame, so he made the choice to contact Penn State after former defensive coordinator and Indiana head coach Tom Allen took the DC job at Clemson. Ohio State has boasted one of the best defenses in the country under Knowles' watch and Penn State should again field another unit that is one of the stingiest in college football, even with some reinforcements needed. The Nittany Lions need to replace No. 3 overall NFL Draft pick Abdul Carter and his 12 sacks and 23.5 tackles for loss along with leading tacklers Jaylen Reed and Kobe King. But Zakee Wheatley is back at free safety along with corner AJ Harris. Edge rusher Dani Dennis-Sutton also returns after he had 8.5 sacks. Finding a second pass rusher to pair with him is paramount. Khalil Dinkins and Luke Reynolds have big shoes to fill at tight end with Warren's departure, but the wide receiving group's improvement should more than make up for any drop-off at that position. Thanks to a conference schedule that's one of the most manageable in the Big Ten, Penn State has a very good chance to challenge for the No. 1 overall seed in the College Football Playoff.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Georgia football trying to flip Michigan State's best commit
The college football recruiting world never stops as teams are now trying to flip commits so they can add to their recruiting classes. The Georgia Bulldogs are after Michigan State's highest ranked commitment in four-star wide receiver Tyren Wortham. The Booker High School (Florida) product is a target to join Georgia's top ranked recruiting class. The biggest competitor for Michigan State and Georgia is Auburn. 'They want me to come on an in-season visit. UCF has still been on my trail, wanting me to come back to a game. I'm pretty sure Georgia wants me at a game," Wortham talking to Rivals (subscription required). Rivals has Wortham as a four-star wide receiver as the No. 111 overall rated recruit and he is ranked inside the top 20 wide receivers in the 2026 class. Wortham's production was unbelievable this past season. The Michigan State commitment registered 67 catches for 1,360 yards and 17 touchdowns. Georgia is contenders to finish with the top recruiting class in the country. The Bulldogs have either the No. 1 (247Sports) or No. 2 (ESPN, Rivals) recruiting class in the 2026 cycle. This article originally appeared on UGA Wire: Georgia football trying to flip 4-star Michigan State WR commit
