East Lansing, Mich. – Going 2-2 in a four-game homestand from April 12-16, the Oakland baseball program will travel to East Lansing to clash with the Michigan State Spartans, a member of the Big Ten Conference (B1G), on Tuesday, April 19 at 6:35 p.m.
Taking two of three from the Northern Illinois Huskies on April 15 and 16, the Golden Grizzlies will enter play at 17-17 (7-5 Horizon League), while Michigan State is 13-19 (2-7 B1G).
Probable starting pitchers
Oakland
Redshirt senior left-hander
Christian Stelling: 10 games (0 starts), 0-1, 1 save, 7.20 ERA, 2.10 WHIP, .244 OBA, 10 IP, 11 BB, 17 SO
Michigan State
Sophomore right-hander Harrison Cook: 8 games (7 starts), 0-4, 9.85 ERA, 2.12 WHIP, .359 OBA, 28.1 IP, 13 BB, 30 SO
All-time record against the Spartans
First meeting on March 20, 2009, the Golden Grizzlies have squared off with Michigan State 20 times, with the Spartans emerging victorious in 18 of those contests.
Oakland's two wins in the series – both of which came in East Lansing – came on April 12, 2011 and March 29, 2016.
About Michigan State
The Spartans' 2-7 mark in league play currently has them 10
th in the B1G standings and 14
th-year head coach Jake Boss, Jr.'s team will take a five-game losing streak into Tuesday's action.
One of four players to start all 32 games, left-handed-hitting sophomore center fielder Jack Frank paces Michigan State with a .325 batting average (38-117). The Strongsville, Ohio native has 10 doubles, five home runs, 23 RBI, and seven stolen bases in nine attempts.
Fellow lefty-swinging sophomore Mitch Jebb – another of the quartet to start every game and the Spartans' leadoff hitter and shortstop – is right on Frank's heels with a .320 average (41-128). Leading the club with 12 stolen bases, he has accumulated seven doubles, two triples, three home runs, and 29 RBI.
Out of the bullpen, junior Andrew Carson, graduate student Kyle Bischoff, and redshirt junior Wyatt Rush, all of whom are right-handers, have been Boss, Jr.'s most used options, combining to make 37 appearances.
Bischoff and Carson are both local products, as they played their high school baseball at Utica Eisenhower and Stoney Creek, respectively.
Goulet on 13-game hit streak
Going 9-17 (.529) with three home runs, two doubles, seven RBI, eight runs scored, and two stolen bases during the four games the Golden Grizzlies played from April 12-16, graduate student second baseman
Brad Goulet is riding a 13-game hit streak, which dates to the March 29 victory over Division II Saginaw Valley.
The lone Oakland player to start all 34 games, Goulet leads the team in batting average (.350), hits (48), doubles (8), home runs (6), RBI (28), and on-base percentage (.490).
