Michigan State\u2019s 142-year-old baseball program is known more for producing individual talents like Steve Garvey, Kirk Gibson and Hall of Fame pitcher Robin Roberts than for winning a lot of games. So the Spartans had reason to celebrate the opening weekend of the season, even though it didn\u2019t end the way they would have liked.<\/p>\n
They won two of three on the road against a Louisville team ranked as high as No. 8 in the preseason, making it the highest-ranked series win under 18th-year coach Jake Boss Jr.<\/p>\n
The Spartans opened with a 4-3 win Friday on Randy Seymour\u2019s tie-breaking homer in the eighth inning. Parker Picot (Rochester Adams) hit a grand slam and three-run homer in a 14-3 victory Saturday. Louisville won Sunday\u2019s finale 9-1.<\/p>\n
The Spartans\u2019 big weekend came against one of the winningest programs over the past two decades. The Cardinals went 2-2 in the College World Series last year.<\/p>\n
MSU was 28-27 last season and finished 12th in the Big Ten Conference. The Spartans haven\u2019t been above .500 in conference play since 2016, and the most recent of their five NCAA Tournament appearances was in 2012.<\/p>\n
Their challenging start to the season continues Friday with the first of three games at a top-10 Texas.<\/p>\n
In the polls<\/p>\n
The top three teams in the D1Baseball.com and Baseball America polls remained the same Monday.<\/p>\n
UCLA (2-1) and LSU (3-0) are the top two in both polls, with Texas (3-0) third by D1Baseball and Mississippi State (3-0) third by Baseball America.<\/p>\n
Slam man<\/p>\n
Things quieted down considerably for Baylor\u2019s Tyce Armstrong after he became the second player in NCAA history, and first in 50 years, to hit three grand slams in a game<\/a>, doing so Friday.<\/p>\n The Bears completed a three-game sweep of New Mexico State with wins of 5-2 Saturday and 7-3 Sunday. Armstrong was a combined 0 for 6 with two RBIs in those games.<\/p>\n