USF Baseball Takes on Michigan State

Round two, batter up.

Game two of the season is here as the Bulls as they continue the Big Ten/Big East Challenge.  The Bulls, after beating OSU the day before in St. Pete (won 5 to 3), will take on Michigan State in Clearwater (game starts at 1PM, depending on the weather in the area). 

The Spartans finished the 2011 season with a record of 36-21 (15-9) tied for first in the Big Ten (faced St. John's in the first game of the season).  They are a power slugging team that will challenge the USF pitching staff and have enough arms in the bullpen to cool off the USF bats, here are the key players to watch in this game.  The Spartans won their first game 11 to 4 over St. John's, so their offense is ready to roll in this game.

Junior 3rd baseman Torsten Boss (6-0 190-pounds) returns after batting .370 with 7 home runs and 59 RBIs last year (bats left handed).  He was 3 for 5 last night with a home run and drove in 3 runs.  Junior second baseman Ryan Jones (5-10 170-pounds) batted .344 last year with 18 doubles and drove in 29 RBIs, getting on base for the Spartans.  He went 2 for 4 with 2 runs driven in last night in the win over SJU.

Junior DH Jarod Hook (6-1 195-pounds) batted .341 last year with 7 doubles and drove in 30 runs, giving another power bat in the middle of the batting order.  He went 1 for 5 yesterday with 1 RBI.  Senior short stop Justin Scanlon (6-1 185-pounds) batted .302 last year with 30 RBIs.  He went 1 for 4 with 2 RBIs last night.  Junior right fielder Tony Wieber (6-0 200-pounds) batted .288 with 21 RBIs. He worked 1.1 innings in relief last night (very versatile).

Senior RHP Tony Bucciferro (6-0 200-pounds) returns as the best pitcher from last year.  He went 8-3 last year with a 3.38 ERA while working 101.1 innings, striking out 66 and holding opponents to a .258 batting average.  Tony Wieber (the outfielder) also went 3-0 last year with 8 saves.  He worked 42 innings, striking out 38 while finishing the year with a 3.64 ERA.  Senior Bryce Jenny (6-2 190-pounds) had 5 saves last year with a 4.58 ERA.  Junior Andrew Waszak (6-1 205-pounds) went 4-3 with a 4.79 ERA while working 62 innings and striking out 29.

This is another tough game for the Bulls.  They were able to get solid pitching out of their bullpen against Ohio State, but against Michigan State, they will need their arms to come out strong and for the offense to strike early and often in the game if they want to steal a huge victory over the Big Ten conference favorite.