Schools To Play Second Exhibition On Eve Of Football Game…
ND's Mik Aoki
The Notre Dame football team hosts Michigan State Saturday afternoon at Notre Dame Stadium, but the baseball teams from the two schools will play an exhibition game that morning as well. The baseball exhibition is set to begin at 10:30 a.m. at Notre Dame’s Frank Eck Stadium, which is located just a couple hundred yards from the football stadium.
“Our team is excited about this weekend’s exhibition game with Michigan State,” second-year Irish head coach Mik Aoki said. “It not only gives the coaching staff a tremendous opportunity to evaluate our players in a game setting as opposed to practice, but it also gives the players a chance to compete against someone other than themselves.”
This is the second straight year the two schools have met on the same day as the ND-MSU football game. They squared-off in East Lansing in 2010 as well.
MSU's Jake Boss, Jr.
Notre Dame and Michigan State have become regular competitors on the baseball diamond in recent years. They opened the season against each other at last year’s Big East/Big Ten Challenge in Dunedin, Fla. The eventual Big Ten champion Spartans won that game 2-1. Michigan State won a game at Notre Dame on May 17 as well. Jake Boss, Jr.’s Spartans also swept a three game series at Notre Dame in 2010.
The format of the game is expected to be 14 innings or around three hours. Both teams are expected to use use most of the players on their rosters.
Saturday’s game counts against the teams’ 2012 56-game regular season limit, but it will not count toward their 2012 won-loss records.
Other fall exhibition games around the country this weekend include:
Friday: Ontario Blue Jays at Central Michigan
Saturday: USA at UNC Wilmington
Sunday: Ontario National at Eastern Michigan