MSU Spartans Play Texas Southern In Home Opener

Michigan State (0-2) vs. Texas Southern (1-1)
Date	Friday, Nov. 18
Time	6:30 p.m. ET
Location	East Lansing, Mich. | Breslin Center
Internet Streaming	ESPN3.com (Dan Gutowsky, Bob Donewald)
Radio	Spartan Sports Network (Will Tieman, Gus Ganakas, Matt Steigenga)
Tickets	Available at MSUSpartans.com.
Game Notes	Michigan State
Statistics	Michigan State

The Opening Tip
After opening the season with a game vs. North Carolina on the USS Carl Vinson in San Diego and a game vs. Duke in Madison Square Garden in New York City, the Spartans will finally play their home opener as they host Texas Southern Friday night. Michigan State has not lost a home opener since dropping the 1976 opener. MSU's next four games are part of the Auto-Owners Insurance Spartan Invitational, a six-team, 13-day, partial round-robin tournament.

MSU vs. Texas Southern Notes
Series History
This is the first ever meeting between Michigan State and Texas Southern.

Coach Harvey
Tony B. Harvey (Cameron University, '88) is 44-55 in his fourth season as a collegiate head coach, all at Texas Southern. Last season, he led Texas Southern to its first SWAC regular-season title since 1998.

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B-CU holds off Michigan State

DAYTONA BEACH, FL -- Ryan Durrence's three-run homer highlighted an eight-run third inning and Bethune-Cookman hung on to defeat Michigan State 11-9 Saturday night in the Bethune-Cookman Invitational at Jackie Robinson Ballpark. "Sometimes you've got to tip your hat to your opponent," B-CU coach Mervyl Melendez said of Michigan State (1-8), which battled back from a 10-3 deficit. "They never gave up and they kept the ball in play."

It was Durrence's second homer in two nights. He also hit a three-run shot Friday night against Xavier. B-CU's Eric Thomas (1-2) earned his first win of the season, although he allowed seven runs in 6 1/3 innings. He struck out seven, walked two and gave up eight hits. Justin Dahl stranded two baserunners in the ninth to earn his third save.

"I thought (Thomas) did a good job," Melendez said. "Our mentality when we're up by that many runs is to attack the hitters. I thought he commanded the strike zone. He threw hard." The Spartans scored five runs in the seventh against three B-CU pitchers, but the key hits were a bad-hop single and a misjudged fly in center field that fell for an RBI double. Atlantic High grad Chris Brown smacked two RBI doubles for B-CU (7-5). Leadoff batter Jose Ortiz scored three runs on two walks and a double. He scored twice in the decisive third inning.

"I'm very happy with the way we're hitting so far this season," Melendez said. "It's a long season, and we're counting on a lot of guys, and they're coming through for us." The Wildcats sent 12 men to the plate in the third. Durrence hit a towering three-run shot over the left-field fence, while Alejandro Jimenez had an RBI single and Brown ripped his second RBI double of the game.

B-CU 11, Michigan State 9, Final Box Score
Invitational Tournament Central Link - All Game Scores/Highlights

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MSU Spartans top FAMU 3-0

Rattlers Coach Tony Trifonov talks with Maria Gomez during break in action.













Next Up: Connecticut vs. Florida A&M (MSU Showcase) - Saturday, 11 a.m.

Box Score
Detailed Box

EAST LANSING, Mich. - The 2008 Michigan State volleyball team earned a chance to play for the MSU Showcase title tomorrow night as it topped Florida A&M, 3-0 (25-14, 25-20, 25-19) Friday night at Jenison Field House. With the win, the Spartans move to 5-3 on the season. Both Jenilee Rathje (Mount Pleasant, Mich.) and Vineece Verdun (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) paced the Spartans with seven kills apiece.

After topping Wisconsin-Milwaukee in their first match of the day, the Spartans looked to pick up where they left off. Jumping out to a 14-5 lead, they did just that, against the Rattlers. Taking advantage of their size and athleticism at middle blocker, both Vanessa King (Spring Lake, Mich.) and Verdun both got off to hot starts with two kills apiece. The Spartans would extend their lead behind the play of Rathje. Tallying four kills and two digs while hitting .429 in the first set, Rathje helped the green and white to a 25-14 win in the first set.

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READ OTHER FAMU RATTLERS ARTICLES:
While others play, Rattlers rest for 48 hours
Kershaw: FAMU is 'a tale of two offenses'
The time is now for FAMU WR Elliott

Tennessee State University alum coaches Michigan State Spartans golf team

Photo: Michigan State University Spartans head golf coach Sam Puryear

Life coach: The Sam Puryear impact

Photo Gallery: Sam and the Spartans, http://www.golfweektv.com/gallery/SamPuryear

It’s been another frigid winter in central Michigan. Snowfall in East Lansing has been about 14 inches above average, which isn’t good news for Michigan State senior Nate Gunthorpe. The Spartans have putting practice at 6 a.m. three days per week, and it’s a few miles from his off-campus house to the school’s indoor Rearick Golf Complex.

“Waking up, getting snow off your car, warming it up and being there by 6 ready to putt,” Gunthorpe said. “We definitely know why we’re doing it.”

Waiting for Gunthorpe and his teammates is first-year head coach Sam Puryear. Standing 6 feet tall and dressed impeccably in Spartan green, Puryear is a man with a plan. His energy is palpable, and his preparation is relentless. Always approachable and never short on one-liners, Puryear is just nine months removed from his first college coaching job, a 1 1/2-year stint as Stanford’s assistant coach, in which he helped head coach Conrad Ray guide the Cardinal to the 2007 NCAA championship.

Now, as the first black head golf coach in a major NCAA Division I conference, Puryear has the reins of the Spartans, a team that rose into the top 20 earlier this season.

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Mini Bio:
Sam is a 1992 graduate of Tennessee State University. He served three years as the assistant golf coach at Stanford University, winning the NCAA Division I national golf championship last season (2007). Prior to joining Stanford, he served as Executive Director of East Lake Junior Golf Academy in Atlanta, GA., where he managed the development of golf instruction and curriculum for an academy serving more than 1,000 youth. Puryear has a proven track record for fundraising, campaigning, and program support.

Samuel G. Puryear Jr. was born and raised in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Great article!!

-beepbeep