Preview: Notre Dame at Michigan State

EAST LANSING, Mich. (Interstat) — Two teams looking to build momentum will meet Wednesday when the Notre Dame Fightin’ Irish visit the Michigan State Spartans in a non-conference baseball matchup.

The game is scheduled for an evening first pitch.

Notre Dame (17-18) arrives after dropping three straight at Florida State over the weekend. The Fightin’ Irish bullpen showed flashes in Sunday’s 6-4 loss, with Dylan Singleton, William Jaisle and Oisin Lee combining for 6.1 scoreless innings of relief.

Singleton, a key arm for Notre Dame, will be a player to watch. In his last outing Sunday, he threw 3.2 innings, allowing no hits and two earned runs with three strikeouts. He also pitched against Michigan State earlier this month, allowing one hit and one earned run over three innings on April 8.

Michigan State (14-23) is coming off a series at Washington where it won two of three, including a 13-8 victory Saturday, before falling 8-5 on Sunday. Reliever Tommy Szczepanski has been a frequent option out of the bullpen. In the Sunday loss to the Huskies, he threw two scoreless innings with three strikeouts. He earned the win in the Spartans’ 7-4 victory over Notre Dame on April 8, despite allowing two earned runs in 1.1 innings of work.

That April 8 contest in South Bend is the most recent head-to-head result. The Spartans rallied for the road win.

According to Interstat’s game simulator, Michigan State is projected to win Wednesday’s rematch by a score of 4-2.

Both teams are preparing for crucial conference series this weekend. Notre Dame will host Boston College in Atlantic Coast Conference play starting Friday. Michigan State will begin a Big Ten series at home against Maryland on Friday.