Michigan State University sophomore pitcher Joseph Dzierwa (Otsego), a second team All-Big Ten Conference selection, earned the team’s Robin Roberts Most Valuable Pitcher Award.

Zierwa was among three Michigan State players garnering Big Ten recognition, but the only underclassman. Senior outfielder Jack Frank earned First Team All-Big Ten honors, while senior infielder Dillon Kark was named MSU’s Sportsmanship Award honoree.

Michigan State’s three All-Big Ten honorees this season gives Michigan State a total of 63 All-Big Ten accolades in the 16 seasons under head coach Jake Boss Jr.

Despite some remarkable success his freshman year, Boss is seeing Dzierwa move to another level his sophomore year. He noticed it when Dzierwa led the Spartans to a 3-2 win over Michigan on May 3.

Dzierwa went a career-long eight innings, ringing up nine Ks to tie a career-high for the fourth time this season. Dzierwa only yielded three hits, two runs and one walk, with the two runs coming on balk calls with Wolverine runners on third in both the first and eighth innings.

He matched his jersey number by retiring 16-straight UM batters from the first inning until the sixth stanza.

“Joseph was really good tonight,” Boss said. “I give him a lot of credit too, because a year ago at this time he was starting to get tired and couldn’t get deep into games last year as a freshman, but he really worked hard in the offseason and really did a great job in the weight room and he’s deeper into games later in the year and you saw it tonight, he was lights out.”

Dzierwa, a native of Haskins, was second in the Big Ten in both innings pitched (84) and strikeouts (91), third in the league in overall in WHIP (1.19), third in Big Ten-only IP (48.2), sixth in Big-Ten-only strikeouts (43), eighth overall in strikeouts per nine innings (9.7), ninth in the Big Ten overall in ERA (4.07) and tied for 14th in the Big Ten overall in walks per nine (2.9).

In his final outing of the season, Dzierwa rang up a career-high 11 strikeouts against Nebraska on May 17, topping his previous career-best of nine Ks done four previous times this season, most recently vs Michigan on May 3.

Dzierwa was the only Spartan pitcher to chalk up double-digit strikeouts this season and the first since March 11, 2023 when Adam Berghorst rang up 11 Ks vs. Western Carolina at Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C.

Dzierwa’s 11 Ks was the first double-digit strikeout outing by a Spartan pitcher at home since April 25, 2021 when Sam Benschoter chalked up 17 strikeouts in 9.1 IP of relief that was also against Nebraska.

With the 91 strikeouts on the season, Dzierwa had a big role in the Spartan pitching staff amassing 420 total strikeouts on the season, finishing No. 3 on MSU’s team strikeouts list and the most since 445 in 2019.

Dzierwa made his mark in MSU’s record books, as the 91 strikeouts are No. 8 on MSU’s single-season Top 10 strikeouts list, the most by a Spartan pitcher since 2016 when Dakota Mekkes rang up 96.

Michigan State finishes the 2024 season 24-27 overall and 11-13 in league action, missing the Big Ten Tournament by one game.