Friday
Spartans Nip Nittany Lions, 6-5, Under Friday Night Lights
MSU holds off PSU to win series opener.
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan State baseball took a lead in the middle innings, then withstood a late Penn State rally and held on for a 6-5 Victory for MSU in a nationally televised Big Ten Conference contest under the Friday night lights at McLane Stadium at Kobs Field.
A national audience watching on Big Ten Network and a spirited crowd in attendance on the chilly spring night were treated to a thrilling, tight ballgame. An 8:03 p.m. first pitch made for the second-latest start time in McLane Stadium at Kobs Field history, as the facility has only had lights since 2019, trailing last season's 8:06 p.m. start time on May 18, 2023 vs. Indiana.
Friday was also MSU's Military Appreciation Night, and the Spartans debuted their Military Appreciation black jerseys with camo green font and numbers, with the Sparty logo running with the American flag on the bag just above the numbers.
With the win, MSU improved to 16-19 overall and 4-6 in B1G action, while PSU is 18-16 overall and 5-8 in conference competition. Friday was the Nittany Lions' first visit to East Lansing since 2021, and Friday's result snapped Penn State's seven-game winning streak in the series, as it was the Spartans' first win since 2021. MSU leads the all-time series, 55-44, including 24-17 in East Lansing.
Michigan State scored a run in the second inning before Penn State countered with one in the third and another in the fourth for a 2-1 lead. The Spartans stormed back with a three-run fifth frame and tacked on two in the sixth for a 6-2 lead. The Nittany Lions did not go quietly into the brisk dark night, rallying with three runs in the eighth, before the Spartans snuffed out the rally to secure the Victory for MSU.
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"We've been through a lot this year already and we held onto the lead which was really important for the win," MSU head coach
Jake Boss Jr. said.
For the second-straight game, senior outfielder
Jack Frank led the way on offense, providing big hits again Friday night.
"I think that we have had a lot of games where you have the opportunity in the close games, some have gone our ways, and some have not," Frank said. "Tonight was a good reminder that we can still win those games and that we are in those games until the very end. We gave up a couple of runs there in the end, but I knew that we would find a way. They weren't beating us out there tonight, we were winning that game, and we should have won that game. It was a good result today but at the end of the day, I know that we are good enough to win these games, even close games and today was a good example. Good to get the first win out of the way."
Despite the late night and chilly temps, both teams had hot bats and big hits, with the teams combining for six extra base hits.
MSU had seven total hits, led by the senior duo of Frank and infielder
Dillon Kark. Frank was 2-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI, while Kark was 1-for-3 with three RBI and a run scored.
Graduate catcher
Sam Thompson and senior outfielder
Greg Ziegler were both 1-for-3, with Thompson posting an RBI and run scored, while Ziegler had a run scored. Junior infielder
Sam Busch and freshman infielder
Ryan McKay added the Spartans' other hits.
On the mound, sophomore southpaw
Joseph Dzierwa went 6.0 IP, ringing up six strikeouts, including three in the second stanza.
"I thought Joseph was good tonight," Boss said. "He really competed but I think that he would tell you that he didn't have his best stuff tonight. He figured out a way to get guys out and I think that ironically, his best inning was the sixth. He felt really good and confident then and was at 99 pitches, but I think it was a gritty performance by Dzierwa, he made one bad pitch but limited the damage. A solo home run doesn't beat you, so I thought Joseph was really good tonight."
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Senior
Aaron Mishoulam came on in relief to open the seventh and went 1.2 IP with two Ks, and turned things over to sophomore
Nolan Higgins in the eighth after PSU scored three runs to close to 6-5 with Nittany Lions on the corners with two outs. Higgins rang up a swinging strikeout to leave the two runners stranded and keep it 6-5, then went 1-2-3 in the ninth for his first career save.
"I think that
Aaron Mishoulam did a really good job for us tonight in the seventh and getting us into the eighth. I'm really happy for
Nolan Higgins, he's been up and down a lot this year and his last two outings prior to today were really good. We went back to him today in a big spot and he really showed up for us. I'm really happy for him and that boost from the bullpen really gives the team confidence moving forward. Tomorrow is a new day, we'll enjoy this one and get back at it tomorrow."
The Spartans touched home first in the game with a run in the bottom of the second on an RBI groundout by graduate catcher
Sam Thompson. The Nittany Lions evened the score in the third and took a 2-1 lead in the top of the fourth. MSU countered with a three-run fifth frame, boosted by Kark's two-run double and later a McKay RBI single for a 4-2 lead.
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Thompson jump-started the Spartan rally in the sixth with a leadoff single. Sophomore infielder
Randy Seymour laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Thompson to second, and Frank followed by smacking a triple to deep center. Kark came up next and had a sacrifice fly to plate Frank for a 6-2 Spartan advantage.
The Nittany Lions rallied in the eighth with three runs on four hits, including three doubles, to close to 6-5 with two outs and two on, and MSU went to the pen and brought Higgins to the mound. He rang up a strikeout to end the PSU rally and the inning.
Busch knocked a single to start off the eighth, moved to second on a Thompson sac bunt and took third on a Seymour flyout, but was stranded there to end the inning.
Higgins worked a 1-2-3 inning in the ninth to secure the Spartan triumph and spark the celebration.
Recap courtesy of MSU Athletics.
Saturday
Powers And Opportune Hits Propel MSU Past Penn State Saturday
Senior southpaw stymies Nittany Lion offense; Spartan bats roll to help Green & White clinch series.
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Behind
Nick Powers' pitching and an offensive output, Michigan State baseball powered past Penn State, 11-5, Saturday afternoon at McLane Stadium at Kobs Field.
The win helped the Spartans clinch the series win over the Nittany Lions, MSU's first series win over PSU since 2016. After Friday night's 6-5 Victory for MSU snapped a seven-game losing skein to PSU, MSU has now won two in a row over PSU to extend its series lead to 56-44, with a 25-17 mark in East Lansing.
Overall, MSU won its third in a row to move to 17-19 on the season and a 5-6 B1G record. PSU slid to 18-17 overall and 5-9 in B1G play.
Senior southpaw Powers went 7.0 innings, ringing up five strikeouts in scattering six hits while allowing just two runs.
"Nick was really good today, outside of walking the first guy and hitting the second guy," MSU head coach
Jake Boss Jr. said "He went into damage control early and just gave up the one run (in the first inning), which was a big play in the game. It kept momentum kind of within us and he really settled into it. I think he threw really, really well."
After yielding a run in the first, Powers found his stride and leveled his control, retiring nine Nittany Lions in a row from the third to the sixth stanzas.
Meanwhile the Spartan bats came to life in the third inning and erupted for 16 hits in the game, posting 11 runs for their most in a Big Ten game this season and the most in a conference contest since plating 14 in a 14-2 Victory for MSU at Michigan last season on April 23, 2023.
As part of MSU Heroes Weekend, U.S. Marine Staff Sergeant Andrew Busch, brother of Spartan junior infielder
Sam Busch, threw out Saturday's ceremonial first pitch.
"That was pretty neat," Busch said. "I didn't really know until last week that he was going to do it, and I thought it was pretty cool. I went out there and I kind of got a little choked up when I got out there. But it was pretty cool, a really neat moment."
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Of MSU's 11 runs scored on the day, five of them came with two outs, as the Spartan offense was clicking.
"I'd like to get them all with no outs, I guess," Boss said with a chuckle. "But we talked before the game just about a consistent offensive approach and I think we did it again today for the second day in a row. We didn't chase many balls, I thought we stayed alive in at bats, we were able to just string a bunch of hits together a couple different times in those innings and use that momentum moving forward."
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MSU knocked 16 hits, and all nine Spartans in the line-up had at least one hit, with six tallying multiple hits, led by senior infielder
Dillon Kark going 3-for-5 with two runs scored, including his team-leading 14th double of the season.
Graduate catcher
Sam Thompson and sophomore infielder
Randy Seymour were both 2-for-3, with Thompson scoring three times, while Seymour touched home twice and drove in one. Junior outfielder
Nick Williams was 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored, while Busch and senior outfielder
Greg Ziegler were both 2-for-5, with Zeigler notching two RBI, while Busch had a ribbie and a run scored. Senior outfielder
Jack Frank was 1-for-4 with three RBI and a run scored, freshman infielder
Ryan McKay was 1-for-4, and junior designated hitter
Christian Williams was 1-for-5 with a run scored.
Ziegler added two stolen bases, and the Spartans had a sacrifice bunt and a sac fly, along with several hit and runs throughout the day.
"I thought we did a nice job on the bases and really putting pressure on those guys," Boss said. "We executed again for the second day in a row. The running game was big, the bunting game was big for us. I'm really proud of the effort that our guys did offensively today."
The Spartans' offensive output was backed by a solid outing by Powers, righting the ship after a rough outing last weekend at Purdue.
"Last week was kind of a down week for me, it's uncharacteristic," Powers said. "I just got to work this week and just got back up onto the mound with all the confidence in the world that I usually have. When you do that, a lot of good things happen and that's what happened today."
After the shaky first frame, Powers got in a groove and rhythm from there on out.
"Yeah, I think so," Powers said about finding his rhythm after the first inning. "I'm usually a guy who likes to work quick and I don't usually take a lot of time between pitches. I get the ball back and I'm on the rubber immediately, and I feel like that plays into it. Hitters, they don't have a lot of time to get ready in between pitches, so I feel like that plays a factor into the success that I have."
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Meanwhile, Busch and the offense also settled in and had success after a quiet first two frames without a hit, but then once the bats got going, they got going in a big way.
"It started in BP; we had good energy and we really had to fine tune our approach the past two days and it showed," Busch said. "We put together a lot of good at bats and got the base runner moving, a couple hit and runs and stuff. We just kind of started rolling."
Penn State scored in its opening at bat of the game, with a run in the top of the first.
After going hitless through the first two frames, the Spartan offense got the bats going in the third, breaking through with three runs on three hits, capitalizing on two PSU errors.
Thompson ignited the rally with a walk and moved to second on a sac bunt by Seymour. Two batters later Kark reached on an infield single to advance Thompson to third. N.Williams reached on a PSU error to plate Thompson, and McKay followed with a single through the left side to drive in Kark. Ziegler then knocked an infield single to score N.Williams for a 3-1 Spartan advantage.
After Penn State got a run back in the top of the sixth on a solo HR with two outs, the Spartans countered by erupting for a five-run sixth inning, their most runs in an inning in a Big Ten game and their 11th big inning of four or more runs this season.
C.Williams sparked the outburst with a double off the wall in left, and Busch followed by smacking a double just inside the first base bag and into the right field corner to drive in C.Williams. After Thompson reached on an infield single, Seymour knocked an RBI infield single to score Busch, and after a PSU pitching change, Frank had a sac fly to drive in Thompson. A Kark single preceded an RBI single to right center by N.Williams to plate Seymour. Ziegler later followed with a single to right to score Kark for the fifth run of the stanza and an 8-2 lead for the home field Spartans.
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After singing and stretching in the middle of the seventh, the Green & White scored three more, with Frank cracking a two-run double into the right field corner, and N.Williams knocking a double to right center.
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PSU scored two in the eighth and one in the ninth to close to 11-5.
Freshmen relievers
Gannon Grundman and
Logan Pikur threw an inning apiece to secure the Victory for MSU.
Recap courtesy of MSU Athletics.
Sunday
Michigan State Clipped By Penn State, 11-9, In A Sunday Slugfest
Spartans rally from 7-0 deficit to tie it, before PSU pulls away late & MSU comeback comes up short.
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- After rallying from an early big deficit, Michigan State baseball came back to tie it up, before Penn State pulled away late and then the Spartan comeback came up short in an 11-9 slugfest Sunday afternoon at a brisk and breezy but sunny McLane Stadium at Kobs Field.
The loss denied the series sweep, as Michigan State won the series with a 6-5 thrilling Victory for MSU Friday night and an 11-5 triumph on Saturday. It was the Spartans' first series win over the Nittany Lions since 2016, and MSU was going for its first series sweep of any kind over PSU since 2014 and its first series sweep over Penn State in East Lansing since 2011.
However, the Nittany Lions jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the fourth frame. The Spartans rallied with a five-spot on the board in the fourth before plating a pair of runs in the sixth to complete the comeback and tie it up at 7-7, and Michigan State was on threatening to rally from a 7-0 deficit for a Victory for MSU for the first time since April 4, 2021 at Minnesota, rallying from a 7-0 hole after the fifth for a 10-7 comeback win.
PSU and MSU traded runs in the eighth for an 8-8 score, before Penn State scored three runs in the ninth on a three-run home run. The Spartans didn't go quietly into the sunny afternoon, as they rallied with a run in the bottom of the ninth on two hits before the rally and the game came to a close.
"I thought our guys showed a lot of competitiveness, MSU head coach
Jake Boss Jr. said. "I thought that they stayed in it mentally, it would've been easy to pack in down 7-nothing, but they competed their tails off and I'm proud of them for that. Even in the ninth, we were down three and gave up a three-run home run and that could've taken the wind out of our sails, but we got a couple runners on and pushed one across in the ninth. Again, I'm really happy with the way they competed today, especially after last week, I think they guys did a really nice job of flipping the script after a really bad week last week. Coming in and turning things around to go three and one this week is a testament to those guys."
Michigan State had 10 hits, led by four Spartans posting multiple hits. Junior outfielder
Nick Williams was 2-for-2 with three walks, scoring one run and driving in another, while senior outfielders
Jack Frank and
Greg Ziegler were both 2-for-4 and both scored two runs and both swiped one stolen base apiece, with Frank adding an RBI.
Frank's stolen base was his 17th of the season and 50th of his career, becoming the fifth player in program history with 50 career stolen bases, tying for No. 5 on MSU's career stolen base list with Brandon Hughes (2015-17).
Junior designated hitter
Christian Williams was also 2-for-4 with an RBI and run scored.
Senior infielder
Dillon Kark and freshman infielder
Ryan McKay added a hit apiece, with McKay posting one run and one RBI, while Kark added a ribbie. Graduate catcher
Sam Thompson added a run after reaching on a PSU and an RBI on the play. Sophomore infielder
Randy Seymour added a run scored after drawing a walk.
On the mound, senior
Nick Ferazzi (3.2 IP, 1 K) started, before being relieved by freshman
Garrett Brewer (0.1 IP, 1 K), senior
Aaron Mishoulam (3.0 IP, 4 K), sophomore
Nolan Higgins (1.0 IP) and freshman
Logan Pikur (1.0 IP).
Sunday concluded MSU Heroes Weekend, honoring local heroes including police, fire, EMT, healthcare workers along with active duty and retired military members all weekend long.
Additionally, Sunday's activities featured a Junior Spartan picnic, along with a Junior Spartan joined by Sparty in throwing out the ceremonial first pitch.
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When the game got going, Penn State burst onto the scoreboard with a four-run third inning with a pair of two-run home runs to right, over the wall and into the Red Cedar River and a 4-0 lead through two-and-a-half innings.
PSU added three more runs in the top of the fourth on another two-run HR by Bobby Marsh, his second in as many innings, and an RBI double, for a 7-0 advantage.
The Spartans came roaring back by hanging a five spot on the board in the home half of the fourth, with three hits, three hits and capitalizing on one Nittany Lion error, with Frank and Kark cracking back-to-back RBI singles down the right field line as MSU closed within, 7-5.
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Michigan State's comeback was completed in the bottom of the sixth, loading the bases and Seymour scoring on a wild pitch with McKay at bat, and two pitches later McKay lofted a fly ball to left field for the sac fly to bring Frank in to score and tie it up at 7-all heading to the seventh.
After scoreless stanzas on either side of stretching and singing, Penn State scored on an RBI single, but the Spartans countered with their own RBI single by N.Williams, driving in Frank who smacked a one-out double to right center, leveling the game back up at 8-8.
However, the Nittany Lions took an 11-8 lead on a three-run home run by Bryce Molinaro, PSU's fourth homer of the day and all for multiple RBI.
MSU rallied in the ninth with Ziegler leading off with a single to right and C.Williams following with a single through the left side. A double play moved Ziegler to third and erased C.Williams from the basepaths, and Ziegler later scored on a passed ball to pull MSU within 11-9, however a popup ended the Spartans' comeback and the ballgame.
The Spartans do not have any midweek games scheduled due to Finals Week on campus at MSU. Michigan State returns to action by traveling to Columbus, Ohio for a three-game B1G series at Ohio State, Friday-Sunday April 26-28. Friday's opener at OSU's Bill Davis Stadium is slated for a 6 p.m. ET start time, followed by a 2 p.m. first pitch on Saturday before Sunday's series finale at 1 p.m.
MSU returns home to McLane Stadium at Kobs Field to host Notre Dame on Tuesday, May 30, before hosting Michigan in a three-game B1G series, Friday-Sunday, May 3-5.
Recap courtesy of MSU Athletics.