Michigan State University
Illinois
Illinois Outslugs MSU Baseball, 15-6
4/16/2000 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 16, 2000
EAST LANSING, Mich. - MSU concluded its four game weekend series against Illinois Sunday afternoon at Kobs Field. Not much went right for MSU on Sunday though, as Illinois handed MSU a 15-6 loss. Following the loss MSU fell to 11-23 (3-8 Big Ten) on the season, while Illinois improves to 27-11 (13-3 Big Ten) on the year.
After going scoreless in the first inning, Illinois opened up the games scoring by exploding for seven runs in the third inning. All total, the Illini sent 10 batters to the plate in the decisive inning, with seven of them earning hits. Following an MSU run in its half of the third, Illinois would tack on two more runs in the fourth to increase its lead to 9-1.
The Spartans, however, would come back. In its half of the fourth, MSU countered by scoring five runs of its own. Seniors Mike Pisani (Rochester, Mich.) and Ted Demetral (Sterling Heights, Mich.), along with junior Troy Bergman (Grosse Pointe, Mich.), and sophomores Chris McCuiston (Birmingham, Mich.) and Kevin Crews (Hinckley, Ohio) all came around to score for the Spartans. Pisani, who went four-for-five on the day, hit a big two out double to leftfield that scored McCuiston and Crews.
Following the fourth inning, though, the Spartans would not get their bats going again, as Illinois held MSU scoreless for the remainder of the game. The Illini would score six more runs with two of those coming in the fifth inning, three in the seventh and one in the eighth.
MSU will have Monday off but will return to Kobs Field on Tuesday at 3:00 p.m. when it will host NAIA foe Siena Heights.
Game Summary R H EUI 007 220 310 15 22 2MSU 001 500 000 6 14 0
E - Basak, MarquieDP - Illini 3, Spartans 2LOB - Illini 9, Spartans 102B - Svihilik, Marquie, Simmons, Pisani (14), Burrill (5)SB - Ballard, FischerSH - Svihilik
W- Dickinson (5-1)L - Huizinga (3-4)
