Spartan Baseball Opens Green/Gray World Series
10/13/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Oct. 13, 2002
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State baseball team fought off cold, windy conditions and had a successful opening game at the annual intra-squad Green/Gray World Series Sunday afternoon (Oct. 13) at Kobs Field. The Green team held off the Gray squad, 13-9, to take game one of the series.
The Gray team was up 5-4 after six innings, but the Green team exploded for nine runs in the final three frames for the victory. After the Green squad tied the game in seventh, it erupted for five runs in the eighth. Scott Koerber (Jr., Harper Woods) nailed a deep shot to left-center field for a solo homer, and Alan Cattrysse (Fr., Chatham, Ontario) and Charlie Braun (Sr., Grosse Pointe) each hit two-run doubles. In the ninth, Jim Duffy (So., Carleton) hit a solo homer over the right-field fence, and Cattrysse and Braun once again provided offensive heroics, each bringing in runs with singles. Braun had five RBI on the day.
The Gray team also packed its most powerful offensive punch in the eighth and ninth innings, scoring two runs in each frame. Nick Anderson (Jr., Kalamazoo) and David Miller (Jr., Whitehall) both had RBI extra-base hits in the eighth, while Oliver Wolcott (Fr., Plymouth) stroked a two-run homer in the ninth.
Most of the runs were scored in the later innings, as each starting hurler pitched solid. Bryan Gale (So., Decatur), who was the Green's starter, gave up three runs and four hits in four innings of work. Gale was scoreless through three, but was tagged for three runs in the fourth on a Tim Day (So., West Chester, Ohio) RBI single and a two-run homer by Brett Wattles (Sr., Rochester).
The Gray starter, Pat Gill (Sr., Grandville), was also effective, tossing four scoreless innings before giving up four runs in the fourth. Braun had a two-run double to right-center and Erik Morris (So., Orchard Lake) hit a two-run single in the inning.
Ryan Kurtz (Jr., Toledo, Ohio), who entered the game in the seventh, pitched 1 1/3 innings for the win. Tom Grant (Fr., Jenison) took the loss for the Gray squad.
"It nice to take advantage of this time to get in some competition," said MSU head coach Ted Mahan. "We had six weeks of work in the fall and I'm please with the team's effort. This is helping us gear up for the regular season."
Game two of the Green/Gray World Series begins at 3:30 p.m. tomorrow (Monday, Oct. 14) at Kobs Field.
