Michigan State University
Iupu Ft Wayne
Spartan Baseball Picks Up Two More Wins
3/23/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 23, 2002
INDIANAPOLIS - The Michigan State baseball team defeated Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne, 5-4, and Butler, 6-2, Saturday (March 23) to improve to 14-2 on the season. The Spartans extended their winning streak to nine games. In each game, Michigan State came from behind to win.
With IPFW leading 3-0, State pulled within one run in the bottom of the third when Jared Koutnik (Sr., Milwaukee, Wis.) singled in a run followed by a sac-fly RBI by Bob Malek (Jr., Canton).
Trailing 4-2 in the sixth, the Spartans continued their comeback. Koutnik and Malek each singled to start the inning and two batters later, Koutnik scored when Kyle Geswein (Sr., Dayton, Ohio) drove a sac-fly to center and Scott Koerber (So., Harper Woods) tied the game at four when he doubled in Malek. A Charlie Braun (Jr., Grosse Pointe) single drove in Koerber to give MSU the lead for good at 5-4.
In the top of the seventh, the Mastodons put runners on the corners with two outs and attempted a double-steal but catcher Randy Ortiz (So., Rochester) applied the tag at home to preserve a 5-4 MSU win.
Pat Gill (Jr., Grandville) entered the game in the sixth and picked up the win to improve to 2-1. Starter Bryan Gale (So., Decatur) struck out four and gave up four runs in 5.1 innings.
In game two, the Spartans scored four runs in the third to take a 5-2 lead on Butler. With the bases loaded and two outs, James Moreno (So., Holt) reached on a costly error by the Bulldogs shortstop to keep the inning alive and tie the game. Braun then hit a two-run single into the gap in right-center field and Koerber later scored from third off a passed ball.
Chris McCuiston (Sr., Birmingham) belted his seventh home run of the season in the top of the seventh, boosting the Spartans' lead to 6-2.
Nick Bates (Sr., Blissfield) started on the hill for the Green and White, struck out five and allowed no earned runs to improve his record to an impressive 5-0 on the season.
The Spartans will take on Western Michigan tomorrow in Indianapolis with first pitch scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
Game 1Michigan State 5, IPFW 4WP- Gill (2-1)LP- ZacharyScore By Innings R H EIPFW 003 010 0 4 10 1Michigan State 002 003 x 5 8 0Game 2Michigan State 6, Butler 2WP- Bates (5-0)LP- Neshek (2-3)Score By Innings R H EMichigan State 104 000 1 6 8 1Butler 200 000 0 2 6 4
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