Michigan State University
Penn St
MSU Baseball Routs Penn State, 16-7
5/17/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 17, 2002
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - The Michigan State baseball team exploded for 16 runs, with 15 of them coming in a three-inning span, en route to a 16-7 thrashing of Penn State Friday at Beaver Field. Chris McCuiston (Sr., Birmingham) had five hits, including a home run and a double, to lead a 17-hit attack for the Spartans, who improved to 33-17 and 13-12 in the Big Ten. Penn State slipped to 23-27 and 11-16 in the Big Ten.
Trailing 2-0 after three innings, MSU erupted for eight runs in the fourth inning. McCuiston and Kyle Geswein (Sr., Dayton, Ohio) started the rally with back-to-back home runs. McCuiston's bomb was his team-leading 14th of the season, and Geswein's blast, his 12th this season, was the 34th of his career, tying him with Matt Riggins (1993-96) for the MSU career record.
A key error on a potential double-play ball allowed MSU to keep the rally going, and the Spartans took advantage, scoring four times with two outs. Charlie Braun (Jr., Grosse Pointe) and Bob Malek (Jr., Canton) both singled in runs, and after McCuiston reached on an infield single, Geswein ripped a double to left center to drive in the final two runs in the inning. Malek's RBI was the 157th of his career, giving him sole possession of the MSU career record.
Brady Burrill (Jr, Newhall, Calif.), making his first start in close to a month after suffering a broken bone in his throwing hand, lofted a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning to make the score 9-3.
After the Nittany Lions pulled within 9-5 in the bottom of the fifth, Travis Gulick (Fr., East Lansing) closed the door on any thoughts of a comeback by blasting a two-out grand slam down the left field line in the sixth. Jared Koutnik (Sr., Milwaukee, Wis.) added a two-run double later in the inning pushing the score to 15-5.
Malek closed out the MSU scoring with his 12th home run, a shot to right center, in the ninth inning.
Bryan Gale was not at his best, but pitched well enough to earn his seventh win in 11 decisions. Gale allowed seven runs, five earned, and 11 hits in six innings of work, while striking out four. Dylan Putnam (Sr., Ann Arbor) pitched three scoreless innings of relief to earn his first save. Putman didn't allow a hit in his three innings while striking out three.
Braun, Malek, Geswein, Gulick and Scott Koerber (So., Harper Woods) all had two hits for MSU.
MSU and Penn State will continue their four-game series with a doubleheader tomorrow beginning at 1 p.m.
Michigan State 16, Penn State 7WP- Gale (7-4)LP- Watson (6-4)S- Putnam (1)Score By Innings R H EMichigan State 000 816 001 16 17 2Penn State 020 122 000 7 11 2
