Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State University
Central Michigan
Michigan State Tops Central Michigan, 9-4
4/21/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 21, 2004
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State picked up solo home runs from James Moreno (Holt, Mich.) and Sean Walker (Round Lake, Ill.) while it took advantage of two costly Central Michigan errors in a 9-4 Spartan victory Wednesday, April 21, at Kobs Field. Moreno went 4-for-5 with 3 RBI on the afternoon to help MSU improve to 19-15 overall. CMU dropped to 18-18.
After both teams went empty handed in the first inning and Spartan starter John Dwan (Libertyville, Ill.) retired the Chippewas 1-2-3 in the top of the second, Moreno led off the bottom of the frame with his first four-bagger of the year. The shot off David LeMieux to dead center field landed in the trees to give State a 1-0 lead. Central tied it in the third, notching a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded, and threatened to take the lead. With runners at first and third and two outs, J.T. Jones attempted to steal second as Chase Welker camped over at third. MSU catcher Kris Morris (Jenison, Mich.) threw over to second baseman Oliver Wolcott (Plymouth, Mich.) in hopes of catching Jones but the CMU right fielder held up and began retreating for first. Noticing Welker inching towards home, Wolcott fired it to Moreno at third, getting Welker in a rundown. Following two more tosses, shortstop Troy Krider (DeKalb, Ind.) finally made the tag, getting Welker just before he touched third.
The Chippewas grabbed the lead in the fifth with another sacrifice fly but Walker would not allow them to control it for long, notching his fourth home run of the season, a solo blast to the pine trees in left to even things back up. Once again, CMU put the pressure on in the sixth by putting runners at first and second and one out. With Jeremy Dow (Sunfield, Mich.) on the mound, Jeff LaFavors blooped a sure single into right-center field. However, center fielder Adam Tripp (Saugus, Calif.) sprinted inward, spread his body in the air and made the grab for the inning's second out. CMU would fail to get a run home in the sixth while MSU regained the lead in the bottom half. Erik Morris (Orchard Lake, Mich.) got aboard with a hit by pitch and Moreno singled to move him over to second. Both runners scored when Ryan Basham (Lowell, Ind.) dropped a sacrifice bunt down the third base line that catcher Derek Schaller threw high and into foul ground.
A 4-2 MSU lead diminished quickly in the seventh as Central added a two-out, two-run homer by Bryan Mitzel. State responded again, taking a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the seventh. Erik Morris placed a single through the left side with two outs, stole second and advanced to third on the play with another overthrow by Schaller. He touched home when Moreno went the opposite way with a single into right.
The Green and White blew the game open in the eighth. After two ground ball outs, Wolcott got things going with a single to left and Travis Gulick (East Lansing, Mich.) got aboard with a hit by pitch. Kris Morris then scored Wolcott from second on a single through the right side and Erik Morris blasted a 1-2 pitch into right center for his first collegiate triple, allowing Kris Morris and Gulick to score. Moreno completed the scoring with his fourth hit of the day, a groundball single into right that brought Erik Morris home.
Ryan Kurtz (2-0/Toledo, Ohio) received the win as he came in with two outs in the seventh and retired all five batters he faces, including tying a career-high in strikeouts with three. Clay Kovac (Mundelein, Ill.) relieved Kurtz with one out in the ninth to wrap it up.
The Spartans return to Big Ten action beginning Friday with a 3 p.m. contest against Purdue in West Lafayette. Both teams will then battle in a doubleheader Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. while the final contest of the four-game series gets underway Sunday at 1 p.m.
