Spartans Comeback Falls Short vs. Furman

Saturday, March 14

Greenville, S.C.

3:00 PM

Michigan State University

7-8

Furman

8-8

Furman

Michigan State

3/14/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

March 14, 2015

Box Score

GREENVILLE, S.C. - The Michigan State baseball team lost 11-9 to Furman (8-8) on Saturday afternoon at Floor Field and is now 7-8 on the year. A 10-run third inning from the Paladins allowed Furman to open up an 11-1 lead over MSU, but the Spartans managed to come all the way back and bring the potential tying run to the plate in the ninth.

Furman jumped out to its big lead in an inning that saw 16 hitters step up to the plate, 10 of which came across to score. MSU locked down the Paladins from there on out, giving up just two hits for the remaining six innings, outscoring Furman 8-0.

MSU put its biggest dent into the lead in the bottom half of the fourth, sending nine hitters to plate and scoring five runs. Freshman Brandon Hughes got the rally started with a solo home run to right field, his first career dinger in the Green and White. A Ryan Krill single followed by walks from Johhny Nate and Anthony Cheky loaded the bases with one out. Junior Cam Gibson was hit by a pitch that scored a run and Ryan Richardson hit a sac fly before the inning was capped off by a Mark Weist two-RBI double down the left field line that closed the gap to three.

Blaise Salter hit his second home run of the week over the Green Monster in the second inning and leads the team with three on the season.

MSU had a balanced offensive attack, as seven different Spartans scored in the contest and six players recorded RBIs. The first three hitters in the Michigan State lineup (Gibson, Richardson, Weist) all knocked in two runs, while Richardson led the team going 3-for-4 from the plate.

Mick VanVossen took the loss and is now 1-3 on the season. Redshirt freshman Dakota Mekkes had his longest outing of the season, going 3.2 innings, allowing one run on three hits. Walter Borkovich added three scoreless innings in relief.

Trailing 11-9 in the ninth, Weist singled with two outs before Elliot Warford ended the game to earn his first save of the season.

Michigan State closes out its spring break trip tomorrow with a doubleheader vs. Connecticut at 11 a.m. and USC Upstate at 3 p.m.