Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State University
19-16
Central Michigan
25-12
Spartans Fall to Central Michigan at Comerica Park
4/15/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
EAST LANSING, Mich.- The Michigan State baseball team fell to Central Michigan, 8-7 on Wednesday night at Comerica Park in the fifth annual Clash at Comerica. The Spartans led 7-0 heading into the eighth inning, but the Chippewas scored two in the eighth and six in the ninth to comeback and win their sixth straight game. MSU drops to 19-16 on the year while Central Michigan improves to 25-12.
"It is great coming here and a dream to play in Comerica Park," said Blaise Salter. "It is tough knowing this is my last game playing here and the way it ended is going to sit pretty heavy in my stomach. Hopefully we can use this as motivation going into this weekend. It is just a tough way to end a great last two days here. It would have been nice to come out with two W's, but we just didn't finish the game tonight."
The Spartans scored at least a run in each of the first five innings, racing out to a 6-0 lead and eventually extending the lead to seven.
It wasn't until the eighth inning that Central Michigan got on the board, capitalizing on three straight walks that loaded the bases with one out. In the ninth, the Chippewas loaded the bases again courtesy of a leadoff double and two walks and went to work, eventually cutting the deficit to one after a bases-loaded walk. A Daniel Jipping sac fly to center tied the game and advanced the winning runner to third before Morgan Oliver delivered the game-winning single.
Freshman Keegan Baar made his first career start, going 5.1 innings, allowing just three hits and no runs while striking out four.
Jeff Kinley took the loss and is now 2-1 on the year.
Salter gave MSU a 1-0 lead with sacrifice fly in the top of the first and the Spartans added a run in the following inning when Alex Troop scored on an error.
Troop pushed the Spartan lead to 4-0 in the top of the third with a two-out, two-RBI double. With Salter and Ryan Richardson both in scoring position via walks and a balk, Troop belted a double into the corner in right field, plating both runners.
The Spartans continued to tack on runs in the fourth and fifth innings with RBI singles by Salter and Dan Durkin, respectively, pushing the MSU advantage to 6-0.
Five different Spartans had multiple hits in the game, led by Troop and Salter who each recorded two RBIs.
Baar got out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the second by striking out leadoff hitter Alex Borglin.
The Spartans added their seventh and final run in the eighth on an RBI single to right by Richardson that scored Mark Weist.
The Spartans return to action this weekend when they travel to New Jersey to take on Rutgers. Game one of the series will take place on Friday at 3 p.m.
"I am not happy," said head coach Jake Boss Jr. "I want to get out and compete right now, but I don't get to play. The onus is on our guys. I will do everything in my power to make sure that we are ready to play come Friday, because what happened tonight is unacceptable."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: BLACK, Tim (3-1)
L: Kinley, Jeff (2-1)
Batting:
2B: Weist, Mark 1 ; Troop, Alex 1
RBI: Weist, Mark 1 ; Salter, Blaise 2 ; Richardson, Ryan 1 ; Troop, Alex 2 ; Durkin, Dan 1
SF: Salter, Blaise 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Gibson, Cam 1 ; Weist, Mark 2 ; Salter, Blaise 1 ; Richardson, Ryan 1 ; Hughes, Brandon 1 ; Troop, Alex 1
SB: Weist, Mark 1
HBP: Weist, Mark 1 ; Salter, Blaise 1 ; Richardson, Ryan 1
Batting:
2B: OLIVER, Morgan 1
RBI: MacKENZIE, Pat 1 ; GREENMAN, Robert 2 ; REGNIER, Nick 1 ; HOULIHAN, Joe 1 ; JIPPING, Daniel 1 ; OLIVER, Morgan 1
SH: BORGLIN, Alex 1
SF: REGNIER, Nick 1 ; JIPPING, Daniel 1
Base Running:
RUNS: BORGLIN, Alex 1 ; MacKENZIE, Pat 1 ; HUNTEY, Tyler 1 ; GREENMAN, Robert 1 ; REGNIER, Logan 1 ; REGNIER, Nick 1 ; OLIVER, Morgan 1 ; McKINSTRY, Zach 1
HBP: REGNIER, Logan 1 ; HOULIHAN, Joe 1
