Michigan State University
20-0-5, 4-0
Penn State
17-0-13, 4-3
Spartans Shut Out Penn State, 7-0
4/8/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
The Michigan State baseball team improved to 20-5 on the season and 4-0 in the Big Ten with a 7-0 victory over Penn State on Friday night in University Park, Pa. The Spartans outhit the Nittany Lions 15-6 on a night that saw every player in the MSU lineup register a hit.
"I thought our guys did a really nice job," said head coach Jake Boss Jr. "They were locked in really all night long. We just kept plugging away all day. It's going to take every guy from one through nine. We executed with some situational hitting and some sac flies in some big situations, so it was a good day all around."
Starter Cam Vieaux earned the win to improve to 5-1 on the season. The lefty had another dominating performance, holding Penn State to no runs and five hits with six strikeouts in seven innings.
"Cam settled in and that what a Friday night guy needs to do," said Boss. "He was very efficient for us. He got deep in the game and really was in control the whole way."
Dakota Mekkes and Joe Mockbee pitched in relief, combining to strike out five to preserver the shutout - MSU's fourth of the season.
Jordan Zimmerman wasted no time extending his hitting streak to 18 games with a single in the first. He came around to score later in the inning on a Brandon Hughes single that gave MSU an early 1-0 lead.
Penn State hit back-to-back singles to start the game, but Vieaux got out of the inning, starting a stretch of sending down 18 of the next 19 Nittany Lion batters. It wasn't until the seventh that PSU would get to Vieaux by loading the bases, but the redshirt junior got a strikeout to get out of the jam and preserve his scoreless evening.
"Cam really settled in," said Boss. "He got a couple of big strikeouts when we needed them. We got a great play by Zimmerman in the first to get out of that inning to squelch that opportunity that they had."
The Spartans tacked on two more in the third on a Taylor Grace single up the middle that scored Hughes and Dan Durkin.
An RBI single from Durkin in the fourth followed by a sac fly from Justin Hovis in the fifth extended the lead to 5-0.
Zimmerman hit a sac fly in the eighth that scored Marty Bechina for his team-leading 18th RBI of the season. A Justin Hovis triple followed by a wild pitch in the ninth would bring the game to its final, 7-0.
Brandon Hughes and Kris Simonton led the Spartans with three hits each.
The 4-0 start in Big Ten play is the best for the Spartans since 2004.
Game two of the series that was originally scheduled for Saturday has been moved to Sunday where the Spartans will wrap up the series with a doubleheader starting at 11 a.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Vieaux, Cam (5-1)
L: Lehman (1-6)
Batting:
2B: Hughes, Brandon 1
3B: Hovis, Justin 1
RBI: Zimmerman, Jordan 1 ; Durkin, Dan 1 ; Hughes, Brandon 1 ; Grace, Taylor 2 ; Hovis, Justin 1
SH: Durkin, Dan 1
SF: Zimmerman, Jordan 1 ; Hovis, Justin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bechina, Marty 1 ; Zimmerman, Jordan 1 ; Durkin, Dan 1 ; Hughes, Brandon 2 ; Hovis, Justin 1 ; Young, Kory 1
SB: Bechina, Marty 1 ; Simonton, Kris 1
CS: Hughes, Brandon 1
Batting:
2B: Bowersox 1
SH: Haley 1
Base Running:
SB: Guers 1 ; Kendall 1
