Michigan State University
23-17, 7-8
Northwestern
17-25, 6-9
Spartans Tame Wildcats, 13-5, Saturday To Win Series
4/29/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Michigan State baseball used a six-run fifth inning to boost the Spartans to a 13-5 win over the Wildcats of Northwestern Saturday afternoon at a cold and rainy Miller Park, playing the last few innings under cold, windy and rainy conditions. Saturday's game was the series finale after playing a doubleheader Friday, adjusting the weekend schedule due to inclement weather in the Chicago area for Saturday afternoon and Sunday.
Despite the cold and wet conditions, MSU scorched the base paths, swiping 11 stolen bases, the most in a game since at least 2006, and the most by a Big Ten team this season and the third-most in the NCAA. The sophomore trio of shortstop Royce Ando, right fielder Dan Chmielewski and third baseman Marty Bechina, who were the 6-7-8 hitters in the Spartan lineup, all had career-high three stolen bases each. Junior center fielder Brandon Hughes and freshman left fielder Bryce Kelley had one each.
With Hughes' stolen base, he now has 21 stolen bases this season, moving into the MSU top 10 single-season list, tying for ninth with Spartan great Kirk Gibson in 1978 and Joe Gavel 1969.
Michigan State's 13 runs Saturday marks the Spartans' 12th game this season with double-digit runs, the most in season since 2012 when they also had 12 games with 10+ runs. Saturday was the Spartans' second double-digit outing of the week after 11 runs in 11-1 win over Toledo on Wednesday. MSU rapped out 14 hits Saturday, including four extra-base hits.
"It was a good day for the Spartans. It was a tough day to play, obviously with the cold and rain, but I thought our guys really handled themselves very well with the conditions. We had some big RBIs and some big at bats in big spots. I thought Ethan Landon threw really, really well," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr., said.
With the win, the Spartans improved to 23-17 overall and 7-8 in Big Ten action, while the Wildcats are 17-25 overall and 6-9 in B1G action. This weekend was Michigan State's first visit to Evanston since 2010 and the Spartans have now won the last four series against the Wildcats as well as winning four of the last five as part of 11 of the last 14 overall match-ups with NU.
"It's series win and gives us the tiebreaker over Northwestern," Boss said. "I told our guys after the game that it was a 3-1 week for us and if you go 3-1 every week, you're going to rack up a lot of wins."
Saturday's win helped MSU bounce back after getting nipped by Northwestern, 3-2, in Friday's nightcap.
"Our guys come to play every game, they do a good job of separating one game from the next. We had a couple chances early but couldn't capitalize and had the chance to go in the tank there, but they just kept plugging away," Boss said.
After a scoreless first two innings, the Spartans got on the board first in the third frame, before the Wildcats tied it in the bottom of the inning. MSU then blew the game open with a six-run fifth frame, getting big hits from Ando and senior catcher Matt Byars. Ando was 4-for-5 with two RBI and a pair of runs scored to go with the three stolen bases. Byars was 3-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored.
"Royce got a big at bat with a two-run single up the middle in a big spot for us in the fifth. He hit the ball hard all day," Boss said. "Matt Byars also had a big hit with the two-run base hit to left in the third and we were able to kind of sit back and relax at that point, because we were starting to press a little bit there, but that helped us relax and settle in."
In addition to Ando and Byars, Hughes and Kelley joined them in the multi hit category, as Hughes was 3-for-6 with three runs scored and one RBI, while Kelley was 2-for-5 with two runs score and one RBI. Kelley and Hughes had back-to-back doubles in the fifth inning to spark the Spartans big inning.
On the mound, junior right-hander Ethan Landon came on in relief of junior starter Andrew Gonzalez in the fourth. After Gonzalez went 3.0 innings with just one hit and one earned run, Landon fired 5.0 innings, chalking up five strikeouts, his second-highest outing of the season. Sophomore Riley McCauley pitched the ninth, striking out the side to secure the victory for MSU.
Michigan State was the first team on the scoreboard for the first time in the series, plating two runs in the top of the third. Kelley started the rally with a walk and stole second. Hughes singled to move Kelley up to third, and Hughes later swiped second himself. Two batters later, Byars roped a single to left to plate Kelley and Hughes for a 2-0 lead.
The Spartan lead was short-lived for the time being as Northwestern scored two runs of their own in the home half of the frame. The Wildcats took advantage of two batters getting hit by pitch and a passed ball, then an RBI groundout and an RBI single to even the score at 2-all.
That remained the score until the fifth when again Kelley and Hughes were the key cogs in starting the rally, with consecutive doubles. Senior second baseman Dan Durkin then walked to load the bases, then just like in the third inning, Byars laced a single to score Kelley. Chmielewski was later hit by a pitch for an RBI to plate Hughes, then Ando singled up the middle for a two RBI. Bechina followed with a two-run single of his own to cap the Spartans' six-running inning.
After Northwestern got a run back in the sixth, Michigan State added three more runs in the top of the seventh, stringing together two hits while swiping five stolen bases in the frame alone and capitalizing on two Wildcat wild pitches to open an 11-3 lead.
MSU sandwiched a run in each of the top of the eighth and ninth around two NU runs in the bottom of the eighth on a two-run home run by Leo Kaplan. The Spartans' eighth inning run came on a Hughes home run, while the ninth-inning run was scored by Bechina on an RBI single from Kelley to cap the scoring.
Michigan State does not have a midweek game next week due to Finals Week for the students, before resuming action hosting Iowa in a three-game weekend series on Friday-Sunday, May 5-7 at McLane Stadium at Kobs Field.
Fans should stay tuned to www.MSUSpartans.com or follow MSU Baseball on twitter at statebaseball for any schedule and location updates.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Landon, Ethan (3-1)
L: Gannon, Matt (0-3)
Batting:
2B: Kelley, Bryce 1 ; Hughes, Brandon 1 ; Byars, Matt 1
HR: Hughes, Brandon 1
RBI: Kelley, Bryce 1 ; Hughes, Brandon 1 ; Byars, Matt 3 ; Chmielewski, Dan 1 ; Ando, Royce 2 ; Bechina, Marty 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Kelley, Bryce 2 ; Hughes, Brandon 3 ; Durkin, Dan 1 ; Byars, Matt 2 ; Chmielewski, Dan 2 ; Ando, Royce 2 ; Bechina, Marty 1
SB: Kelley, Bryce 1 ; Hughes, Brandon 1 ; Chmielewski, Dan 3 ; Ando, Royce 3 ; Bechina, Marty 3
HBP: Roskelly, Chad 1 ; Chmielewski, Dan 1
Batting:
HR: Kaplan, Leo 1
RBI: Dunn, Jack 1 ; Hoscheit, Joe 1 ; Kaplan, Leo 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Paciorek, Nick 1 ; Bourbon, Willie 1 ; Kaplan, Leo 1 ; Lind, Connor 1 ; Schieber, Jake 1
SB: Claeys, Jack 1
CS: Kaplan, Leo 1
HBP: Hoscheit, Joe 1 ; Lind, Connor 1 ; Schieber, Jake 1
