Michigan State University
6-13
Central Michigan
5-15-1
MSU Clipped By CMU, 3-1, Wednesday
3/21/2018 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan State baseball had a no-hitter going for six-and-two-thirds innings against Central Michigan, but the visiting Chippewas broke through with two late hits, one a two-run single, and MSU was clipped by CMU, 3-1, Wednesday afternoon at a chilly McLane Stadium at Kobs Field.
The Spartans slid to 6-13 on the season, while the Chips improved to 5-15-1. Wednesday's loss snapped a two-game win streak for MSU in the series with CMU, but the Spartans have won five of the last seven meetings, while the Chips now lead the all-time series, 68-62.
Michigan State's pitching didn't allow a CMU hit until the seventh inning, however the Spartans gave up 10 walks on the day, which the Chips capitalized on. Central Michigan scored a run in the fifth on a wild pitch and then two runs on a two-RBI single by Evan Kratt in the seventh. Michigan State had nine hits in the ballgame, but left 10 runners on base.
"It's disappointing, we had plenty of chances offensively and couldn't take advantage of those. We had some bad at bats in some big spots in the game, it's something that we've been talking about since September and unfortunately, it came back to haunt us again today," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. "We pitched it well enough, but when you walk 10 guys and hit one, if you're not going to hit it's probably not fair, but I have to ask those guys to be a little bit more clean on the mound. All the way around I think we need to be better on the pitching side of it, offensively, defensively, the whole deal."
The Spartans scored their lone run in the fourth inning on an RBI sacrifice squeeze bunt by freshman shortstop Ryan King, plating sophomore outfielder Justin Antoncic, who sparked the rally with a bunt of his own for a base hit. MSU's nine hits on the day were led by senior first baseman Zack McGuire going 3-for-4, while Antoncic was 2-for-4, adding a triple in the eighth to go with his bunt single. Junior catcher Nic Lacayo was also 2-for-4, while senior designated hitter Chad Roskelly was 1-for-1 and junior third baseman Marty Bechina was 1-for-3 with a double in the fifth.
"We have to continue to have good approaches," Boss said. "I think the approaches were good, we have plenty of base runners and then we get into a big spot and we're not able to slow the game down and that's going to be a problem. We have to be able to transfer the approach from one situation to the next and really separate each at bat like there is nobody on base its just one-on-one out there, pitcher versus the hitter, and none of the external factors really should matter."
The Spartans tried to generate something in the third inning with Roskelly leading off with a walk. After a sacrifice bunt by fellow senior, second baseman Kory Young moved Roskelly to second, he rounded the bag and saw an opening at third and tried to advance, but was thrown out by a sliver in a bang-bang play.
"Well, we're going to be aggressive, that's something we kind of talk about with our guys, especially if we're not scoring runs or swinging the bats like we feel like were capable of doing. You've got to try to create something somewhere, somewhere and somehow, and so he saw an opportunity," Boss said. "It's just an unfortunate thing (that he wasn't safe), but I appreciate him trying to make a play; I'd rather have guys being aggressive and trying to make something happen rather than sitting back and letting the game kind of dictate things."
Senior pitcher Andrew Gonzalez held the Chips hitless in 5.0 IP, striking out six, but allowing one run while walking seven. Freshman reliever Jesse Heikkinen also had a hitless outing, coming on in the sixth and set the Chips down in order, striking out one, before yielding a hit-by-pitch and walk, giving way to senior reliever Jake Lowery. After a sac bunt moved the runners up a base, Lowery got a strikeout before allowing the first hit of the game to CMU on Kratt's two-run single to right. That would be the only hit off Lowery in his 2.0 innings of work, ringing up three strikeouts, while walking two. Freshman Zach Iverson pitched the ninth, giving up a leadoff single, but then wiping that out with a double-play and then a flyout.
Michigan State will tangle with its second in-state foe of the week and kick off Big Ten Conference play, taking on Michigan in split home-away series to open league play. MSU will play at Ann Arbor on Friday, March 23 at 4 p.m., before returning home to host the Wolverines on Saturday, March 24 at 1:05 p.m. at McLane Stadium at Kobs Field, before returning to Ann Arbor for the series finale on Sunday, March 25 at 1 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: COLLINS, Jack (1-1)
L: Heikkinen, Jesse (0-1)
S: REED, Brandon (1)
Batting:
RBI: KRATT, Evan 2
SH: CRUM, Jacob 1
Base Running:
RUNS: ADAMS, Reed 1 ; PATTY, Jordan 1 ; ROBINSON, Daniel 1
SB: CRUM, Jacob 1 ; PATTY, Jordan 1
HBP: PATTY, Jordan 1
Batting:
2B: Bechina, Marty 1
3B: Antoncic, Justin 1
RBI: King, Ryan 1
SH: King, Ryan 1 ; Young, Kory 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Antoncic, Justin 1
SB: Antoncic, Justin 1
HBP: Roskelly, Chad 1
