Saturday, March 6
Fluor Field | Greenville, S.C.
4:30 PM ET
Michigan State University
2-0, 2-0
7
vs
4
Maryland
0-2, 0-2
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Maryland
0
0
0
2
1
0
1
4
7
3
Michigan State
3
0
1
0
2
1
X
7
7
0
Photo by: Jeremy Fleming
Spartans Sweep Saturday Twinbill With Terrapins
3/6/2021 11:59:00 PM | Baseball
Michigan State jumps out early in game one for 7-4 win, rallies from 4-0 deficit in 5-4 Victory for MSU.
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Michigan State baseball swept a doubleheader with Maryland Saturday, jumping out early in game one for a 7-4 win, then rallying from a 4-0 deficit in a 5-4 Victory for MSU in the nightcap, Saturday at Fluor Field in Greenville, South Carolina.
The Spartans improved to 3-0 in winning the season-opener series with the Terrapins. It is MSU's first 3-0 start to Big Ten action since 2017, when Michigan State opened with a three wins at Illinois. The Spartans will be going for the four-game sweep in the series finale on Sunday, with first pitch slated for 1:30 p.m., following the final game of the four-game Ohio State vs. Illinois series in the Greenville Pod, which starts at 10 a.m.
In the opener, MSU plated three runs in the first inning, and added another in the third for a 4-0 lead, before Maryland scored two in the top of the fourth and one in the fifth to pull within, 4-3, but the Spartans added two runs of their own in the home half of the fifth and tacked on a run in the sixth, in the seven-inning contest.
Putting the night in nightcap, game two started at 8:25 p.m., nearly an hour past original start time due to the Ohio State and Illinois games going long. This time it was the Terps that scored three runs in an early inning, scoring three in the second despite a hit, taking advantage of an MSU error. Maryland added a run in the fourth for a 4-0 lead. The Spartan bats came to life in the sixth, starting a rally that generated a run, before batting around in the seventh, scoring four runs and taking the 5-4 lead that they hung on to secure the win, getting a key play from sophomore outfielder Zaid Walker, as part of several standout Spartans on the day, including redshirt-sophomore relief pitcher Will Christophersen, who came on in relief and went 5.0 innings, chalking up seven strikeouts and only yielding two hits, while keeping the Terps scoreless.
"I'm really proud of our guys, it's a good day of baseball for Michigan State," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. "Maryland is a really, really good ballclub and they're going to win a lot of games this year. Their starting pitching is outstanding, and they've got big arms out of their bullpen."
Boss was more than pleased with how his team won two games by two different ways, leading early in the opener, and rallying for the come-from-behind victory in the nightcap.
"In game one, we got on the board early and then kind of felt like we held them off there at the end. I thought Mason Erla really competed well, and Zach Iverson came in and get the last out, which was big for us," Boss said. "At the plate, Zaid Walker with a big day, and really came up in some big spots and came through for us with three RBI. We had a pretty balanced attack and stayed pretty consistent scoring in four of the six innings that we hit, and took advantage of some opportunities, and the aggressive style of our guys I think really paid dividends today."
While the opening game of the doubleheader was just like Friday night's series opener as the Spartans struck first with multiple runs in the home half of the opening frame, with two Friday and three on Saturday, the night cap was a different story. Nevertheless, Boss was also impressed with his team for coming back.
"I think they showed a lot of character, getting down 4-0 and really not playing well, but then started chipping away and got one of the six and the ball started kind of rolling for us in the seventh," Boss said. "We got a couple breaks and took advantage of a couple of hit-by-pitches and a walk here and there, along with a couple big swings. Casey Mayes led it off with a double, which was a big at bat, and kind of got us going, and we were able to bat around in the inning."
Mayes led off by lacing a double just inside the bag at third and down the line. Two batters later, sophomore outfielder Peter Ahn oppositely mirrored Mayes with a double just past first and down the line, plating Mayes and sophomore infielder Reese Trahey who reached on an hit-by-pitch. Later in the inning, with two outs, Walker narrowly beat out an infield single to keep the rally going and drove in the winning run.
"We preach that kind of aggressive style and playing hard, and Zaid Walker beats a ground ball in the infield for a base hit that turned into the winning run," Boss said.
While the Spartan offense got going, the Terps offense was stymied by Christophersen,
I can't say enough about the job William Cristophersen did," Boss said. "I thought Adam Berghorst was quite good, albeit the second inning, but I think he's just going to continue to get better and better and better the more he pitches. And then Will came in and really did a heck of a job, with just two hits in five innings with seven strikeouts, he struggled just a little bit early and then really settled in and was outstanding."
In the top of the ninth, the Spartans brought Iverson in from third for the third time in as many games, to close out the contest and that's what he did, getting a strikeout to end the game.
"To have Zach in there to get that last out is great. He's a mature player who's been around a lot and he doesn't shy away from the big moment," Boss said. "It was just a good day for the day for Spartan baseball."
MSU and Maryland wrap up the four-game opening weekend series on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
While no fans are allowed besides families, fans can follow all the action from Fluor Field on Big Ten Network+ and live stats, with both links available at MSUSpartans.com.
The Spartans improved to 3-0 in winning the season-opener series with the Terrapins. It is MSU's first 3-0 start to Big Ten action since 2017, when Michigan State opened with a three wins at Illinois. The Spartans will be going for the four-game sweep in the series finale on Sunday, with first pitch slated for 1:30 p.m., following the final game of the four-game Ohio State vs. Illinois series in the Greenville Pod, which starts at 10 a.m.
In the opener, MSU plated three runs in the first inning, and added another in the third for a 4-0 lead, before Maryland scored two in the top of the fourth and one in the fifth to pull within, 4-3, but the Spartans added two runs of their own in the home half of the fifth and tacked on a run in the sixth, in the seven-inning contest.
Putting the night in nightcap, game two started at 8:25 p.m., nearly an hour past original start time due to the Ohio State and Illinois games going long. This time it was the Terps that scored three runs in an early inning, scoring three in the second despite a hit, taking advantage of an MSU error. Maryland added a run in the fourth for a 4-0 lead. The Spartan bats came to life in the sixth, starting a rally that generated a run, before batting around in the seventh, scoring four runs and taking the 5-4 lead that they hung on to secure the win, getting a key play from sophomore outfielder Zaid Walker, as part of several standout Spartans on the day, including redshirt-sophomore relief pitcher Will Christophersen, who came on in relief and went 5.0 innings, chalking up seven strikeouts and only yielding two hits, while keeping the Terps scoreless.
"I'm really proud of our guys, it's a good day of baseball for Michigan State," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. "Maryland is a really, really good ballclub and they're going to win a lot of games this year. Their starting pitching is outstanding, and they've got big arms out of their bullpen."
Boss was more than pleased with how his team won two games by two different ways, leading early in the opener, and rallying for the come-from-behind victory in the nightcap.
"In game one, we got on the board early and then kind of felt like we held them off there at the end. I thought Mason Erla really competed well, and Zach Iverson came in and get the last out, which was big for us," Boss said. "At the plate, Zaid Walker with a big day, and really came up in some big spots and came through for us with three RBI. We had a pretty balanced attack and stayed pretty consistent scoring in four of the six innings that we hit, and took advantage of some opportunities, and the aggressive style of our guys I think really paid dividends today."
While the opening game of the doubleheader was just like Friday night's series opener as the Spartans struck first with multiple runs in the home half of the opening frame, with two Friday and three on Saturday, the night cap was a different story. Nevertheless, Boss was also impressed with his team for coming back.
"I think they showed a lot of character, getting down 4-0 and really not playing well, but then started chipping away and got one of the six and the ball started kind of rolling for us in the seventh," Boss said. "We got a couple breaks and took advantage of a couple of hit-by-pitches and a walk here and there, along with a couple big swings. Casey Mayes led it off with a double, which was a big at bat, and kind of got us going, and we were able to bat around in the inning."
Mayes led off by lacing a double just inside the bag at third and down the line. Two batters later, sophomore outfielder Peter Ahn oppositely mirrored Mayes with a double just past first and down the line, plating Mayes and sophomore infielder Reese Trahey who reached on an hit-by-pitch. Later in the inning, with two outs, Walker narrowly beat out an infield single to keep the rally going and drove in the winning run.
"We preach that kind of aggressive style and playing hard, and Zaid Walker beats a ground ball in the infield for a base hit that turned into the winning run," Boss said.
While the Spartan offense got going, the Terps offense was stymied by Christophersen,
I can't say enough about the job William Cristophersen did," Boss said. "I thought Adam Berghorst was quite good, albeit the second inning, but I think he's just going to continue to get better and better and better the more he pitches. And then Will came in and really did a heck of a job, with just two hits in five innings with seven strikeouts, he struggled just a little bit early and then really settled in and was outstanding."
In the top of the ninth, the Spartans brought Iverson in from third for the third time in as many games, to close out the contest and that's what he did, getting a strikeout to end the game.
"To have Zach in there to get that last out is great. He's a mature player who's been around a lot and he doesn't shy away from the big moment," Boss said. "It was just a good day for the day for Spartan baseball."
MSU and Maryland wrap up the four-game opening weekend series on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
While no fans are allowed besides families, fans can follow all the action from Fluor Field on Big Ten Network+ and live stats, with both links available at MSUSpartans.com.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Erla, Mason (1-0)
L: Fisher, Sean (0-1)
S: Iverson, Zach (1)
Batting:
2B: Flint, Tucker 1
3B: Shliger, Luke 1
HR: Cowles, Benjamin 1
RBI: Alleyne, Chris 1 ; Costes, Maxwell 1 ; Cowles, Benjamin 1
SF: Alleyne, Chris 1 ; Costes, Maxwell 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Shaw, Matthew 1 ; Bednar, Randy 1 ; Shliger, Luke 1 ; Cowles, Benjamin 1
HBP: Cowles, Benjamin 1
Batting:
2B: Stewart, Joe 1
RBI: Peterson, Bailey 1 ; Walker, Zaid 3 ; Stewart, Joe 1
SH: Ahn, Peter 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jebb, Mitch 1 ; Kelley, Bryce 2 ; Peterson, Bailey 2 ; Walker, Zaid 2
SB: Kelley, Bryce 2 ; Peterson, Bailey 1 ; Stewart, Joe 1
CS: Iverson, Zach 1
HBP: Trahey, Reese 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
2
H
3
RBI
3
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF/OF/RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
OF
/ BaseballOF
/ BaseballPursuit to Greatness | Spartans All-Access
Monday, May 19
Jake Boss | Baseball Press Conference | April 17, 2025
Thursday, April 17
Jake Boss | Baseball Press Conference | Mar. 25 2025
Tuesday, March 25
Jake Boss | Baseball Press Conference | Mar. 11 2025
Tuesday, March 11