Friday, April 16
Champaign, Ill.
7 PM ET / 6 PM CT
Michigan State University
11-12, 0
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13
Illinois
9-12, 0
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4
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6
7
8
9
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Michigan State
2
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
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7
1
Illinois
1
0
0
1
5
2
1
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X
13
16
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Photo by: Jeremy Fleming
MSU Defeated By Illinois Friday In Weekend Opener
4/16/2021 11:03:00 PM | Baseball
Walker goes 2-for-4 with three RBI.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Michigan State baseball was defeated by Illinois Friday night in the weekend opener of the Champaign Pod at Illinois Field, by a 13-4 final.
MSU scored early, but was overtaken by Illinois in the middle innings and the Illini pulled away. Michigan State and Illinois return to the diamond Saturday, as the Spartans will play a split doubleheader, taking on the Illini at 2 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. CT, then Purdue at 6 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. CT.
The Spartans slid to 11-12 with the loss, while the Illini move to 9-12. Friday was the third of four regular-season meetings between MSU and Illinois, with the Illini now leading the series meetings, 2-1, after MSU won the first, 11-0 on March 20 in the Ann Arbor Pod, before Illinois bounced back the next day to win, 7-3.
MSU's bats were hot in the early going, before being cooled off by the Illinois pitching later in the game. The Spartans had six hits through the first two innings, but just one from the fourth inning on.
"It was a tough night for us. We got out to a good start, we swung the bat well, had some really good at bats in the first couple innings and even had some chances there in the third and fourth inning, but it kind of got away from us when we went to the pen," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. "Credit Illinois, they didn't swing and miss a whole lot, and didn't really expand the zone very much. They swung at a lot of strikes, and we walked them eight times, and only struck them out three times so that's a good offensive approach for those guys. Unfortunately we didn't execute well enough on the mound, or at the plate after a good start. The bats kind of went silent there."
Sophomore outfielder Zaid Walker was 2-for-4 with three RBI, with both hits and all three RBI coming in the first two innings. The senior duo of outfielder Joe Stewart and infielder Bailey Peterson were also both 2-for-4, with each scoring a run. Senior outfielder Bryce Kelley was 1-for-3 with two runs scored and drawing a walk, while freshman infielder Mitch Jebb had an RBI, driving in a run while reaching on an Illinois error in the first inning.
"Zaid had a good night, with a couple of really good at bats in the first two innings, to drive a couple runs in," Boss said. "But it seemed like after the fourth inning, we just went really quietly, and got just one hit in the last six innings, and that's not going to get it done."
Illinois relief pitcher Cole Kirschsieper came on in the fourth inning, and after yielding a leadoff single to Peterson in the fourth, retired the next 18 Spartans in a row.Â
Michigan State got on the board quickly with a run in the top of the first frame on three-straight singles, as Kelley started the rally with an infield single, followed by a single by Stewart. Walker then followed in joining the single parade, knocking it up the middle to plate Kelley. Jebb was up next and he reached on an Illinois error and driving in Stewart for a 2-0 Spartan lead.
After the Illini cut the Spartan advantage in half with a run in the home half of the first, Michigan State added to its lead in the top of the second. Senior infielder Bailey Peterson ignited the rally with a single and Kelley later walked, then Stewart reached on an infield single to fill the bases full of Spartans. Walker followed with his second RBI single in as many innings, driving in Peterson and Kelley to put MSU ahead, 4-1.
Illinois got a run back in the fourth inning to trim the Michigan State lead to 4-2, then plated five runs in the fifth on four hits, for a 7-4 lead. The home team added two more in the sixth, one in the seventh and three in the eighth. On the night, Illinois scored on five sacrifice flies.
After Saturday's split doubleheader, MSU wraps up the weekend on Sunday against Purdue at 1 p.m. ET/12 p.m. CT. The weekend schedule is subject to change.
Along with any schedule updates, fans can follow the games with links for live stats, live audio (when available) and live streaming from Big Ten Network+ at MSUSpartans.com.
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MSU scored early, but was overtaken by Illinois in the middle innings and the Illini pulled away. Michigan State and Illinois return to the diamond Saturday, as the Spartans will play a split doubleheader, taking on the Illini at 2 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. CT, then Purdue at 6 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. CT.
The Spartans slid to 11-12 with the loss, while the Illini move to 9-12. Friday was the third of four regular-season meetings between MSU and Illinois, with the Illini now leading the series meetings, 2-1, after MSU won the first, 11-0 on March 20 in the Ann Arbor Pod, before Illinois bounced back the next day to win, 7-3.
MSU's bats were hot in the early going, before being cooled off by the Illinois pitching later in the game. The Spartans had six hits through the first two innings, but just one from the fourth inning on.
"It was a tough night for us. We got out to a good start, we swung the bat well, had some really good at bats in the first couple innings and even had some chances there in the third and fourth inning, but it kind of got away from us when we went to the pen," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. "Credit Illinois, they didn't swing and miss a whole lot, and didn't really expand the zone very much. They swung at a lot of strikes, and we walked them eight times, and only struck them out three times so that's a good offensive approach for those guys. Unfortunately we didn't execute well enough on the mound, or at the plate after a good start. The bats kind of went silent there."
Sophomore outfielder Zaid Walker was 2-for-4 with three RBI, with both hits and all three RBI coming in the first two innings. The senior duo of outfielder Joe Stewart and infielder Bailey Peterson were also both 2-for-4, with each scoring a run. Senior outfielder Bryce Kelley was 1-for-3 with two runs scored and drawing a walk, while freshman infielder Mitch Jebb had an RBI, driving in a run while reaching on an Illinois error in the first inning.
"Zaid had a good night, with a couple of really good at bats in the first two innings, to drive a couple runs in," Boss said. "But it seemed like after the fourth inning, we just went really quietly, and got just one hit in the last six innings, and that's not going to get it done."
Illinois relief pitcher Cole Kirschsieper came on in the fourth inning, and after yielding a leadoff single to Peterson in the fourth, retired the next 18 Spartans in a row.Â
Michigan State got on the board quickly with a run in the top of the first frame on three-straight singles, as Kelley started the rally with an infield single, followed by a single by Stewart. Walker then followed in joining the single parade, knocking it up the middle to plate Kelley. Jebb was up next and he reached on an Illinois error and driving in Stewart for a 2-0 Spartan lead.
After the Illini cut the Spartan advantage in half with a run in the home half of the first, Michigan State added to its lead in the top of the second. Senior infielder Bailey Peterson ignited the rally with a single and Kelley later walked, then Stewart reached on an infield single to fill the bases full of Spartans. Walker followed with his second RBI single in as many innings, driving in Peterson and Kelley to put MSU ahead, 4-1.
Illinois got a run back in the fourth inning to trim the Michigan State lead to 4-2, then plated five runs in the fifth on four hits, for a 7-4 lead. The home team added two more in the sixth, one in the seventh and three in the eighth. On the night, Illinois scored on five sacrifice flies.
After Saturday's split doubleheader, MSU wraps up the weekend on Sunday against Purdue at 1 p.m. ET/12 p.m. CT. The weekend schedule is subject to change.
Along with any schedule updates, fans can follow the games with links for live stats, live audio (when available) and live streaming from Big Ten Network+ at MSUSpartans.com.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Kirschsieper,Cole (2-3)
L: Rush, Wyatt (1-1)
Batting:
RBI: Walker, Zaid 3 ; Jebb, Mitch 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kelley, Bryce 2 ; Stewart, Joe 1 ; Peterson, Bailey 1
Batting:
2B: Jackson,Taylor 1 ; Raper,Jackson 1 ; Hampe,Ryan 1 ; McDonald,Cam 1 ; Sarver,Kellen 1
RBI: Raper,Jackson 1 ; Comia,Branden 2 ; Janas,Justin 1 ; Hampe,Ryan 4 ; McDonald,Cam 1 ; Sarver,Kellen 1 ; Campbell,Jacob 1 ; Jurack,Tom 1
SF: Raper,Jackson 1 ; Comia,Branden 1 ; Hampe,Ryan 1 ; Sarver,Kellen 1 ; Campbell,Jacob 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jackson,Taylor 2 ; Raper,Jackson 3 ; Comia,Branden 2 ; Janas,Justin 3 ; Hampe,Ryan 1 ; Campbell,Jacob 1 ; Hejza,Cal 1
SB: Raper,Jackson 1 ; Campbell,Jacob 1
CS: Comia,Branden 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
3
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
2
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
/ BaseballOF/LHP
/ BaseballIF/OF
/ BaseballOF/1B
/ BaseballOF
/ BaseballPursuit to Greatness | Spartans All-Access
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