Sunday, April 25
East Lansing, Mich.
12:05 PM ET
Michigan State University
12-17, 12-17
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Nebraska
20-7, 20-7
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Nebraska
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Michigan State
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Photo by: Jeremy Fleming
Benschoter Strikes Out Career-High 17 in Loss to Nebraska
4/25/2021 5:27:00 PM | Baseball
Spartans defeated by Huskers in extra-inning heartbreaker.
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Senior Sam Benschoter struck out a career-high 17 in relief as the Michigan State baseball team lost, 9-6 in a 12-inning battle to Nebraska in the rubber game of the three-game series Sunday.
"I am proud of our guys for battling back after getting down 6-0 after two innings. The guys have competed their tails off all season for Michigan State, and they did that today. It was a tough way to lose. We had some chances, but unfortunately we couldn't take advantage of them. Credit Nebraska; they made a couple big plays when they needed to," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said.
In relief, Benschoter went 9.1 innings allowing three runs, while striking out 17, which was the most for a Spartan since Mark Mulder's 16 against Campbell on March 7, 1998. The senior's previous best was 10 against Indiana on March 27, also in a relief role. It was Benschoter's third double-digit strikeout outing of the season, as he also had 10 Ks after starting against Maryland on March 5 in the season-opener.
With three runs in the 12th, the Cornhuskers earned the win to improve to 20-7, while the Spartans fall to 12-17 this season. Despite the brilliant outing, Benschoter took the loss, dropping to 1-3 on the season.
"Sam was unbelievable. He came in in a really tough spot and was dominant. There is no other way to put it. It was a school record in strikeouts with 17 and he was in complete control," Boss added.
The game had a lop-sided start with the Cornhuskers plating three in the first inning with just one hit. Junior Jesse Heikkinen relieved Spartans starter redshirt-sophomore Wyatt Rush and got out of the jam with Nebraska leading, 3-0. In the second inning, Nebraska added three more to take a 6-0 advantage.
After the Huskers' fast start, the Spartans started chipping away at the deficit. In the bottom of the second, Michigan State got three runs back. With one out, freshman Trent Farquhar and sophomore Casey Mayes started the rally with walks. Freshman Dillon Kark was then hit by a pitch to load the bases. Junior Adam Proctor drove in Farquhar with a bloop single down the left field line to make it a 6-1 contest. Pinch hitter sophomore Reese Trahey then singled through the left side to score two and cut the Nebraska lead in half, 6-3.
In the bottom of the third, MSU battled to tie the score at 6-6. Freshman Jack Frank started the rally with a leadoff walk, while senior Bailey Peterson reached on an error to put runners on first and with no outs. Farquhar once again was in on the action with a double down the right field line to score two. He also advanced to third on a throwing error. Mayes tied the score with a sacrifice fly to bring home Farquhar.
After the third inning, the game became a pitcher's duel with neither team scoring again for the next nine innings.
In the eighth inning, Griffin Everitt led off with a double to right which was Nebraska's first hit since the second inning, but MSU worked out of the jam to stay knotted at 6-6.
Nebraska threatened again in the top of the 10th when Max Anderson led off with a triple off the right field fence. Benschoter was again able to get out of the jam with a strikeout and an around the horn double play.
The Huskers finally got to Benschoter in the top of the 12th inning when Max Anderson drove in his fourth run of the game to put Nebraska up 7-6. The Huskers added two more runs to take the eventual 9-6 win.
Coming in as a pinch hitter, Trahey ended the day 3-for-4 with two RBI, while Farquhar was 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored.
Michigan State returns to the road, heading to University Park, Pennsylvania to take on Penn State in a three-game series, Friday-Sunday, April 30-May 2. Friday's series opener has a 6 p.m. start time in the final game of April. The May portion of the schedule opens with Saturday's game two of the series, with a 1 p.m. first pitch, before Sunday's series finale with a 12 p.m. start time.
"I am proud of our guys for battling back after getting down 6-0 after two innings. The guys have competed their tails off all season for Michigan State, and they did that today. It was a tough way to lose. We had some chances, but unfortunately we couldn't take advantage of them. Credit Nebraska; they made a couple big plays when they needed to," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said.
In relief, Benschoter went 9.1 innings allowing three runs, while striking out 17, which was the most for a Spartan since Mark Mulder's 16 against Campbell on March 7, 1998. The senior's previous best was 10 against Indiana on March 27, also in a relief role. It was Benschoter's third double-digit strikeout outing of the season, as he also had 10 Ks after starting against Maryland on March 5 in the season-opener.
With three runs in the 12th, the Cornhuskers earned the win to improve to 20-7, while the Spartans fall to 12-17 this season. Despite the brilliant outing, Benschoter took the loss, dropping to 1-3 on the season.
"Sam was unbelievable. He came in in a really tough spot and was dominant. There is no other way to put it. It was a school record in strikeouts with 17 and he was in complete control," Boss added.
The game had a lop-sided start with the Cornhuskers plating three in the first inning with just one hit. Junior Jesse Heikkinen relieved Spartans starter redshirt-sophomore Wyatt Rush and got out of the jam with Nebraska leading, 3-0. In the second inning, Nebraska added three more to take a 6-0 advantage.
After the Huskers' fast start, the Spartans started chipping away at the deficit. In the bottom of the second, Michigan State got three runs back. With one out, freshman Trent Farquhar and sophomore Casey Mayes started the rally with walks. Freshman Dillon Kark was then hit by a pitch to load the bases. Junior Adam Proctor drove in Farquhar with a bloop single down the left field line to make it a 6-1 contest. Pinch hitter sophomore Reese Trahey then singled through the left side to score two and cut the Nebraska lead in half, 6-3.
In the bottom of the third, MSU battled to tie the score at 6-6. Freshman Jack Frank started the rally with a leadoff walk, while senior Bailey Peterson reached on an error to put runners on first and with no outs. Farquhar once again was in on the action with a double down the right field line to score two. He also advanced to third on a throwing error. Mayes tied the score with a sacrifice fly to bring home Farquhar.
After the third inning, the game became a pitcher's duel with neither team scoring again for the next nine innings.
In the eighth inning, Griffin Everitt led off with a double to right which was Nebraska's first hit since the second inning, but MSU worked out of the jam to stay knotted at 6-6.
Nebraska threatened again in the top of the 10th when Max Anderson led off with a triple off the right field fence. Benschoter was again able to get out of the jam with a strikeout and an around the horn double play.
The Huskers finally got to Benschoter in the top of the 12th inning when Max Anderson drove in his fourth run of the game to put Nebraska up 7-6. The Huskers added two more runs to take the eventual 9-6 win.
Coming in as a pinch hitter, Trahey ended the day 3-for-4 with two RBI, while Farquhar was 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored.
Michigan State returns to the road, heading to University Park, Pennsylvania to take on Penn State in a three-game series, Friday-Sunday, April 30-May 2. Friday's series opener has a 6 p.m. start time in the final game of April. The May portion of the schedule opens with Saturday's game two of the series, with a 1 p.m. first pitch, before Sunday's series finale with a 12 p.m. start time.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Schwellenbach, S. (1-0)
L: Benschoter, Sam (1-3)
Batting:
2B: Chick, Cam 1 ; Everitt, Griffin 1
3B: Anderson, Max 1
RBI: Chick, Cam 1 ; Anderson, Max 4 ; Roskam, Luke 1 ; Matthews, Brice 1 ; Cervantes, Efry 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Acker, Joe 1 ; Hallmark, Jaxon 1 ; Schwellenbach, S. 3 ; Chick, Cam 1 ; Anderson, Max 2 ; Roskam, Luke 1
SB: Acker, Joe 1 ; Schwellenbach, S. 1 ; Anderson, Max 2
CS: Cervantes, Efry 1
HBP: Schwellenbach, S. 1
Batting:
2B: Peterson, Bailey 1 ; Farquhar, Trent 2
RBI: Trahey, Reese 2 ; Farquhar, Trent 2 ; Mayes, Casey 1 ; Proctor, Adam 1
SH: Trahey, Reese 1
SF: Mayes, Casey 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Frank, Jack 1 ; Peterson, Bailey 1 ; Farquhar, Trent 2 ; Mayes, Casey 1 ; Kark, Dillon 1
SB: Trahey, Reese 1
CS: Kark, Dillon 1
HBP: Kark, Dillon 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
ph/1b
AB
4
R
0
H
3
RBI
2
2b/ss
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
2
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
6
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
IF/OF
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballOF
/ BaseballPursuit to Greatness | Spartans All-Access
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