Michigan State University Athletics
Photo by: Quinn Bezenah
MSU Defeated At Rutgers Saturday
5/22/2021 6:04:00 PM | Baseball
Walker bashes second HR in as many days; Spartans overtaken by Scarlet Knights in late innings.
PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Michigan State was defeated in game two of the three-game weekend series at Rutgers Saturday afternoon, as the Scarlet Knights pulled away for a 15-8 win, at RU's Bainton Field.
Down 6-3 after three innings, MSU battled back and tied it at 6-all in the fifth, but RU pulled away to level the high-scoring series at a game apiece after the Spartans won the opener on Friday, 12-1. Michigan State is 16-24 on the year having won four of the last six games, while Rutgers snapped a two-game skid and moved to 19-21 on the year, having lost eight of the last 10.
Michigan State knocked 13 hits, including home runs by sophomore outfielder Zaid Walker and senior infielder Bailey Peterson. Walker finished 3-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored, while Peterson ended 2-for-4 with two runs scored and one RBI. Freshman infielder Mitch Jebb was 3-for-4 with a run scored, senior designated hitter Andrew Morrow was 2-for-4 with two RBI and a scored a run. Junior catcher Adam Proctor was 1-for-3, scoring two runs and driving in another, while freshman infielder Reese Trahey was 1-for-4 with a run scored and senior outfielder Bryce Kelley was 1-for-3. Freshman infielder Trent Farquhar was limited without a hit, but did drive in a run.
However, the Spartans yielded 14 hits to the Scarlet Knights, along with nine walks and three hit-batters.
"It was a disappointing day today on the mound, and walks and errors were the reason today," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. "We were one pitch away in the third inning from being out of it and hang a zero on the board, and they scored five runs with two outs. We made another error in the sixth that led to a run, and in the eighth it just kind of got away from us with more walks. When you walk nine and hit three more guys, that's 12 free base runners, and we balked a couple times. So that's not a way to win, you score eight runs you should win the game, but when you walk guys and make three errors, you're not going to win."
Michigan State was down but continued battling throughout the contest, but just couldn't go ahead and pull away.
"Our guys competed their tails off, it's what they've done all year long," Boss said. "We seem to just take the lead and give it back, or tie it up and not enough to take the lead. The effort is there, but we have to execute, we can't walk guys and we can't make the errors that we're making. We have to be able to do the little things the right way and we're not doing that."
After RU got on the board first with a solo home run in the bottom of the second, but the Spartans quickly countered with a three-run third. Morrow started the rally with a leadoff double down the left field line, then Proctor followed with a double off the wall down the right field line to drive Morrow in. Three batters later, Walker blasted his second HR is as many days with a shot to almost the same spot in left field as his homer in the first inning of Friday's contest, and MSU had a 3-1 lead.
The Spartan advantage didn't last long, as the Scarlet Knights scored five runs in the third, putting together three hits and taking advantage of four walks and a hit-by-pitch, to open a 6-3 lead.
Michigan State wiped the deficit away with a run in the fourth on Peterson's solo home run, and two in the fifth. Proctor sparked the rally by leading off the frame getting hit by a pitch. Freshman infielder followed with a ground-rule double to right center, then Farquhar grounded out to short, but was enough to knock in Proctor, and chased RU starter Ben Wereski. Walker was next up and the first to face reliever Brent Teller, who uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Trahey to scamper home and level the score at 6's.
However, Rutgers plated four runs in the sixth on five hits in the sixth inning and took advantage of one MSU error, with the big blow coming on a three-run home run, to take a 10-6 lead.
Michigan State rallied in the eighth, as Jebb sparked a two-out rally with an infield single, Peterson followed with a single through the right side and Kelley walked to fill the bases full of Spartans. That brought Morrow to the plate and he knocked a chopper up the middle and into center, driving in Jebb and Peterson to pull the visitors within 10-8.
That would be the closest the Spartans would get, as Rutgers plated five runs in the home half of the eighth, knocking a pair of two-run hits, a single and double, capitalizing on two MSU errors, a balk and a hit batter in the inning.
Michigan State tried to rally in the ninth, with Walker knocking a single, but the rally and the game ended without a run.
The series wraps up on Sunday with the rubber match starting at Noon.
The weekend schedule is subject to change based on weather.
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.
Down 6-3 after three innings, MSU battled back and tied it at 6-all in the fifth, but RU pulled away to level the high-scoring series at a game apiece after the Spartans won the opener on Friday, 12-1. Michigan State is 16-24 on the year having won four of the last six games, while Rutgers snapped a two-game skid and moved to 19-21 on the year, having lost eight of the last 10.
Michigan State knocked 13 hits, including home runs by sophomore outfielder Zaid Walker and senior infielder Bailey Peterson. Walker finished 3-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored, while Peterson ended 2-for-4 with two runs scored and one RBI. Freshman infielder Mitch Jebb was 3-for-4 with a run scored, senior designated hitter Andrew Morrow was 2-for-4 with two RBI and a scored a run. Junior catcher Adam Proctor was 1-for-3, scoring two runs and driving in another, while freshman infielder Reese Trahey was 1-for-4 with a run scored and senior outfielder Bryce Kelley was 1-for-3. Freshman infielder Trent Farquhar was limited without a hit, but did drive in a run.
However, the Spartans yielded 14 hits to the Scarlet Knights, along with nine walks and three hit-batters.
"It was a disappointing day today on the mound, and walks and errors were the reason today," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. "We were one pitch away in the third inning from being out of it and hang a zero on the board, and they scored five runs with two outs. We made another error in the sixth that led to a run, and in the eighth it just kind of got away from us with more walks. When you walk nine and hit three more guys, that's 12 free base runners, and we balked a couple times. So that's not a way to win, you score eight runs you should win the game, but when you walk guys and make three errors, you're not going to win."
Michigan State was down but continued battling throughout the contest, but just couldn't go ahead and pull away.
"Our guys competed their tails off, it's what they've done all year long," Boss said. "We seem to just take the lead and give it back, or tie it up and not enough to take the lead. The effort is there, but we have to execute, we can't walk guys and we can't make the errors that we're making. We have to be able to do the little things the right way and we're not doing that."
After RU got on the board first with a solo home run in the bottom of the second, but the Spartans quickly countered with a three-run third. Morrow started the rally with a leadoff double down the left field line, then Proctor followed with a double off the wall down the right field line to drive Morrow in. Three batters later, Walker blasted his second HR is as many days with a shot to almost the same spot in left field as his homer in the first inning of Friday's contest, and MSU had a 3-1 lead.
The Spartan advantage didn't last long, as the Scarlet Knights scored five runs in the third, putting together three hits and taking advantage of four walks and a hit-by-pitch, to open a 6-3 lead.
Michigan State wiped the deficit away with a run in the fourth on Peterson's solo home run, and two in the fifth. Proctor sparked the rally by leading off the frame getting hit by a pitch. Freshman infielder followed with a ground-rule double to right center, then Farquhar grounded out to short, but was enough to knock in Proctor, and chased RU starter Ben Wereski. Walker was next up and the first to face reliever Brent Teller, who uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Trahey to scamper home and level the score at 6's.
However, Rutgers plated four runs in the sixth on five hits in the sixth inning and took advantage of one MSU error, with the big blow coming on a three-run home run, to take a 10-6 lead.
Michigan State rallied in the eighth, as Jebb sparked a two-out rally with an infield single, Peterson followed with a single through the right side and Kelley walked to fill the bases full of Spartans. That brought Morrow to the plate and he knocked a chopper up the middle and into center, driving in Jebb and Peterson to pull the visitors within 10-8.
That would be the closest the Spartans would get, as Rutgers plated five runs in the home half of the eighth, knocking a pair of two-run hits, a single and double, capitalizing on two MSU errors, a balk and a hit batter in the inning.
Michigan State tried to rally in the ninth, with Walker knocking a single, but the rally and the game ended without a run.
The series wraps up on Sunday with the rubber match starting at Noon.
The weekend schedule is subject to change based on weather.
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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