Michigan State Defeated By Michigan Friday Night

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan State baseball was defeated by Michigan in Friday night's series-opener at McLane Stadium at Kobs Field by a 5-1 final score.

Due to the change in normal Big Ten Conference scheduling, this weekend's three-game series in East Lansing marks the first time since 1994 that MSU has hosted UM in a full three-game series, as the teams normally have a home-away-home weekend series.

Friday night's match-up started as a pitcher's duel between Spartan redshirt-junior Mason Erla and Michigan's starter, Steve Hajjar, to the viewing delight of the restricted limited attendance and a large number of Major League Baseball scouts.

Erla was dealing early, including striking out the side in the second after a leadoff single, on the way to five Ks through two innings. He finished with eight strikeouts in 5.0 IP, yielding three runs on seven hits.

Redshirt-freshman reliever William Christophersen came on in relief of Erla, ringing up six strikeouts through 3.0 IP. The six Ks is one shy of his career-high. Freshmen Zach Hopman and Dominic Hann combined to pitch the ninth inning.

Erla's eight punchouts give him 225 for his Spartan career, moving up to No. 3 on MSU's career strikeout list, passing Ron Perranoski (1956-58) with 223 Ks.

Hajjar allowed a leadoff hit along with a walk in the first inning, before stymieing the Spartan bats, to just two hits, both by freshman infielder Trent Farquhar, who had the Spartans' leadoff hit in the home half of the first. Farquhar also had MSU's lone RBI, coming in the eighth. Hajjar ended with 13 Ks in 6.0 IP.

"It was a tough night at the plate for us," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. "I thought Mason really battled out there for us on the mound and William Christophersen did a nice job in relief for us and kept us right there. We didn't have many opportunities, but did get one in the eighth and had the tying run to the plate, but unfortunately couldn't do anything else with it. Their guy on the mound, Hajjar, threw well and their bullpen guys threw well, and we didn't make enough adjustments, so it was a disappointing night for us."

The Wolverines broke through with a pair of runs in the top of the third on three hits, with two doubles sandwiched around a single for a 2-0 lead. UM's lead grew to 3-0 in the fourth.

The Spartans got on the board in the eighth, as sophomore infielder Reese Trahey reached on a two-base error, and Farquhar drove him in with a single to right, nearly identical to his leadoff single, to pull MSU within, 3-1.

However, that would be the closest they would get at Michigan plated two more runs in the top of the ninth for the final score of 5-1. UM moves to 22-11 with the win, while MSU is 12-21.

"I think our guys have done a really nice job of setting aside one day from the next, win or lose, and so we'll be ready to play tomorrow," Boss said. "It is a rivalry game and guys will be ready to go tomorrow, whether we won 5-1 today or lost 5-1, they'll be ready to compete their tails off for Michigan State tomorrow."

Michigan State and Michigan return to the diamond for game two of the weekend series on Saturday with a 3:05 p.m. start time, before Sunday's series finale at 1:05 p.m. 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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Team Stats

Trent Farquhar

Bryce Kelley

Zaid Walker

Joe Stewart

Players Mentioned

William Christophersen

Mason Erla

Trent Farquhar

Dominic Hann

Zach Hopman

Reese Trahey

Players Mentioned

William Christophersen

Mason Erla

Trent Farquhar

Dominic Hann

Zach Hopman

Reese Trahey