Sunday, May 9
East Lansing, Mich.
1:05 PM ET
Michigan State University
13-22, 13-22
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Michigan
23-12, 23-12
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Michigan State
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Photo by: Quinn Bezenah
Spartans Beat Wolverines, 10-2, Sunday
5/9/2021 7:18:00 PM | Baseball
Benschoter And Solid Offense Paves Way To Victory For MSU
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- A seven-run fifth inning, combined with the pitching from Sam Benschoter and a solid offense output boosted Michigan State baseball to a 10-2 win over Michigan Sunday afternoon at McLane Stadium at Kobs Field in the series finale of the three-game weekend series.
Benschoter fired seven strikeouts in 7.0 IP while scattering seven hits, yielding two runs, and walking walk to earn the win. The Spartan hurler was dealing on Sunday, his second-straight outstanding outing at home.
"Sam Benschoter was lights out today. He's one of our seniors, he's one of our captains and he's the guy that we really needed to play well in a big game and in a big spot today and he did that for us," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said.
A fifth-year senior from Tecumseh, Mich., Benschoter is one of 23 players from the state of Michigan on the Spartans' roster, with the added incentive of facing their in-state rivals.
"It feels great, I definitely wanting to get one against those guys coming in here and it's our home field and we want to we want to play well here and we did that today," Benschoter said. "I thought it went well today; I was really trying to just attack the zone."
Benschoter kept the Wolverines scoreless until the seventh inning, getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the second, and got a double-play in the fifth to help get a 1-2-3 inning, one of two frames retiring UM in order. Along with the solid pitching and defensive play, MSU's offense was clicking too, knocking 11 hits, while drawing seven free passes with five walks and two hit-by-pitch, which came in consecutive at bats in the seventh.
"I'm really proud of our guys for bouncing back after two tough games on Friday and Saturday," Boss said. "Offensively, we were much better today, I thought our approach was really good and we kind of attacked early, and it was much needed. I thought they kind of had us on our heels Friday and Saturday and I thought we came out and executed a pretty good plan today and put pressure on them early and it worked out in our favor. I'm just really proud of our guys."
MSU had 11 hits on the afternoon, including three each from freshman infielder Trent Farquhar and redshirt-freshman Gabe Sotres. Farquhar was 3-for-4 with three runs scored, while Sotres was 3-for-3 with an RBI.
Senior outfielders Bryce Kelley and Joe Stewart tallied two hits apiece, with Kelley going 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored, while Stewart was 2-for-5 with a run scored. Freshman infielder Mitch Jebb was 1-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored. Sophomore outfielder Zaid Walker, freshman outfielder Jack Frank along with freshman infielders Dillon Kark and Brock Vradenburg all added a run and RBI each.
Sophomore reliever William Christophersen came on in relief of Benschoter, pitching the final 2.0 IP with three strikeouts and just one hit and a walk, without a run.
With the win, MSU is 13-22 on the season, while UM is 23-12 with Sunday's result.
Due to the change in normal Big Ten Conference scheduling, this weekend's three-game series in East Lansing was the first time since 1994 that MSU hosted UM in a full three-game series, as the teams normally have a home-away-home weekend series. Sunday's game was the final of five regular-season meetings between the Spartans and Wolverines, with two games in Ann Arbor on March 21-22 as part of a pod play with Illinois.
The Spartans got on the board early with two runs in the home half of the opening inning. Walker led off the Spartan lineup for the first time this season and reached on a Michigan error. Farquhar followed with an infield single to move Walker up a base, and both Walker and Farquhar moved up on a wild pitch. Jebb was up next and he drove Jebb in with an RBI groundout. Kelley singled to right to plate Farquhar and give the Spartans a 2-0 advantage.
MSU added a run in the bottom of the third as Farquhar led off with the double and two batters later, Jebb singled through the right side to dive him in and put the Spartans ahead, 3-0.
Michigan State hung a seven-spot on the board in the seventh to open a 10-0 lead, taking advantage of four walks and two hit-by-pitch, coming off three different Michigan pitchers in the inning. MSU had two hits in the frame, which came from the first two batters of the inning with a single by Farquhar and a double by Stewart.
Michigan broke the shutout in the top of the seventh, plating two runs, to make the score 10-2 and the scoreboard read that the rest of the game, sealing the Victory for MSU.
Michigan State returns to the road for back-to-back weekends, playing at Ohio State, Friday-Sunday, May 14-16, and at Rutgers, May 21-23, before returning home for the season-finale series vs. Iowa, Friday-Sunday, May 28-30.
Next weekend's series in Columbus against Ohio State opens on Friday, May 14 at 6:05 p.m., then game two on Saturday, May 15 at 3:05 p.m., before the third and final game of the weekend on Sunday, May 16 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.
Benschoter fired seven strikeouts in 7.0 IP while scattering seven hits, yielding two runs, and walking walk to earn the win. The Spartan hurler was dealing on Sunday, his second-straight outstanding outing at home.
"Sam Benschoter was lights out today. He's one of our seniors, he's one of our captains and he's the guy that we really needed to play well in a big game and in a big spot today and he did that for us," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said.
A fifth-year senior from Tecumseh, Mich., Benschoter is one of 23 players from the state of Michigan on the Spartans' roster, with the added incentive of facing their in-state rivals.
"It feels great, I definitely wanting to get one against those guys coming in here and it's our home field and we want to we want to play well here and we did that today," Benschoter said. "I thought it went well today; I was really trying to just attack the zone."
Benschoter kept the Wolverines scoreless until the seventh inning, getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the second, and got a double-play in the fifth to help get a 1-2-3 inning, one of two frames retiring UM in order. Along with the solid pitching and defensive play, MSU's offense was clicking too, knocking 11 hits, while drawing seven free passes with five walks and two hit-by-pitch, which came in consecutive at bats in the seventh.
"I'm really proud of our guys for bouncing back after two tough games on Friday and Saturday," Boss said. "Offensively, we were much better today, I thought our approach was really good and we kind of attacked early, and it was much needed. I thought they kind of had us on our heels Friday and Saturday and I thought we came out and executed a pretty good plan today and put pressure on them early and it worked out in our favor. I'm just really proud of our guys."
MSU had 11 hits on the afternoon, including three each from freshman infielder Trent Farquhar and redshirt-freshman Gabe Sotres. Farquhar was 3-for-4 with three runs scored, while Sotres was 3-for-3 with an RBI.
Senior outfielders Bryce Kelley and Joe Stewart tallied two hits apiece, with Kelley going 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored, while Stewart was 2-for-5 with a run scored. Freshman infielder Mitch Jebb was 1-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored. Sophomore outfielder Zaid Walker, freshman outfielder Jack Frank along with freshman infielders Dillon Kark and Brock Vradenburg all added a run and RBI each.
Sophomore reliever William Christophersen came on in relief of Benschoter, pitching the final 2.0 IP with three strikeouts and just one hit and a walk, without a run.
With the win, MSU is 13-22 on the season, while UM is 23-12 with Sunday's result.
Due to the change in normal Big Ten Conference scheduling, this weekend's three-game series in East Lansing was the first time since 1994 that MSU hosted UM in a full three-game series, as the teams normally have a home-away-home weekend series. Sunday's game was the final of five regular-season meetings between the Spartans and Wolverines, with two games in Ann Arbor on March 21-22 as part of a pod play with Illinois.
The Spartans got on the board early with two runs in the home half of the opening inning. Walker led off the Spartan lineup for the first time this season and reached on a Michigan error. Farquhar followed with an infield single to move Walker up a base, and both Walker and Farquhar moved up on a wild pitch. Jebb was up next and he drove Jebb in with an RBI groundout. Kelley singled to right to plate Farquhar and give the Spartans a 2-0 advantage.
MSU added a run in the bottom of the third as Farquhar led off with the double and two batters later, Jebb singled through the right side to dive him in and put the Spartans ahead, 3-0.
Michigan State hung a seven-spot on the board in the seventh to open a 10-0 lead, taking advantage of four walks and two hit-by-pitch, coming off three different Michigan pitchers in the inning. MSU had two hits in the frame, which came from the first two batters of the inning with a single by Farquhar and a double by Stewart.
Michigan broke the shutout in the top of the seventh, plating two runs, to make the score 10-2 and the scoreboard read that the rest of the game, sealing the Victory for MSU.
Michigan State returns to the road for back-to-back weekends, playing at Ohio State, Friday-Sunday, May 14-16, and at Rutgers, May 21-23, before returning home for the season-finale series vs. Iowa, Friday-Sunday, May 28-30.
Next weekend's series in Columbus against Ohio State opens on Friday, May 14 at 6:05 p.m., then game two on Saturday, May 15 at 3:05 p.m., before the third and final game of the weekend on Sunday, May 16 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.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Benschoter, Sam (2-4)
L: Denner, Jacob (3-3)
Batting:
3B: Burton, Ted 1
RBI: Rogers, Jordon 1 ; Bertram, Riley 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Obertop, Jimmy 1 ; Flores, Tito 1
HBP: Rogers, Jordon 1
Batting:
2B: Farquhar, Trent 1 ; Stewart, Joe 1 ; Sotres, Gabe 1
RBI: Walker, Zaid 1 ; Jebb, Mitch 2 ; Kelley, Bryce 2 ; Frank, Jack 1 ; Vradenburg, Brock 1 ; Sotres, Gabe 1 ; Kark, Dillon 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Walker, Zaid 1 ; Farquhar, Trent 3 ; Stewart, Joe 1 ; Jebb, Mitch 1 ; Kelley, Bryce 1 ; Frank, Jack 1 ; Vradenburg, Brock 1 ; Kark, Dillon 1
SB: Sotres, Gabe 1
HBP: Sotres, Gabe 1 ; Kark, Dillon 1
PO: Walker, Zaid 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
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3
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3
RBI
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5
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2
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4
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1
H
2
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
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/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballOF/LHP
/ BaseballC
/ BaseballOF/1B
/ Baseball
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/ Baseball
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/ 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