Friday, February 18
Earl E. Wilson Stadium | Las Vegas, Nev.
9:05 PM ET / 6:05 PM PT
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Photo by: Jeremy Fleming
MSU Upended By UNLV In Season-Opener Friday Night
2/19/2022 1:28:00 AM | Baseball
Spartans fall in 2022 lid-lifter despite career-high seven strikeouts from Iverson, home run by Frank.
LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- Michigan State baseball was upended by UNLV, 4-2, in the 2022 season-opening game under the Friday night lights of UNLV's Earl E. Wilson Stadium.
MSU was defeated despite a career-high seven strikeouts by senior starting pitcher Zach Iverson, and a home run by sophomore outfielder Jack Frank.
"It was great to get back out on the field and compete tonight," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. "We did some good things, but probably made too many defensive mistakes and didn't play clean enough. Credit UNLV, they made every play when they needed to and were very sound defensively. I thought Zach Iverson did a nice job in his first start of the year, and we competed and gave ourselves a chance in the ninth. We need to take care of the baseball better than we did today though."
Iverson finished with a career-high seven Ks, topping his previous career-best of five strikeouts, set in his only other previous start as a Spartan, Feb. 23, 2020 vs. Merrimack. The Spartan righty went 4.0 complete innings, also matching his previous high from the aforementioned outing vs. Merrimack. Iverson's seven strikeouts Friday night topped last season's six total Ks in his effectiveness matching his six saves in relief.
Frank smacked his second career home run, and first since the 2020 season-opening weekend, on Feb. 16, 2020 vs. Morehead State in Charleston, S.C.
Frank finished 2-for-4 and scored both of the Spartans' runs, plating their second run during their ninth-inning rally. Junior outfielder Casey Mayes matched Frank going 2-for-4. Sophomore infielders Trent Farquhar and Mitch Jebb, along with junior outfielders Zaid Walker and Peter Ahn each had a hit apiece, with Farquhar and Ahn both knocking doubles. Mayes added a stolen base.
Along with Iverson's highlight outing on the mound, junior Andrew Carson was solid in his Spartan debut, with three strikeouts in 3.0 scoreless innings. Junior reliever Wyatt Rush was dealt the tough-luck loss after yielding three unearned runs in the fifth after coming on in relief of Iverson.
UNLV's Josh Ibarra collected the win, going 5.0 IP, while Hayden Neirman nabbed the save.
The Spartans threatened right off the bat, as Farquhar picked up right where he left off from last season, as the 2021 Spartans' co-leader in doubles with 10, knocked his first two-bagger of the season in the opening at bat. The MSU rally fizzled without a run.
UNLV countered with a rally and a run in the home half of the first.
Iverson then settled in, at one point chalking up five strikeouts in a row spanning the second and third innings, after two Ks in the first frame.
The Spartans tied it up in the top of the fifth, as Frank led off the inning with a deep shot to right. Maye followed with a single and stole second, and sophomore infielder Dillon Kark followed with a walk, and two batters later, Jebb drew a two-out walk to load the bases and bring Walker to the plate. Walker cracked a shot to deep right field, but UNLV right fielder Rylan Charles snared it up against the wall the thwart the Spartan rally.
The Rebels took advantage of two Spartan errors in the fifth to take on three unearned runs off Rush, before he got out of it with a flyout.
MSU didn't go quietly into the dark desert night, as Frank sparked the Spartan rally by leading off the ninth with a single to left. Mayes followed with a single through the right side and Frank scooted around to third. Two batters later, Ahn knocked a deep fly ball down the line to left, but Rebels' left fielder Austin Kryszczuk caught it while bumping into the wall just barely in foul territory, and Frank darted home on Ahn's sac fly to pull MSU within, 4-2. However, the Spartan rally and the game ended with a flyout.
In a quick turnaround, MSU and UNLV continue their four-game weekend series to open the season with a doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 19 starting at 4:05 p.m. ET, before wrapping up the weekend series with a single game on Sunday, Feb. 20 at 3:05 p.m. ET.
Fans can follow all the action from Las Vegas with watch live and live stats links available at MSUSpartans.com.
MSU was defeated despite a career-high seven strikeouts by senior starting pitcher Zach Iverson, and a home run by sophomore outfielder Jack Frank.
"It was great to get back out on the field and compete tonight," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. "We did some good things, but probably made too many defensive mistakes and didn't play clean enough. Credit UNLV, they made every play when they needed to and were very sound defensively. I thought Zach Iverson did a nice job in his first start of the year, and we competed and gave ourselves a chance in the ninth. We need to take care of the baseball better than we did today though."
Iverson finished with a career-high seven Ks, topping his previous career-best of five strikeouts, set in his only other previous start as a Spartan, Feb. 23, 2020 vs. Merrimack. The Spartan righty went 4.0 complete innings, also matching his previous high from the aforementioned outing vs. Merrimack. Iverson's seven strikeouts Friday night topped last season's six total Ks in his effectiveness matching his six saves in relief.
Frank smacked his second career home run, and first since the 2020 season-opening weekend, on Feb. 16, 2020 vs. Morehead State in Charleston, S.C.
Frank finished 2-for-4 and scored both of the Spartans' runs, plating their second run during their ninth-inning rally. Junior outfielder Casey Mayes matched Frank going 2-for-4. Sophomore infielders Trent Farquhar and Mitch Jebb, along with junior outfielders Zaid Walker and Peter Ahn each had a hit apiece, with Farquhar and Ahn both knocking doubles. Mayes added a stolen base.
Along with Iverson's highlight outing on the mound, junior Andrew Carson was solid in his Spartan debut, with three strikeouts in 3.0 scoreless innings. Junior reliever Wyatt Rush was dealt the tough-luck loss after yielding three unearned runs in the fifth after coming on in relief of Iverson.
UNLV's Josh Ibarra collected the win, going 5.0 IP, while Hayden Neirman nabbed the save.
The Spartans threatened right off the bat, as Farquhar picked up right where he left off from last season, as the 2021 Spartans' co-leader in doubles with 10, knocked his first two-bagger of the season in the opening at bat. The MSU rally fizzled without a run.
UNLV countered with a rally and a run in the home half of the first.
Iverson then settled in, at one point chalking up five strikeouts in a row spanning the second and third innings, after two Ks in the first frame.
The Spartans tied it up in the top of the fifth, as Frank led off the inning with a deep shot to right. Maye followed with a single and stole second, and sophomore infielder Dillon Kark followed with a walk, and two batters later, Jebb drew a two-out walk to load the bases and bring Walker to the plate. Walker cracked a shot to deep right field, but UNLV right fielder Rylan Charles snared it up against the wall the thwart the Spartan rally.
The Rebels took advantage of two Spartan errors in the fifth to take on three unearned runs off Rush, before he got out of it with a flyout.
MSU didn't go quietly into the dark desert night, as Frank sparked the Spartan rally by leading off the ninth with a single to left. Mayes followed with a single through the right side and Frank scooted around to third. Two batters later, Ahn knocked a deep fly ball down the line to left, but Rebels' left fielder Austin Kryszczuk caught it while bumping into the wall just barely in foul territory, and Frank darted home on Ahn's sac fly to pull MSU within, 4-2. However, the Spartan rally and the game ended with a flyout.
In a quick turnaround, MSU and UNLV continue their four-game weekend series to open the season with a doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 19 starting at 4:05 p.m. ET, before wrapping up the weekend series with a single game on Sunday, Feb. 20 at 3:05 p.m. ET.
Fans can follow all the action from Las Vegas with watch live and live stats links available at MSUSpartans.com.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Josh Ibarra (1-0)
L: Rush, Wyatt (0-1)
S: Hayden Neirman (1)
Batting:
2B: Farquhar, Trent 1 ; Ahn, Peter 1
HR: Frank, Jack 1
RBI: Frank, Jack 1 ; Ahn, Peter 1
SF: Ahn, Peter 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Frank, Jack 2
SB: Mayes, Casey 1
HBP: Ahn, Peter 1
Batting:
2B: Rylan Charles 1
RBI: Austin Kryszczuk 1 ; Henry Zeisler 1 ; James Gamble 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Rylan Charles 2 ; Diego Alarcon 1 ; Henry Zeisler 1
SB: Rylan Charles 1 ; James Gamble 3
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
5
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
INF/OF/RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ BaseballPursuit to Greatness | Spartans All-Access
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