Saturday, March 12
Fluor Field | Greenville, S.C.
2 PM
Michigan State University
7-6
5
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Western Carolina
7-8
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9
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Western Carolina
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Michigan State
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Photo by: Jack Behan
MSU Powers Past Catamounts, 5-2, Saturday
3/12/2022 6:46:00 PM | Baseball
Junior pitcher Nick Powers fired career-high 10 Ks.
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Nick Powers fired a career-high 10 strikeouts to propel Michigan State baseball past Western Carolina, 5-2, Saturday afternoon in the 2022 First Pitch Invitational at a sun-bathed but chilly and windy Fluor Field, home of the Greenville Drive.
The sophomore starter Powers went 6.0 IP, yielding just four hits, with just one run, including two strikeouts in each of the first five innings of work. After yielding a leadoff single to WCU's Zach Ketterman to open the game, Ketterman was later thrown out trying to steal second. Powers then retired the next 11 Catamount batters in a row, going three-up, three-down for the first four frames, until yielding a 1-out single in the fifth.
"It was really exciting to see, and was very nice to have a great defense behind me, I have trust in all my guys, and especially when the bats get going, that's when we really start playing our game," Powers said. "We're looking forward to carrying that momentum into tomorrow and go for the weekend sweep."
Powers' 10 Ks topped his previous career-high of seven vs. Purdue last season on April 11, 2021. The 10 punchouts is now the by a Spartan pitcher this season, as well as the first MSU starter with 10+ Ks since Sam Benschoter last season vs. Maryland (3/5/21).
"Pitch-wise, everything was working today, I was pounding the zone with a lot of strikes, just filling it up and it felt good, I just went in with a lot of confidence today and just made my pitches, and the rest is history," Powers said.
MSU won its second-straight game after Friday's 10-8 win over Cincinnati, as the Spartans improved to 2-0 for the weekend and 7-6 on the year. WCU evened its weekend record at 1-1 after beating Kansas, 6-3, Friday night, and is now 7-8 overall.
"Nick Powers was outstanding, and was really commanding both sides of the plate extremely well," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. "He was ahead in the count and just continues to get better and better as we go along here. It was very good to see and a good outing by our pitching staff, we didn't walk anybody at all today, which was outstanding from the mound and struck out 14 guys."
The 14 strikeouts by the Spartan pitchers was their second-highest of the season behind 16 at Abilene Christian, and the seventh double-digit strikeout outing of the season.
Junior Andrew Carson relieved Powers to open the seventh, chalking up three strikeouts in 2.0 IP, before graduate senior Kyle Bischoff came on to close out the ninth in 1-2-3 fashion, sandwiching a strikeout with groundouts to end the game. Bischoff picked up his third save of the season.
"We didn't make an error, so pitching and defense will win you a lot of games, and we did that today, and scored five runs in a couple bunches there," Boss said. "We were able to shut down a very good offense for those guys. It was a good day today and we're excited to play Kansas tomorrow."
While the Spartan pitchers were stymieing the Catamount bats, the Spartan bats were led by junior outfielder Casey Mayes going 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored, while sophomore infielder Mitch Jebb stayed hot, going 2-for-5. Junior outfielder Zaid Walker was 1-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI, while sophomore infielder Trent Farquhar was 1-for-3 with a run scored. Redshirt-freshman catcher Bryan Broecker and sophomore infielder Dillon Kark were both 1-for-4, with Broecker notching a run scored.
"It was a very good win today again for our guys against a good Western Carolina team. I thought offensively we had a pretty good approach all day long, I thought Casey Mayes had a good day today for us, Mitch Jebb had a good day, and we had a lot of extra-base hits, which was good to see," Boss Jr. said. "I do think we left some opportunities out there, but certainly give their guys credit because they made pitches when they needed to make pitches."
Powers was matched by WCU starter Eric Wallington in the early going of the scoreless contest, before the Spartans broke through in the fourth, scoring two runs on an WCU error off the bat of Kark.
The Catamounts got a run back in the top of the fifth, with three singles in the frame, before Powers closed the door on the rally with a strikeout, leaving score at 2-1.
MSU then erupted for three more in the fifth, as Farquhar led off with a double down the line in right. Mayes then traded places with Farquhar with a double of his own down the opposite line and plating Farquhar. Those would be the only two hits in the frame, but MSU produced two more runs, taking advantage of two other WCU errors to open a 5-1 lead.
That remained the score until the eighth, when WCU scored one run off Carson, before he also clamped down on any more with a strikeout to end the frame, then Bischoff came on in the ninth to secure the 5-2 Victory for MSU.
The Spartans wrap up the First Pitch Invitational weekend action on Sunday, March 13 against Kansas in a 1 p.m. start time, with Western Carolina and Cincinnati to follow at 2 p.m.
The sophomore starter Powers went 6.0 IP, yielding just four hits, with just one run, including two strikeouts in each of the first five innings of work. After yielding a leadoff single to WCU's Zach Ketterman to open the game, Ketterman was later thrown out trying to steal second. Powers then retired the next 11 Catamount batters in a row, going three-up, three-down for the first four frames, until yielding a 1-out single in the fifth.
"It was really exciting to see, and was very nice to have a great defense behind me, I have trust in all my guys, and especially when the bats get going, that's when we really start playing our game," Powers said. "We're looking forward to carrying that momentum into tomorrow and go for the weekend sweep."
Powers' 10 Ks topped his previous career-high of seven vs. Purdue last season on April 11, 2021. The 10 punchouts is now the by a Spartan pitcher this season, as well as the first MSU starter with 10+ Ks since Sam Benschoter last season vs. Maryland (3/5/21).
"Pitch-wise, everything was working today, I was pounding the zone with a lot of strikes, just filling it up and it felt good, I just went in with a lot of confidence today and just made my pitches, and the rest is history," Powers said.
MSU won its second-straight game after Friday's 10-8 win over Cincinnati, as the Spartans improved to 2-0 for the weekend and 7-6 on the year. WCU evened its weekend record at 1-1 after beating Kansas, 6-3, Friday night, and is now 7-8 overall.
"Nick Powers was outstanding, and was really commanding both sides of the plate extremely well," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. "He was ahead in the count and just continues to get better and better as we go along here. It was very good to see and a good outing by our pitching staff, we didn't walk anybody at all today, which was outstanding from the mound and struck out 14 guys."
The 14 strikeouts by the Spartan pitchers was their second-highest of the season behind 16 at Abilene Christian, and the seventh double-digit strikeout outing of the season.
Junior Andrew Carson relieved Powers to open the seventh, chalking up three strikeouts in 2.0 IP, before graduate senior Kyle Bischoff came on to close out the ninth in 1-2-3 fashion, sandwiching a strikeout with groundouts to end the game. Bischoff picked up his third save of the season.
"We didn't make an error, so pitching and defense will win you a lot of games, and we did that today, and scored five runs in a couple bunches there," Boss said. "We were able to shut down a very good offense for those guys. It was a good day today and we're excited to play Kansas tomorrow."
While the Spartan pitchers were stymieing the Catamount bats, the Spartan bats were led by junior outfielder Casey Mayes going 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored, while sophomore infielder Mitch Jebb stayed hot, going 2-for-5. Junior outfielder Zaid Walker was 1-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI, while sophomore infielder Trent Farquhar was 1-for-3 with a run scored. Redshirt-freshman catcher Bryan Broecker and sophomore infielder Dillon Kark were both 1-for-4, with Broecker notching a run scored.
"It was a very good win today again for our guys against a good Western Carolina team. I thought offensively we had a pretty good approach all day long, I thought Casey Mayes had a good day today for us, Mitch Jebb had a good day, and we had a lot of extra-base hits, which was good to see," Boss Jr. said. "I do think we left some opportunities out there, but certainly give their guys credit because they made pitches when they needed to make pitches."
Powers was matched by WCU starter Eric Wallington in the early going of the scoreless contest, before the Spartans broke through in the fourth, scoring two runs on an WCU error off the bat of Kark.
The Catamounts got a run back in the top of the fifth, with three singles in the frame, before Powers closed the door on the rally with a strikeout, leaving score at 2-1.
MSU then erupted for three more in the fifth, as Farquhar led off with a double down the line in right. Mayes then traded places with Farquhar with a double of his own down the opposite line and plating Farquhar. Those would be the only two hits in the frame, but MSU produced two more runs, taking advantage of two other WCU errors to open a 5-1 lead.
That remained the score until the eighth, when WCU scored one run off Carson, before he also clamped down on any more with a strikeout to end the frame, then Bischoff came on in the ninth to secure the 5-2 Victory for MSU.
The Spartans wrap up the First Pitch Invitational weekend action on Sunday, March 13 against Kansas in a 1 p.m. start time, with Western Carolina and Cincinnati to follow at 2 p.m.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Powers, Nick (2-1)
L: Eric Wallington (0-2)
S: Bischoff, Kyle (1)
Batting:
2B: Zach Ketterman 1
RBI: Zach Ketterman 1 ; Seth Graves 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Drew Needham 1 ; Seth Graves 1
CS: Zach Ketterman 1 ; Cameron Murray 1
HBP: Bryson Parks 1 ; Cameron Murray 1
Batting:
2B: Jebb, Mitch 1 ; Farquhar, Trent 1 ; Mayes, Casey 2 ; Walker, Zaid 1
RBI: Mayes, Casey 1 ; Walker, Zaid 1 ; Frank, Jack 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Farquhar, Trent 1 ; Mayes, Casey 1 ; Walker, Zaid 2 ; Broecker, Bryan 1
SB: Jebb, Mitch 1 ; Walker, Zaid 1 ; Frank, Jack 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
3
RBI
1
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
2
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
RHP
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RHP
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/ Baseball
RHP
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/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballOF
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LHP
/ BaseballOF
/ BaseballPursuit to Greatness | Spartans All-Access
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