Friday, February 24
Cleveland S. Harley Baseball Park | Spartanburg, S.C.
3 p.m.
Michigan State University
4-1
13
at
6
USC Upstate
5-1
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8
9
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H
E
Michigan State
0
0
4
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5
1
1
13
12
0
USC Upstate
1
0
0
0
0
4
1
0
0
6
9
1
Photo by: Zac BonDurant
Michigan State Beats USC Upstate Friday, 13-6, In All-Spartan Contest
2/24/2023 7:40:00 PM | Baseball
MSU opens action in the OneSpartanburg, Inc. Baseball Classic knocking 12 hits in win.
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Michigan State baseball opened its OneSpartanburg, Inc. Baseball Classic weekend action with a 13-6 win over South Carolina Upstate in an all-Spartan contest Friday afternoon at USC Upstate's Harley Park in Spartanburg, S.C.
The win moved MSU to 4-1 on the young season, marking the second time in last four seasons that Michigan State opened 4-1.
Friday's game was the opener of MSU's second weekend of play since the mass shooting on the East Lansing campus on Monday, Feb. 13, when three MSU students were killed and five were hospitalized. Michigan State University canceled classes this week following the deaths of the three students – juniors Arielle Anderson and Alexandria Verner and sophomore Brian Fraser.
Michigan State players again wore "Spartan Strong" stickers on their helmets in a tribute, and several players had personal tributes as well.
MSU knocked 13 hits for 12 runs in the game, as Michigan State has tallied double-figure hits for the fourth time in the five games played this season, while logging double-digit runs for the second time. The visiting Spartans plated four runs in the third, four in the fourth, then hung a five-spot on the board in the seventh and adding a run in each of the eighth and ninth frames. Home-standing USC Upstate got a run in the first, then four in the sixth on a two-out grand slam and one in the seventh, as the Michigan State pitching kept the southern Spartans from rallying.
"I'm very proud of our guys today, we jumped out to a lead and USC Upstate is a good ballclub over there and we knew they weren't going to quit," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. "When they got the big grand slam and made it close, our guys really responded, so I'm very proud of our guys and the approach that they took all day long. We just keep playing hard and nothing really fazes these guys and they showed that today, so we put together nine pretty good innings of baseball."
Three MSU players posted multiple hits, led by junior infielder Trent Farquhar going 3-for-5 with four RBI and two runs scored, with three RBI coming on a bases-loaded double in the second to spark the northern Spartans' scoring. Farquhar finished with two doubles and a single, and also drew a walk.
Junior outfielder Greg Ziegler was 3-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI, knocking two singles and a double.
Sophomore infielder Sam Busch was 2-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored, joining Farquhar with a pair of doubles, including a two-run knock down the right-field line in the seventh. Junior infielder Brock Vradenburg, junior outfielder Jack Frank, senior outfielder Casey Mayes and junior infielder Dillon Kark all laced a hit apiece. Junior infielder Mitch Jebb drew a pair of walks and scored two runs, matched by sophomore catcher Bryan Broecker.
On the mound, freshman Joseph Dzierwa made the first start of his MSU Spartan career and went 6.0 IP, ringing up five strikeouts, only yielding four runs through 5.2 IP, before allowing a two-out grand slam in the sixth, but bouncing back to get out of the inning with a groundout. The win improved the freshman southpaw to 2-0 on the young season after getting the win in last week's 15-8 Victory for MSU over Michigan in Phoenix, becoming just the second pitcher in the Big Ten Conference to be 2-0 at this point of the day and season.
"I thought Joseph Dzierwa was pretty good again today," Boss said. "He had a tough start walking a guy and giving up a double, and then really kind of settled into it and, unfortunately, kind of made one bad pitch with the grand slam, but, other than that he was really, really good. He keeps showing signs of what we think he can be here and he's just going to continue to get better and better and better. I'm really proud of Joe for getting his second win today."
Sophomore Dominic Pianto came on and pitched 1.0 IP with two Ks, two hits and one run, sophomore Ryan Szczepaniak went 1.0 IP, also with a pair of punchouts, then freshman Nolan Higgins pitched a scoreless ninth, also ringing up two Ks to secure the win for the visiting Spartans.
USC Upstate got on the board in the home team's first at bat, leading off with a walk then followed by an RBI double by Daniel Gernon that he tried to stretch into a triple, but the relay from Mayes in left field to Jebb to Kark at third for the tag out denied that, and kept the score at 1-0.
After a scoreless second stanza, the northern Spartans broke through a four-spot in the top of the third. After Busch reached on an error, Kark followed with a single through the right side and Ziegler laid down a picture-perfect bunt down the third base line to load the bases. That turned MSU's lineup over and brought leadoff hitter Farquhar to the plate, and he cleared the bases with a double to the gap in left center. Jebb followed with a sacrifice bunt to move Farquhar over to third, and Vradenburg drove him in with a groundout to first, for a 4-1 Michigan State lead.
MSU added to its advantage in the fourth, as Broecker sparked the rally by getting hit by a pitch. Busch was up next, and knocked a double to the right-center gap and moved to third when USC Upstate tried to nab Broecker at home, but he slide in safely under the tag and a 5-1 lead. Ziegler was up to bat next and he mirrored Busch's double by knocking a line drive to the gap in right center to plate Busch to put Michigan State on top, 6-1.
USC Upstate closed to 6-5 in the top of the seventh on a grand slam by Grant Sherrod, before Dzierwa got out of the frame with a groundout to end his day going 6.0 complete innings.
Michigan State quickly countered by hanging five runs on the board in the top of the seventh, with Frank and Busch knocking doubles, with Frank driving in one and Busch two. Farquhar and Mayes laced singles, and three other MSU batters drew walks, as MSU batted around and faced three different USC Upstate pitchers in the frame to regain a large lead at 11-5.
After the stretch, Upstate scored a run in the home half of the seventh, but Michigan State got the run back in the top of the eighth. Jebb led off with a walk and darted to third on a Vradenburg single, and scored on a fielder's choice off the bat of Frank, as MSU doubled up upstate, 12-6.
The northern Spartans added a run in the top of the ninth on a Farquhar RBI single, driving in Ziegler who laced a one-out single to right and stole second, capping MSU's scoring at 13-6.
Michigan State continues its OneSpartanburg, Inc. Baseball Classic action on Saturday, Feb. 25, playing at Gardner-Webb in a 2 p.m. first pitch, before wrapping up the weekend at Presbyterian on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Fans can follow the action with "Watch Live" and "Live Stats" links at MSUSpartans.com, where available.
The win moved MSU to 4-1 on the young season, marking the second time in last four seasons that Michigan State opened 4-1.
Friday's game was the opener of MSU's second weekend of play since the mass shooting on the East Lansing campus on Monday, Feb. 13, when three MSU students were killed and five were hospitalized. Michigan State University canceled classes this week following the deaths of the three students – juniors Arielle Anderson and Alexandria Verner and sophomore Brian Fraser.
Michigan State players again wore "Spartan Strong" stickers on their helmets in a tribute, and several players had personal tributes as well.
MSU knocked 13 hits for 12 runs in the game, as Michigan State has tallied double-figure hits for the fourth time in the five games played this season, while logging double-digit runs for the second time. The visiting Spartans plated four runs in the third, four in the fourth, then hung a five-spot on the board in the seventh and adding a run in each of the eighth and ninth frames. Home-standing USC Upstate got a run in the first, then four in the sixth on a two-out grand slam and one in the seventh, as the Michigan State pitching kept the southern Spartans from rallying.
"I'm very proud of our guys today, we jumped out to a lead and USC Upstate is a good ballclub over there and we knew they weren't going to quit," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. "When they got the big grand slam and made it close, our guys really responded, so I'm very proud of our guys and the approach that they took all day long. We just keep playing hard and nothing really fazes these guys and they showed that today, so we put together nine pretty good innings of baseball."
Three MSU players posted multiple hits, led by junior infielder Trent Farquhar going 3-for-5 with four RBI and two runs scored, with three RBI coming on a bases-loaded double in the second to spark the northern Spartans' scoring. Farquhar finished with two doubles and a single, and also drew a walk.
Junior outfielder Greg Ziegler was 3-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI, knocking two singles and a double.
Sophomore infielder Sam Busch was 2-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored, joining Farquhar with a pair of doubles, including a two-run knock down the right-field line in the seventh. Junior infielder Brock Vradenburg, junior outfielder Jack Frank, senior outfielder Casey Mayes and junior infielder Dillon Kark all laced a hit apiece. Junior infielder Mitch Jebb drew a pair of walks and scored two runs, matched by sophomore catcher Bryan Broecker.
On the mound, freshman Joseph Dzierwa made the first start of his MSU Spartan career and went 6.0 IP, ringing up five strikeouts, only yielding four runs through 5.2 IP, before allowing a two-out grand slam in the sixth, but bouncing back to get out of the inning with a groundout. The win improved the freshman southpaw to 2-0 on the young season after getting the win in last week's 15-8 Victory for MSU over Michigan in Phoenix, becoming just the second pitcher in the Big Ten Conference to be 2-0 at this point of the day and season.
"I thought Joseph Dzierwa was pretty good again today," Boss said. "He had a tough start walking a guy and giving up a double, and then really kind of settled into it and, unfortunately, kind of made one bad pitch with the grand slam, but, other than that he was really, really good. He keeps showing signs of what we think he can be here and he's just going to continue to get better and better and better. I'm really proud of Joe for getting his second win today."
Sophomore Dominic Pianto came on and pitched 1.0 IP with two Ks, two hits and one run, sophomore Ryan Szczepaniak went 1.0 IP, also with a pair of punchouts, then freshman Nolan Higgins pitched a scoreless ninth, also ringing up two Ks to secure the win for the visiting Spartans.
USC Upstate got on the board in the home team's first at bat, leading off with a walk then followed by an RBI double by Daniel Gernon that he tried to stretch into a triple, but the relay from Mayes in left field to Jebb to Kark at third for the tag out denied that, and kept the score at 1-0.
After a scoreless second stanza, the northern Spartans broke through a four-spot in the top of the third. After Busch reached on an error, Kark followed with a single through the right side and Ziegler laid down a picture-perfect bunt down the third base line to load the bases. That turned MSU's lineup over and brought leadoff hitter Farquhar to the plate, and he cleared the bases with a double to the gap in left center. Jebb followed with a sacrifice bunt to move Farquhar over to third, and Vradenburg drove him in with a groundout to first, for a 4-1 Michigan State lead.
MSU added to its advantage in the fourth, as Broecker sparked the rally by getting hit by a pitch. Busch was up next, and knocked a double to the right-center gap and moved to third when USC Upstate tried to nab Broecker at home, but he slide in safely under the tag and a 5-1 lead. Ziegler was up to bat next and he mirrored Busch's double by knocking a line drive to the gap in right center to plate Busch to put Michigan State on top, 6-1.
USC Upstate closed to 6-5 in the top of the seventh on a grand slam by Grant Sherrod, before Dzierwa got out of the frame with a groundout to end his day going 6.0 complete innings.
Michigan State quickly countered by hanging five runs on the board in the top of the seventh, with Frank and Busch knocking doubles, with Frank driving in one and Busch two. Farquhar and Mayes laced singles, and three other MSU batters drew walks, as MSU batted around and faced three different USC Upstate pitchers in the frame to regain a large lead at 11-5.
After the stretch, Upstate scored a run in the home half of the seventh, but Michigan State got the run back in the top of the eighth. Jebb led off with a walk and darted to third on a Vradenburg single, and scored on a fielder's choice off the bat of Frank, as MSU doubled up upstate, 12-6.
The northern Spartans added a run in the top of the ninth on a Farquhar RBI single, driving in Ziegler who laced a one-out single to right and stole second, capping MSU's scoring at 13-6.
Michigan State continues its OneSpartanburg, Inc. Baseball Classic action on Saturday, Feb. 25, playing at Gardner-Webb in a 2 p.m. first pitch, before wrapping up the weekend at Presbyterian on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Fans can follow the action with "Watch Live" and "Live Stats" links at MSUSpartans.com, where available.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Dzierwa, Joseph (2-0)
L: DUTTON, Reese (1-1)
Batting:
2B: Farquhar, Trent 2 ; Frank, Jack 1 ; Busch, Sam 2 ; Ziegler, Greg 1
RBI: Farquhar, Trent 4 ; Vradenburg, Brock 1 ; Frank, Jack 2 ; Mayes, Casey 2 ; Busch, Sam 3 ; Ziegler, Greg 1
SH: Jebb, Mitch 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Farquhar, Trent 2 ; Jebb, Mitch 2 ; Frank, Jack 1 ; Mayes, Casey 1 ; Broecker, Bryan 2 ; Busch, Sam 2 ; Kark, Dillon 1 ; Ziegler, Greg 2
SB: Frank, Jack 1 ; Mayes, Casey 1 ; Ziegler, Greg 1
HBP: Vradenburg, Brock 1 ; Frank, Jack 1 ; Mayes, Casey 1 ; Broecker, Bryan 1
Batting:
2B: GERNON, Daniel 1 ; RABON, Noah 2 ; PEREIRA, David 1
HR: SHERROD, Grant 1
RBI: GERNON, Daniel 1 ; RABON, Noah 1 ; SHERROD, Grant 4
Base Running:
RUNS: HAMILTON, Troy 1 ; GERNON, Daniel 2 ; RABON, Noah 1 ; CARUSO, Cole 1 ; SHERROD, Grant 1
Game Leaders
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