Spartan Baseball Topped By Presbyterian, 8-6, Sunday
2/26/2023 5:28:00 PM | Baseball
MSU belts three HR in loss to wrap up OneSpartanburg, Inc. Baseball Classic action.
The Spartans ended the OneSpartanburg, Inc. Baseball Classic with 1-2 record, following a 13-6 Victory for MSU at USC Upstate in Spartanburg, S.C., on Friday, before a 7-3 loss to Gardner-Webb on Saturday in Boiling Springs, N.C., prior to Sunday's loss to PC in Clinton, S.C., rounding out the six-team classic, joined by fellow visiting teams Northwestern and Toledo.
Sunday's loss moves MSU to 4-3 on the season. PC moved to 5-2 with the win, as the Spartans were making their first trip to Clinton, S.C., since 1948.
MSU knocked 11 hits, including three home runs, with junior infielder Brock Vradenburg, sophomore catcher Bryan Broecker and junior outfielder Jack Frank all leaving the yard for the Spartans.
Michigan State tried to rally in the ninth, getting two on with two outs, but the Spartan rally and the game ended on a strikeout.
"I'm very disappointed in today's outcome, and it was just a disappointing weekend for us. Overall, I think we did some good things both yesterday and today, but it wasn't quite enough," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. "I give our guys credit, we put ourselves in a position where we can tie the game or take the lead in the ninth, but we weren't able to quite get it done, so credit to Presbyterian, offensively, they were really good today. We need to be better next weekend."
Sunday completed MSU's second weekend of games 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.
Presbyterian had a moment of silence in recognition of the Michigan State community prior to the National Anthem before the game on Sunday.
Vradenburg finished 3-for-5 with three RBI and a run scored, while senior outfielder Casey Mayes and junior infielder Dillon Kark were both 2-for-4 with Mayes scoring a run. Junior infielder Mitch Jebb was 1-for-3 with a run scored, while junior infielder Trent Farquhar was 1-for-4 with a run scored, while Broecker finished 1-for-5 with two RBI and one run scored and Frank was 1-for-5 with the RBI and run scored.
On the mound, senior Andrew Carson started and went 3.0 IP, with four strikeouts, while yielding five hits, five runs and one walk. Sophomore Ryan Szczepaniak took over and went 1.1 IP with two strikeouts, one hit, two runs and three walks. Senior Wyatt Rush went the next 2.2 IP, ringing up five Ks, including one to end the seventh with the bases loaded full of Blue Hose players. Redshirt-sophomore Dominic Pianto pitched a 1-2-3 eighth, with one strikeout.
MSU got on the board early, as Farquhar swung at the first pitch of the game and laced a single to left center. Two batters later, Vradenburg belted a home run over the bushes beyond the left-center field at PC Baseball Complex for an early 2-0 Spartan lead.
Presbyterian got a run in the home half of the first on an RBI double, adding another run in the second, capitalizing on an MSU error, to tie it up at 2-2. The Blue Hose went ahead with three runs in the third, on four hits in the frame with a pair of doubles and two singles, to take a 5-2 lead.
Michigan State closed to 5-4 in the top of the fourth on Broecker's two-run HR, then tied it up at 5-all in the fifth. Jebb started the rally with a one-out single to left, then swiped second. Vradenburg drove him in with an RBI single to right to level the score at 5-5.
The tie game didn't last very long as Presbyterian hit a two-run HR by Dalton Reeves to open a 7-5 lead, and later had two on, then MSU made pitching change, bringing in Rush to replace Szczepaniak. After a bung single, Rush got out of the bases-loaded jam with a strikeout to keep it at a two-run deficit at 7-5.
PC added a run after the seventh-inning stretch on a solo HR by Reeves for an 8-5 advantage.
Frank led off the top of the eighth with a solo home run to right center to pull MSU within, 8-6.
The Spartans threatened in the top of the ninth as Vradenburg laced a two-out single to center and Ziegler followed with a walk, but a strikeout ended the MSU rally and the game.
Michigan State head home to East Lansing for the week of practice, and returns to South Carolina next weekend on its Spring Break, opening the weekend in Charleston, before heading back to Greenville for the remainder of the week, playing at the Spartans' home-away-from home, Fluor Field, home of the Greenville Drive. MSU plays at College of Charleston on Friday, March 3; at Charleston Southern on Saturday, March 4; then back at College of Charleston on Sunday, March 5.
The Spartans then play Air Force in a neutral-site meeting on Monday, March 6 at Shipyard Park. Michigan State then heads to Greenville, S.C. to play at Fluor Field, where MSU will meet Wofford on Wednesday, March 8, before hosting the First Pitch Invitational, taking on Western Carolina and Kansas in a rotating schedule March 10-12. MSU's weekend schedule is subject to change.
Fans can follow the action with "Watch Live" and "Live Stats" links at MSUSpartans.com, where available.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: MCDANIEL, Charlie (1-1)
L: Szczepaniak, Ryan (0-1)
S: SMITH, Tanner (2)

Batting:
HR: Vradenburg, Brock 1 ; Frank, Jack 1 ; Broecker, Bryan 1
RBI: Vradenburg, Brock 3 ; Frank, Jack 1 ; Broecker, Bryan 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Farquhar, Trent 1 ; Jebb, Mitch 1 ; Vradenburg, Brock 1 ; Frank, Jack 1 ; Mayes, Casey 1 ; Broecker, Bryan 1
SB: Jebb, Mitch 1 ; Mayes, Casey 2
HBP: Jebb, Mitch 1

Batting:
2B: REEVES, Dalton 2 ; CUERVO, Evan 1
HR: REEVES, Dalton 2
RBI: REEVES, Dalton 5 ; GORMAN, Jack 1 ; CUERVO, Evan 1 ; FAHR, Brody 1
Base Running:
RUNS: DRAGOO, Joel 3 ; REEVES, Dalton 3 ; GORMAN, Jack 1 ; CUERVO, Evan 1
SB: GORMAN, Jack 1
CS: DECKER, Kyle 1
HBP: RIOS, Lorenzo 1