Tuesday, March 28
Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field | Kalamazoo, Mich.
3:05 p.m.
Michigan State University
14-8
8
at
6
.png&width=60&height=60&type=webp)
Western Michigan
5-17
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Michigan State
0
0
0
1
4
0
2
0
1
8
11
2
Western Michigan
0
0
0
2
1
1
0
2
0
6
13
0
Michigan State Uses Home Runs To Beat Western Michigan Tuesday
3/28/2023 9:33:00 PM | Baseball
Spartans knock three round-trippers on day, including Sam Thompson’s first as a Spartan.
KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- Michigan State baseball used three home runs to earn a hard-fought 8-6 Victory for MSU at Western Michigan Tuesday afternoon at WMU's Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field, as the Spartans spoiled the Broncos home opener.
Sophomore designated hitter Sam Busch and junior outfielder Jack Frank went back-to-back jacks in the fifth inning, and senior catcher Sam Thompson hit his first home run as a Spartan in the seventh.
After moving up the game a day earlier in what was MSU's return trip in the swap of last Wednesday's home-and-home with WMU, won by Michigan State, 8-3, the Spartans completed the season sweep of the Broncos for the second time in last three season series. MSU has now beaten WMU the last three match-ups as part of winning six of the last seven, seven of the last nine and 15 of the last 18 meetings, closing WMU's all-time series lead to 95-87. Tuesday was also Michigan State's fourth-straight win in Kalamazoo, also cutting Western Michigan's lead to 45-38 on WMU's home field. MSU improved to 18-8 against WMU under head coach Jake Boss Jr.
Tuesday's close score of 8-6 fit the tightly contested match-ups of last, as 11 of the last 15 meetings have been decided by three runs or less.
Overall, Michigan State has its last three games and nine of its last 10 in improving to 14-8 on the season. Western Michigan was defeated in its fifth-straight game against a Big Ten opponent, having gotten swept in a three-game series at Iowa over the weekend in between the two match-ups with the Spartans. WMU has lost seven in a row overall in sliding to 5-17 on the season.
The Spartans scored their eight runs on 11 hits, while the Broncos scored their six runs on 13 hits. MSU scored one in the fourth, four in the fifth, two in the seventh and one in the ninth, on an insurance run RBI single by Thompson, scoring senior outfielder Casey Mayes. Senior reliever Wyatt Rush then pitched a shutdown ninth inning to earn the save and secure the Victory for MSU.
"I'm real proud of our guys today for grinding out a good win," Boss said. "I thought their starter was really good again today as he was last week against us. But our guys again stayed the course, put up a couple crooked numbers on the scoreboard with a couple of home runs. The play in the ninth with the hustle double out of Casey Mayes, and Sam Thompson with the RBI, that's kind of emblematic of how we want to play, so again, credit to our guys for hanging in there. Wyatt Rush doing a great job and the ninth was what we need out of our senior leaders."
Busch hit a home run in his second-straight game after a round-tripper in Sunday's 12-6 win over Purdue, with a two-run blast in the fifth inning on Tuesday. Frank followed Busch with a solo shot to right to complete the back-to-back blasts, and Thompson slammed his first home run as a Spartan with a two-run homer in the seventh.
"I'm really happy for Sam Thompson. I think he's a guy that's he's worked hard and he struggled a little bit offensively but was able to obviously have a good day today. And I thought he really caught well, too. He blocked the ball in the dirt well, nothing got by him. I thought he really played well today," Boss said. "With Sam Busch, that's what he's capable of, he's a big, strong, left-handed hitter that is capable of leaving the yard at anytime, and thankfully for us, he was able to do that today."
The three round-trippers Tuesday was MSU's fourth game this season with multiple home runs, and the Spartans have three or more homers in all four games, as Tuesday was the third contest with three home runs, along with a season-high five homer at Charleston Southern on March 4.
Thompson ended the game 2-for-4 with three RBI and a run scored, adding an RBI single in the ninth for a Spartan insurance run after the Broncos closed to 7-6 in the eighth inning. Frank finished 2-for-4 with an RBI and run scored, while Busch was 2-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored.
Junior infielder Brock Vradenburg was 1-for-3 with a run driven in and a run scored, while fellow junior infielder Dillon Kark and senior outfielder Casey Mayes were both 1-for-3 with Kark scoring two runs and Mayes scoring one, touching home on Thompson's RBI single in the ninth after sparking the rally by beating out a bloop double to left-center. Redshirt-junior outfielder Greg Ziegler was 1-for-5 with an RBI. Junior infielder Trent Farquhar was 1-for-4, while junior infielder Mitch Jebb drew a walk, stole second and scored a run.
On the mound, senior reliever Brian Martin earned the win, going 2.0 IP in relief of redshirt-sophomore starter Adam Berghorst, who went the first 3.2 IP of the game, scattering six hits with two runs and two strikeouts. Martin took over in the fourth and sprayed four Bronco hits in allowing two runs. Junior reliever Noah Matheny (0.0 IP, 1 BB), freshman Gavin Sitarz (1.1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 1K) and redshirt-sophomore Harrison Cook (1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 K) bridged the gap to senior Wyatt Rush. The Spartan closer pitched the ninth, with just one hit and two strikeouts to pick up his second save in three days after earning the save in Sunday's game one win over Purdue, as part of his fifth save of the season and seventh of his career, just two shy of breaking into MSU's career saves top 10 list.
In a rematch with WMU's Luke Thelen, after being no-hit through four frames last Wednesday by Thelen, the Spartans got in the hit column in the top of the second as Busch started things off in the frame with a line-drive single to center, but nothing else going.
MSU threatened in the third, loading the bases with two outs, but a strikeout thwarted the threat and left the bases full of Spartans without a run.
The visiting Spartans got on the board in the fourth frame as Kark sparked the rally with a single down the right-field line, and moved to second on a Mayes walk. Two batters later, Ziegler singled to right to drive in Kark for a 1-0 lead.
WMU quickly countered with two runs in the fifth, with a two-out rally, starting with a single, then a double before three-straight hit by pitch for a 2-1 Bronco lead.
The Spartans erupted for a four-spot in the top of the fifth. Jebb ignited the rally with a walk and stole second, before Vradenburg drove him in with an RBI single to right. Busch then followed with a two-run home run to right-center field for his second game in a row with a HR. Frank then jacked his no-doubter to right field for a 5-2 Spartan lead.
Western Michigan got a run back in the home half of the fifth and another in the sixth, with leadoff doubles in both frames, to pull within 5-4.
Again, Kark sparked the rally by leading off the seventh with a four-pitch walk, and Mayes sac bunted Kark to second. Thompson then followed by belting his first home run for the Green & White with a shot to left center and a 7-4 Spartan advantage, for his second career collegiate home run, with one round-tripper during his Kent State tenure.
WMU got the two runs back on a two-run double by Gavin Doyle to close to 7-6.
Frank led off the ninth with a single, but was erased from the basepaths trying to steal second, and two batters later Mayes doubled to left center, beating out a blooper that fell between the Broncos left fielder, center fielder and shortstop. Thompson then followed by slapping a single to left field and Mayes scampered home for the Spartans' insurance run.
Rush came on in the ninth and yielded a leadoff single, but then slammed the door on a Bronco rally with back-to-back strikeouts, before inducing a hard grounder to first, where Vradenburg made a diving stop to his right, then dove back to his left to tag first base for the out and seal the Victory for MSU.
Michigan State hits the road for its first B1G road series, traveling to Piscataway, N.J. to play a three-game series at Rutgers, Friday-Sunday, March 31-April 2. The Spartans vs. Scarlet Knights series gets underway on Friday at 3 p.m., followed by the middle game of the series on Saturday at 2 p.m., before the series finale on Sunday at 1 p.m.
MSU then plays in the 2023 Crosstown Showdown, meeting the Lansing Lugnuts, the local low-A affiliate of the Oakland A's, in an exhibition game on Tuesday, April 4 at 7 p.m.
Fans can follow Spartan baseball action with links at MSUSpartans.com.
MSU's schedule is subject to change, stay tuned to MSUSpartans.com and @MSUBaseball on Twitter for schedule updates.
Sophomore designated hitter Sam Busch and junior outfielder Jack Frank went back-to-back jacks in the fifth inning, and senior catcher Sam Thompson hit his first home run as a Spartan in the seventh.
After moving up the game a day earlier in what was MSU's return trip in the swap of last Wednesday's home-and-home with WMU, won by Michigan State, 8-3, the Spartans completed the season sweep of the Broncos for the second time in last three season series. MSU has now beaten WMU the last three match-ups as part of winning six of the last seven, seven of the last nine and 15 of the last 18 meetings, closing WMU's all-time series lead to 95-87. Tuesday was also Michigan State's fourth-straight win in Kalamazoo, also cutting Western Michigan's lead to 45-38 on WMU's home field. MSU improved to 18-8 against WMU under head coach Jake Boss Jr.
Tuesday's close score of 8-6 fit the tightly contested match-ups of last, as 11 of the last 15 meetings have been decided by three runs or less.
Overall, Michigan State has its last three games and nine of its last 10 in improving to 14-8 on the season. Western Michigan was defeated in its fifth-straight game against a Big Ten opponent, having gotten swept in a three-game series at Iowa over the weekend in between the two match-ups with the Spartans. WMU has lost seven in a row overall in sliding to 5-17 on the season.
The Spartans scored their eight runs on 11 hits, while the Broncos scored their six runs on 13 hits. MSU scored one in the fourth, four in the fifth, two in the seventh and one in the ninth, on an insurance run RBI single by Thompson, scoring senior outfielder Casey Mayes. Senior reliever Wyatt Rush then pitched a shutdown ninth inning to earn the save and secure the Victory for MSU.
"I'm real proud of our guys today for grinding out a good win," Boss said. "I thought their starter was really good again today as he was last week against us. But our guys again stayed the course, put up a couple crooked numbers on the scoreboard with a couple of home runs. The play in the ninth with the hustle double out of Casey Mayes, and Sam Thompson with the RBI, that's kind of emblematic of how we want to play, so again, credit to our guys for hanging in there. Wyatt Rush doing a great job and the ninth was what we need out of our senior leaders."
Busch hit a home run in his second-straight game after a round-tripper in Sunday's 12-6 win over Purdue, with a two-run blast in the fifth inning on Tuesday. Frank followed Busch with a solo shot to right to complete the back-to-back blasts, and Thompson slammed his first home run as a Spartan with a two-run homer in the seventh.
Sam Thompson smacked the first HR of his Spartan career today with a 2-run #SamSlam!!!#GoGreen | #SpartanStrong | @sam_thompson34 pic.twitter.com/jXFc0nOXT3
— Michigan State Baseball (@MSUBaseball) March 28, 2023
"I'm really happy for Sam Thompson. I think he's a guy that's he's worked hard and he struggled a little bit offensively but was able to obviously have a good day today. And I thought he really caught well, too. He blocked the ball in the dirt well, nothing got by him. I thought he really played well today," Boss said. "With Sam Busch, that's what he's capable of, he's a big, strong, left-handed hitter that is capable of leaving the yard at anytime, and thankfully for us, he was able to do that today."
The three round-trippers Tuesday was MSU's fourth game this season with multiple home runs, and the Spartans have three or more homers in all four games, as Tuesday was the third contest with three home runs, along with a season-high five homer at Charleston Southern on March 4.
Thompson ended the game 2-for-4 with three RBI and a run scored, adding an RBI single in the ninth for a Spartan insurance run after the Broncos closed to 7-6 in the eighth inning. Frank finished 2-for-4 with an RBI and run scored, while Busch was 2-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored.
Junior infielder Brock Vradenburg was 1-for-3 with a run driven in and a run scored, while fellow junior infielder Dillon Kark and senior outfielder Casey Mayes were both 1-for-3 with Kark scoring two runs and Mayes scoring one, touching home on Thompson's RBI single in the ninth after sparking the rally by beating out a bloop double to left-center. Redshirt-junior outfielder Greg Ziegler was 1-for-5 with an RBI. Junior infielder Trent Farquhar was 1-for-4, while junior infielder Mitch Jebb drew a walk, stole second and scored a run.
On the mound, senior reliever Brian Martin earned the win, going 2.0 IP in relief of redshirt-sophomore starter Adam Berghorst, who went the first 3.2 IP of the game, scattering six hits with two runs and two strikeouts. Martin took over in the fourth and sprayed four Bronco hits in allowing two runs. Junior reliever Noah Matheny (0.0 IP, 1 BB), freshman Gavin Sitarz (1.1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 1K) and redshirt-sophomore Harrison Cook (1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 K) bridged the gap to senior Wyatt Rush. The Spartan closer pitched the ninth, with just one hit and two strikeouts to pick up his second save in three days after earning the save in Sunday's game one win over Purdue, as part of his fifth save of the season and seventh of his career, just two shy of breaking into MSU's career saves top 10 list.
In a rematch with WMU's Luke Thelen, after being no-hit through four frames last Wednesday by Thelen, the Spartans got in the hit column in the top of the second as Busch started things off in the frame with a line-drive single to center, but nothing else going.
MSU threatened in the third, loading the bases with two outs, but a strikeout thwarted the threat and left the bases full of Spartans without a run.
The visiting Spartans got on the board in the fourth frame as Kark sparked the rally with a single down the right-field line, and moved to second on a Mayes walk. Two batters later, Ziegler singled to right to drive in Kark for a 1-0 lead.
WMU quickly countered with two runs in the fifth, with a two-out rally, starting with a single, then a double before three-straight hit by pitch for a 2-1 Bronco lead.
The Spartans erupted for a four-spot in the top of the fifth. Jebb ignited the rally with a walk and stole second, before Vradenburg drove him in with an RBI single to right. Busch then followed with a two-run home run to right-center field for his second game in a row with a HR. Frank then jacked his no-doubter to right field for a 5-2 Spartan lead.
Western Michigan got a run back in the home half of the fifth and another in the sixth, with leadoff doubles in both frames, to pull within 5-4.
Again, Kark sparked the rally by leading off the seventh with a four-pitch walk, and Mayes sac bunted Kark to second. Thompson then followed by belting his first home run for the Green & White with a shot to left center and a 7-4 Spartan advantage, for his second career collegiate home run, with one round-tripper during his Kent State tenure.
WMU got the two runs back on a two-run double by Gavin Doyle to close to 7-6.
Frank led off the ninth with a single, but was erased from the basepaths trying to steal second, and two batters later Mayes doubled to left center, beating out a blooper that fell between the Broncos left fielder, center fielder and shortstop. Thompson then followed by slapping a single to left field and Mayes scampered home for the Spartans' insurance run.
Rush came on in the ninth and yielded a leadoff single, but then slammed the door on a Bronco rally with back-to-back strikeouts, before inducing a hard grounder to first, where Vradenburg made a diving stop to his right, then dove back to his left to tag first base for the out and seal the Victory for MSU.
VICTORY FOR MSU!!
— Michigan State Baseball (@MSUBaseball) March 29, 2023
Road Ws = singing the fight song on the bus!! 👏🏼 👏🏼 👏🏼 🎶 🎶 🎶 #VictoryForMSU | #SpartanStrong pic.twitter.com/RECc0WWQ91
Michigan State hits the road for its first B1G road series, traveling to Piscataway, N.J. to play a three-game series at Rutgers, Friday-Sunday, March 31-April 2. The Spartans vs. Scarlet Knights series gets underway on Friday at 3 p.m., followed by the middle game of the series on Saturday at 2 p.m., before the series finale on Sunday at 1 p.m.
MSU then plays in the 2023 Crosstown Showdown, meeting the Lansing Lugnuts, the local low-A affiliate of the Oakland A's, in an exhibition game on Tuesday, April 4 at 7 p.m.
Fans can follow Spartan baseball action with links at MSUSpartans.com.
MSU's schedule is subject to change, stay tuned to MSUSpartans.com and @MSUBaseball on Twitter for schedule updates.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Martin, Brian (1-0)
L: GERNON, Jake (0-1)
S: Rush, Wyatt (5)
Batting:
2B: Mayes, Casey 1
HR: Busch, Sam 1 ; Frank, Jack 1 ; Thompson, Sam 1
RBI: Vradenburg, Brock 1 ; Busch, Sam 2 ; Frank, Jack 1 ; Thompson, Sam 3 ; Ziegler, Greg 1
SH: Mayes, Casey 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jebb, Mitch 1 ; Vradenburg, Brock 1 ; Busch, Sam 1 ; Frank, Jack 1 ; Kark, Dillon 2 ; Mayes, Casey 1 ; Thompson, Sam 1
SB: Jebb, Mitch 2
CS: Farquhar, Trent 1 ; Frank, Jack 1
HBP: Jebb, Mitch 1 ; Vradenburg, Brock 1 ; Kark, Dillon 1
.png&width=32&height=32&type=webp)
Batting:
2B: DOYLE, Gavin 1 ; SULLIVAN, Cade 1 ; SWINEHART, J. 1 ; BUDIG, Greg 1 ; HARRITY, Brendan 1
RBI: KITCHEN, Jackson 2 ; MORRISON, Will 1 ; DOYLE, Gavin 2 ; SWINEHART, J. 1
SF: KITCHEN, Jackson 1
Base Running:
RUNS: KITCHEN, Jackson 1 ; MORRISON, Will 1 ; SULLIVAN, Cade 1 ; ALLEN, Jimmy 1 ; BUDIG, Greg 1 ; HARRITY, Brendan 1
SB: MORRISON, Will 1
HBP: KITCHEN, Jackson 1 ; MORRISON, Will 1 ; HARRITY, Brendan 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
OF/RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ BaseballC
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
OF
/ 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