Monday, March 6
Shipyard Park | Charleston, S.C.
12 p.m.
Michigan State University
5-6
4
vs
7
Air Force
4-9
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Air Force
0
3
0
0
0
1
2
1
0
7
12
0
Michigan State
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
1
4
11
1
Spartans Topped By Air Force At Shipyard Park
3/6/2023 6:56:00 PM | Baseball
MSU wraps up extended weekend in Charleston with defeat.
CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Michigan State baseball was downed by Air Force, 7-4, in a rare Monday matinee contest at scenic Shipyard Park to wrap up MSU's extended weekend in Charleston.
After Michigan State and Air Force swapped opponents over the weekend in both playing College of Charleston and Charleston Southern, the Spartans and Falcons met at scenic Shipyard Park, surrounded by the Wando River in Charleston.
Monday's game also concluded the Spartans' first leg of their Spring Break trip to South Carolina, as MSU will now head to Greenville, to its home away from home, Fluor Field, home of the Greenville Drive.
MSU had four runs on 11 hits in sliding to 5-6 on the young season. Air Force scored its seven runs on 12 hits, improving to 4-9.
"I think it was a day of missed opportunities for us, which is too bad. I think we had some offensive opportunities early in the game that we took advantage of a couple and we left some runs out there, so that was a little disappointing," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. "We missed some opportunities on the mound as well, and it's unfortunate, we were pretty thin in the bullpen today because of a couple injuries and some other extenuating circumstances, so we weren't at full strength out of the bullpen and unfortunately that hurt us."
Monday was only the second official meeting on the diamond between Michigan State and Air Force, having previously met in a fall scrimmage in 2015, and the only other official meeting coming in 1988. The Spartan team witnessed first hand the pageantry and presentation of Air Force lining along the first base line during the National Anthem, as well as post-game handshakes in which the Air Force team takes off their hats when shaking hands.
"I've known (Air Force head coach) Mike Kazlausky for a long time and he's as first-class as it gets; he's a guy that loves Air Force, he loves our country, and he takes a lot of pride in what the Air Force Academy is," Boss said. "It's an impressive group over there from top-to-bottom, so I think it certainly puts things into perspective when you think about in two, three, four years where those guys are going to be scattered across the world defending our country. Certainly before and after the game, it's truly an honor to shake those guys' hands and we absolutely appreciate everything they do and the sacrifices they make putting their lives on the line for us."
Monday wrapped up Michigan State's third weekend 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 the rest of the week following the deaths of the three students – juniors Arielle Anderson and Alexandria Verner and sophomore Brian Fraser. Classes resumed on Monday, Feb. 20.
Air Force players, coaches and staff offered their condolences to their Michigan State counterparts before and after the game. MSU players again wore "Spartan Strong" stickers on their helmets in a tribute, and several players had personal tributes as well.
When the game got going, Michigan State was led by redshirt-freshman Sam Busch, who went 2-for-4 with two RBI and one run, with both hits going for extra bases with an RBI triple in the first and an RBI double in the eighth. Junior infielder Trent Farquhar and sophomore catcher Bryan Broecker were both 2-for-4 and each scored a run. Junior infielder Brock Vradenburg was 1-for-5 with two runs scored, while junior outfielder Jack Frank, senior outfielder Casey Mayes, junior infielder Dillon Kark and redshirt-freshman infielder Jacob Anderson all had one hit apiece.
Defensively, Broecker threw out a career-high three potential base stealers, including two in one inning, nabbing two Air Force runners in the second stanza.
On the mound, senior Andrew Carson started, going 2.0 IP with four hits, three runs, two walks and two strikeouts, before redshirt-sophomore Adam Berghorst took over, and he chalked up five strikeouts in 4.0 IP, including striking out the side in the fourth. Sophomore Ryan Szczepaniak (3 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 2 K), junior Nick Powers (2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 1 K) and redshirt-sophomore Noah Matheny (0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K) all went 1.0 IP apiece.
"I thought Adam Berghorst did some good things today, and it was good to get Noah Matheny back out there and I thought he did a nice job as well," Boss said. "We strung some hits together but couldn't get the big hit when we needed it. So it's disappointing, and we need to be better."
Michigan State jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the home half of the first, on Busch's RBI triple, plating Vradenburg who reached on a fielder's choice.
Air Force took the lead with a three-run second inning, with a two-run triple by Aerik Joe and an RBI single by Matt Thompson. The Falcons added on with a run in the sixth on an RBI double by Joe, driving in Trayden Tamiya for a 4-1 Air Force advantage. In the seventh, the Falcons added two runs on a two-run single by Chase Spencer, and one more in the eighth on an RBI single by Sam Kulasingam for a 7-1 lead.
Vradenburg ignited a one-out rally with a single and Busch followed with an RBI double down the left field line. Broecker was up next and he singled to left center to drive in Busch and pull MSU within, 7-3.
After Matheny worked around a leadoff HBP, as the runner was erased from the basepaths by Broecker while trying to swipe second, and Matheny struck the next two Falcons out.
Farquhar sparked a two-out Spartan rally in the ninth with a bunt single, and moved to third on a Frank single, and scored on a wild pitch as Michigan State closed to 7-4, but a groundout ended the MSU rally and the game.
MSU heads to Greenville, S.C. to play at Fluor Field, the Spartans' home-away-from-home, Fluor Field, home of the Greenville Drive, where MSU will meet Wofford on Wednesday, March 8 at 1:30 p.m., 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.
After Michigan State and Air Force swapped opponents over the weekend in both playing College of Charleston and Charleston Southern, the Spartans and Falcons met at scenic Shipyard Park, surrounded by the Wando River in Charleston.
Monday's game also concluded the Spartans' first leg of their Spring Break trip to South Carolina, as MSU will now head to Greenville, to its home away from home, Fluor Field, home of the Greenville Drive.
MSU had four runs on 11 hits in sliding to 5-6 on the young season. Air Force scored its seven runs on 12 hits, improving to 4-9.
"I think it was a day of missed opportunities for us, which is too bad. I think we had some offensive opportunities early in the game that we took advantage of a couple and we left some runs out there, so that was a little disappointing," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. "We missed some opportunities on the mound as well, and it's unfortunate, we were pretty thin in the bullpen today because of a couple injuries and some other extenuating circumstances, so we weren't at full strength out of the bullpen and unfortunately that hurt us."
Monday was only the second official meeting on the diamond between Michigan State and Air Force, having previously met in a fall scrimmage in 2015, and the only other official meeting coming in 1988. The Spartan team witnessed first hand the pageantry and presentation of Air Force lining along the first base line during the National Anthem, as well as post-game handshakes in which the Air Force team takes off their hats when shaking hands.
"I've known (Air Force head coach) Mike Kazlausky for a long time and he's as first-class as it gets; he's a guy that loves Air Force, he loves our country, and he takes a lot of pride in what the Air Force Academy is," Boss said. "It's an impressive group over there from top-to-bottom, so I think it certainly puts things into perspective when you think about in two, three, four years where those guys are going to be scattered across the world defending our country. Certainly before and after the game, it's truly an honor to shake those guys' hands and we absolutely appreciate everything they do and the sacrifices they make putting their lives on the line for us."
Final score from @TheShipyardPark:
— Michigan State Baseball (@MSUBaseball) March 6, 2023
Air Force 7, Michigan State 4
Good luck to @AF_Baseball in all future endeavors and in protecting our country!! #MoreThanSports#GoGreen | #SpartanStrong pic.twitter.com/8eMYrq9jVp
Monday wrapped up Michigan State's third weekend 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 the rest of the week following the deaths of the three students – juniors Arielle Anderson and Alexandria Verner and sophomore Brian Fraser. Classes resumed on Monday, Feb. 20.
Air Force players, coaches and staff offered their condolences to their Michigan State counterparts before and after the game. MSU players again wore "Spartan Strong" stickers on their helmets in a tribute, and several players had personal tributes as well.
When the game got going, Michigan State was led by redshirt-freshman Sam Busch, who went 2-for-4 with two RBI and one run, with both hits going for extra bases with an RBI triple in the first and an RBI double in the eighth. Junior infielder Trent Farquhar and sophomore catcher Bryan Broecker were both 2-for-4 and each scored a run. Junior infielder Brock Vradenburg was 1-for-5 with two runs scored, while junior outfielder Jack Frank, senior outfielder Casey Mayes, junior infielder Dillon Kark and redshirt-freshman infielder Jacob Anderson all had one hit apiece.
Defensively, Broecker threw out a career-high three potential base stealers, including two in one inning, nabbing two Air Force runners in the second stanza.
On the mound, senior Andrew Carson started, going 2.0 IP with four hits, three runs, two walks and two strikeouts, before redshirt-sophomore Adam Berghorst took over, and he chalked up five strikeouts in 4.0 IP, including striking out the side in the fourth. Sophomore Ryan Szczepaniak (3 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 2 K), junior Nick Powers (2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 1 K) and redshirt-sophomore Noah Matheny (0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K) all went 1.0 IP apiece.
"I thought Adam Berghorst did some good things today, and it was good to get Noah Matheny back out there and I thought he did a nice job as well," Boss said. "We strung some hits together but couldn't get the big hit when we needed it. So it's disappointing, and we need to be better."
Michigan State jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the home half of the first, on Busch's RBI triple, plating Vradenburg who reached on a fielder's choice.
Air Force took the lead with a three-run second inning, with a two-run triple by Aerik Joe and an RBI single by Matt Thompson. The Falcons added on with a run in the sixth on an RBI double by Joe, driving in Trayden Tamiya for a 4-1 Air Force advantage. In the seventh, the Falcons added two runs on a two-run single by Chase Spencer, and one more in the eighth on an RBI single by Sam Kulasingam for a 7-1 lead.
Vradenburg ignited a one-out rally with a single and Busch followed with an RBI double down the left field line. Broecker was up next and he singled to left center to drive in Busch and pull MSU within, 7-3.
After Matheny worked around a leadoff HBP, as the runner was erased from the basepaths by Broecker while trying to swipe second, and Matheny struck the next two Falcons out.
Farquhar sparked a two-out Spartan rally in the ninth with a bunt single, and moved to third on a Frank single, and scored on a wild pitch as Michigan State closed to 7-4, but a groundout ended the MSU rally and the game.
MSU heads to Greenville, S.C. to play at Fluor Field, the Spartans' home-away-from-home, Fluor Field, home of the Greenville Drive, where MSU will meet Wofford on Wednesday, March 8 at 1:30 p.m., 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: Jake Sansing (1-1)
L: Carson, Andrew (1-1)
Batting:
2B: Matt Thompson 1 ; Sam Kulasingam 1 ; Aerik Joe 2
3B: Aerik Joe 1
RBI: Matt Thompson 1 ; Sam Kulasingam 1 ; Chase Spencer 2 ; Aerik Joe 3
SH: Blake Covin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Matt Thompson 1 ; Sam Kulasingam 1 ; Trayden Tamiya 2 ; Landon Boyd 1 ; Aerik Joe 2
CS: Matt Thompson 1 ; Jay Thomason 2
HBP: Matt Thompson 1 ; Jay Thomason 1
Batting:
2B: Busch, Sam 1
3B: Busch, Sam 1
RBI: Busch, Sam 2 ; Broecker, Bryan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Farquhar, Trent 1 ; Vradenburg, Brock 2 ; Busch, Sam 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
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RHP
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C
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RHP
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INF
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OF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
RHP
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INF
/ BaseballPursuit to Greatness | Spartans All-Access
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