Saturday, April 29
McLane Stadium at Kobs Field | East Lansing, Mich.
11:05 a.m.
Michigan State University
26-13, 8-5
8
vs
3
Northwestern
7-29, 3-10
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Northwestern
0
0
1
0
1
1
0
0
0
3
5
1
Michigan State
1
0
2
2
0
0
1
2
X
8
9
1
Spartans Sweep Saturday Doubleheader With Wildcats
4/29/2023 7:28:00 PM | Baseball
Box Score 1Box Score 2G1: MSU 8, Northwestern 3 Box Score (PDF)G2: MSU 6, Northwestern 3 Box Score (PDF)
MSU beats Northwestern, 8-3 and 6-3, to win series; Vradenburg belts first HRs at home.
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Solid hitting, highlighted by two home runs from Brock Vradenburg, and standout pitching from a pair of freshmen, spearheaded Michigan State baseball's doubleheader sweep over Northwestern Saturday afternoon at McLane Stadium at Kobs Field.
The Spartans and Wildcats were forced to play a twinbill on Saturday after inclement weather Friday night. It marked MSU's seventh doubleheader of the season, including all four home weekends, in addition to a stretch of the fifth in the last seven weekends. With Saturday's sweep, the Spartans are 12-2 in doubleheaders, winning the last five games in a row and was the Green & White's fifth twinbill sweep.
"The conference doubleheader sweep is huge," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. "I'm really proud of our guys,I thought we played really well today in both games and got good pitching performances out of our starters, two freshmen that were really good today. We swung the bats well and we got some timely hits, and we played clean defense, so it's a very good day for us."
MSU improved to 27-13 overall and 9-5 in Big Ten play with Saturday's two wins, as the Spartans have won their last four games and 10 of their last 13. Northwestern has lost five of its last six overall in sliding to 7-30 overall and 3-11 in B1G action, having dropped the last three conference series.
Michigan State has won the last three match-ups with Northwestern as part of winning 10 of the last 16 and 18 of the last 26 in the series, increasing the all-time lead to 102-55-1.
The Spartans knocked out nine hits in game one and eight hits in the second game.
Vradenburg, MSU's junior infielder, entered Saturday leading the team with 10 home runs, however had never hit one at McLane Stadium at Kobs Field in his career. He finished Saturday, he'd hit two at home, both coming in the second game after belting a solo homer in the first inning and a three-run blast into the Red Cedar River in the sixth inning.
"That felt pretty good, I've kind of been waiting on that one for a little bit," Vradenburg said about his first homer at home. "It took some time, but I'm glad I finally got to experience one here. I thought I hit it pretty well, but I wasn't sure, but then I just ran and then saw it go over so was pleased I didn't have to run a little bit."
Vradenburg went opposite field with his first home run, with a line drive to left center in the bottom of the first. His second home run of the day was a no-doubter, launching high into the trees and into the Red Cedar River after easily clearing the wall in right, that traveled 418-feet and had a 103-mph exit velocity off the bat.
"The second one felt really good," Vradenburg said. "In the past, I've kind of been struggling pulling balls and I think I've got it figured out this season, so that one actually felt pretty good."
Vradenburg finished game one 1-for-2 with two RBI and a run scored, with one walk and a sacrifice fly, while going 3-for-3 with four RBI and three runs scored in game two. He also stole his first base of his collegiate career with a swipe in game two.
"That's how's he's been all year really, he's a big, strong guy that's capable of a lot of different things and that's what we need him to do in the middle of the order, with the couple doubles, couple home runs today. He also got the first stolen base of his career, which was a big play, because that ended up leading to a sac fly and there's just a lot of different ways that Brock can hurt you, and he had a good day today," Boss said.
MSU's pitching stymied the Wildcats to five hits in the first game and four hits in game two, ringing up six strikeouts in each game.
Freshman Joseph Dzierwa started game one and went 6.0 IP scattering four hits and three runs, with one walk and five Ks, while redshirt-sophomore Harrison Cook pitched the remaining 3.0 IP with one hit, no runs, two BB and one K. Dzierwa earned the win to improved to 5-2, leading the Spartan staff in wins. Cook earned his first career save.
In game two, another freshman Spartan starter, Nolan Higgins kept the NU bats in check through 6.2 IP with three hits, three runs, one walk and four strikeouts, earning the win to improve to 4-1. Senior reliever Andrew Carson came on in the seventh and after yielding a two-run hit, got out of the jam to end the Wildcat rally.
Senior closer Wyatt Rush, who was named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Midseason Watch List earlier in the week, came on and pitched the final 2.0 IP of hitless, scoreless baseball with just one walk and two Ks to earn his eighth save of the season. The eight saves moves Rush up to tied for No. 7 on MSU's single-season saves list and was his 10th career save, moving up to tie for No. 8 on the Spartans' career saves list.
Along with Vradenburg, junior infielder Mitch Jebb was 2-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored.Both of Jebb's hits in the opening game were triples, knocking the first one in the bottom of the first inning and another in the third frame, padding his B1G-lead, now with seven this season. The seven triples moves him up to tie for No. 7 on MSU's single-season triples list. It was also Jebb's 11th career three-bagger, moving him up to tie for No. 5 on the Spartans' career triples list, two triples behind teammate Casey Mayes
Sophomore catcher Bryan Broecker was 2-for-3 with a run scored in game one, while junior infielder Trent Farquhar, sophomore designated hitter Sam Busch, junior outfielder Jack Frank and junior infielder Dillon Kark were all 1-for-4. Farquhar had a run scored, while Busch and Kark each had an RBI and Frank had a run and RBI. Junior outfielder Greg Ziegler was hit by a pitch twice and scored both times getting on base, also swiping two bases.
In game two, all eight of MSU's hits came from the 1-5 hitters in the lineup, as leadoff hitter Farquhar was 2-for-3 with a run scored and Jebb was 1-for-4 with a run scored. Vradenburg was followed by Broecker, who was 1-for- with an RBI and run scored and Frank was 1-for-4. Broecker and Ziegler knocked sac flies for an RBI each. Along with Vradenburg's stolen base, Jebb also swiped one base.
Game 1 - MSU 8, Northwestern 3
The Spartans got on the board in their first at bat as Jebb knocked a one-out triple to the gap in right-center and two batters later, Busch knocked a double off the top of the fence in right to drive Jebb in and put MSU ahead early, 1-0.
Northwestern tied it up on the top of the third on back-to-back singles, a sac bunt and a sacrifice fly to level it at 1-all.
The tie game didn't last long, as Michigan State plated a pair of runs in the home half of the third, after Ziegler got hit by a pitch, took second on a wild pitch, third on a flyout by Farquhar and scored on Jebb's second triple of day. Vradenburg followed with a sac fly to right to drive in Jebb and give the Spartans a 3-1 advantage.
MSU's 3-1 lead grew into a 5-1 lead with two runs in the fourth on three straight singles in order by Broecker, Frank and Kark, with the latter bringing Broecker in to score. Mayes followed with an RBI groundout that allowed Frank to dart home to score.
Northwestern closed to 5-3 with solo home runs in each of the fifth and sixth frames.
The Spartans expanded their lead back to a three-run cushion with a run after the seventh-inning stretch, as Vradenburg was hit by a pitch and two batters later, Broecker singled, chasing Northwestern reliever Coby Moe and brining in Kellen Pate. Frank welcomed Bate to the game with a line-drive sac fly to left, driving in Vradenburg for a 6-3 lead for the Green & White.
MSU tacked on a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth, as again Ziegler got hit by a pitch and moved around the bases, this time stealing second, which was reviewed but the call upheld, and then stealing third. Ziegler later came home on a wild pitch. Two batters later, Vradenburg laced an opposite-field double to the gap in left-center to drive in Farquhar for an 8-3 Spartan advantage, and that remained the score for the remainder of the game for the Victory for MSU.
Game 2 - MSU 6, Northwestern 3
Just like the first game, the Spartans scored in their first at bat, doing so on Vradenburg's solo home run, for his first HR in a home game this season.
MSU doubled up its lead in the fourth inning as Vradenburg again factored into the rally with a leadoff double that dropped just inside the line. He then stole third for his first career stolen base, and later scored on a Broecker sacrifice fly to increase MSU's lead to 2-0.
Meanwhile, Higgins kept the Wildcat bats at bay, ringing up 1-2-3 frames in the first six innings of work. He yielded the lone single over that span in the first inning, but then got a double play to end the inning. In the fifth, he hit one NU batter, but then later picked him off first to end the frame.
MSU hung four runs on the board in the bottom of the sixth, with three of them coming on a three-run home run into the Red Cedar River by Vradenburg for his second round-tripper of the day. Broecker and Frank singled and two batters later, Ziegler drove in Broecker with a sac fly for a 6-0 Spartan lead through six stanzas.
The Wildcats got to Higgins in the seventh, getting a run in and two on, and the Spartans brought in Carson. A two-run double cut MSU's lead to 6-3, before Carson got out of the jam with a groundout on a nice play by Jebb to end the Wildcat rally, leaving the score at 6-3 for the rest of the game to seal the second Victory for MSU of the day.
Michigan State and Northwestern wrap up the three-game weekend series on Sunday afternoon at 1:05 p.m.
MSU's schedule is subject to change, stay tuned to MSUSpartans.com and @MSUBaseball on Twitter for schedule updates.
The Spartans and Wildcats were forced to play a twinbill on Saturday after inclement weather Friday night. It marked MSU's seventh doubleheader of the season, including all four home weekends, in addition to a stretch of the fifth in the last seven weekends. With Saturday's sweep, the Spartans are 12-2 in doubleheaders, winning the last five games in a row and was the Green & White's fifth twinbill sweep.
"The conference doubleheader sweep is huge," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. "I'm really proud of our guys,I thought we played really well today in both games and got good pitching performances out of our starters, two freshmen that were really good today. We swung the bats well and we got some timely hits, and we played clean defense, so it's a very good day for us."
MSU improved to 27-13 overall and 9-5 in Big Ten play with Saturday's two wins, as the Spartans have won their last four games and 10 of their last 13. Northwestern has lost five of its last six overall in sliding to 7-30 overall and 3-11 in B1G action, having dropped the last three conference series.
Michigan State has won the last three match-ups with Northwestern as part of winning 10 of the last 16 and 18 of the last 26 in the series, increasing the all-time lead to 102-55-1.
The Spartans knocked out nine hits in game one and eight hits in the second game.
Vradenburg, MSU's junior infielder, entered Saturday leading the team with 10 home runs, however had never hit one at McLane Stadium at Kobs Field in his career. He finished Saturday, he'd hit two at home, both coming in the second game after belting a solo homer in the first inning and a three-run blast into the Red Cedar River in the sixth inning.
"That felt pretty good, I've kind of been waiting on that one for a little bit," Vradenburg said about his first homer at home. "It took some time, but I'm glad I finally got to experience one here. I thought I hit it pretty well, but I wasn't sure, but then I just ran and then saw it go over so was pleased I didn't have to run a little bit."
Vradenburg went opposite field with his first home run, with a line drive to left center in the bottom of the first. His second home run of the day was a no-doubter, launching high into the trees and into the Red Cedar River after easily clearing the wall in right, that traveled 418-feet and had a 103-mph exit velocity off the bat.
"The second one felt really good," Vradenburg said. "In the past, I've kind of been struggling pulling balls and I think I've got it figured out this season, so that one actually felt pretty good."
Vradenburg finished game one 1-for-2 with two RBI and a run scored, with one walk and a sacrifice fly, while going 3-for-3 with four RBI and three runs scored in game two. He also stole his first base of his collegiate career with a swipe in game two.
"That's how's he's been all year really, he's a big, strong guy that's capable of a lot of different things and that's what we need him to do in the middle of the order, with the couple doubles, couple home runs today. He also got the first stolen base of his career, which was a big play, because that ended up leading to a sac fly and there's just a lot of different ways that Brock can hurt you, and he had a good day today," Boss said.
MSU's pitching stymied the Wildcats to five hits in the first game and four hits in game two, ringing up six strikeouts in each game.
Freshman Joseph Dzierwa started game one and went 6.0 IP scattering four hits and three runs, with one walk and five Ks, while redshirt-sophomore Harrison Cook pitched the remaining 3.0 IP with one hit, no runs, two BB and one K. Dzierwa earned the win to improved to 5-2, leading the Spartan staff in wins. Cook earned his first career save.
In game two, another freshman Spartan starter, Nolan Higgins kept the NU bats in check through 6.2 IP with three hits, three runs, one walk and four strikeouts, earning the win to improve to 4-1. Senior reliever Andrew Carson came on in the seventh and after yielding a two-run hit, got out of the jam to end the Wildcat rally.
Senior closer Wyatt Rush, who was named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Midseason Watch List earlier in the week, came on and pitched the final 2.0 IP of hitless, scoreless baseball with just one walk and two Ks to earn his eighth save of the season. The eight saves moves Rush up to tied for No. 7 on MSU's single-season saves list and was his 10th career save, moving up to tie for No. 8 on the Spartans' career saves list.
Along with Vradenburg, junior infielder Mitch Jebb was 2-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored.Both of Jebb's hits in the opening game were triples, knocking the first one in the bottom of the first inning and another in the third frame, padding his B1G-lead, now with seven this season. The seven triples moves him up to tie for No. 7 on MSU's single-season triples list. It was also Jebb's 11th career three-bagger, moving him up to tie for No. 5 on the Spartans' career triples list, two triples behind teammate Casey Mayes
Sophomore catcher Bryan Broecker was 2-for-3 with a run scored in game one, while junior infielder Trent Farquhar, sophomore designated hitter Sam Busch, junior outfielder Jack Frank and junior infielder Dillon Kark were all 1-for-4. Farquhar had a run scored, while Busch and Kark each had an RBI and Frank had a run and RBI. Junior outfielder Greg Ziegler was hit by a pitch twice and scored both times getting on base, also swiping two bases.
In game two, all eight of MSU's hits came from the 1-5 hitters in the lineup, as leadoff hitter Farquhar was 2-for-3 with a run scored and Jebb was 1-for-4 with a run scored. Vradenburg was followed by Broecker, who was 1-for- with an RBI and run scored and Frank was 1-for-4. Broecker and Ziegler knocked sac flies for an RBI each. Along with Vradenburg's stolen base, Jebb also swiped one base.
Game 1 - MSU 8, Northwestern 3
The Spartans got on the board in their first at bat as Jebb knocked a one-out triple to the gap in right-center and two batters later, Busch knocked a double off the top of the fence in right to drive Jebb in and put MSU ahead early, 1-0.
Northwestern tied it up on the top of the third on back-to-back singles, a sac bunt and a sacrifice fly to level it at 1-all.
The tie game didn't last long, as Michigan State plated a pair of runs in the home half of the third, after Ziegler got hit by a pitch, took second on a wild pitch, third on a flyout by Farquhar and scored on Jebb's second triple of day. Vradenburg followed with a sac fly to right to drive in Jebb and give the Spartans a 3-1 advantage.
MSU's 3-1 lead grew into a 5-1 lead with two runs in the fourth on three straight singles in order by Broecker, Frank and Kark, with the latter bringing Broecker in to score. Mayes followed with an RBI groundout that allowed Frank to dart home to score.
Northwestern closed to 5-3 with solo home runs in each of the fifth and sixth frames.
The Spartans expanded their lead back to a three-run cushion with a run after the seventh-inning stretch, as Vradenburg was hit by a pitch and two batters later, Broecker singled, chasing Northwestern reliever Coby Moe and brining in Kellen Pate. Frank welcomed Bate to the game with a line-drive sac fly to left, driving in Vradenburg for a 6-3 lead for the Green & White.
MSU tacked on a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth, as again Ziegler got hit by a pitch and moved around the bases, this time stealing second, which was reviewed but the call upheld, and then stealing third. Ziegler later came home on a wild pitch. Two batters later, Vradenburg laced an opposite-field double to the gap in left-center to drive in Farquhar for an 8-3 Spartan advantage, and that remained the score for the remainder of the game for the Victory for MSU.
Game 2 - MSU 6, Northwestern 3
Just like the first game, the Spartans scored in their first at bat, doing so on Vradenburg's solo home run, for his first HR in a home game this season.
MSU doubled up its lead in the fourth inning as Vradenburg again factored into the rally with a leadoff double that dropped just inside the line. He then stole third for his first career stolen base, and later scored on a Broecker sacrifice fly to increase MSU's lead to 2-0.
Meanwhile, Higgins kept the Wildcat bats at bay, ringing up 1-2-3 frames in the first six innings of work. He yielded the lone single over that span in the first inning, but then got a double play to end the inning. In the fifth, he hit one NU batter, but then later picked him off first to end the frame.
MSU hung four runs on the board in the bottom of the sixth, with three of them coming on a three-run home run into the Red Cedar River by Vradenburg for his second round-tripper of the day. Broecker and Frank singled and two batters later, Ziegler drove in Broecker with a sac fly for a 6-0 Spartan lead through six stanzas.
The Wildcats got to Higgins in the seventh, getting a run in and two on, and the Spartans brought in Carson. A two-run double cut MSU's lead to 6-3, before Carson got out of the jam with a groundout on a nice play by Jebb to end the Wildcat rally, leaving the score at 6-3 for the rest of the game to seal the second Victory for MSU of the day.
Michigan State and Northwestern wrap up the three-game weekend series on Sunday afternoon at 1:05 p.m.
MSU's schedule is subject to change, stay tuned to MSUSpartans.com and @MSUBaseball on Twitter for schedule updates.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Higgins, Nolan (4-1)
L: Sam Garewal (0-4)
S: Rush, Wyatt (8)
Batting:
2B: Griffin Arnone 1 ; Luke Tanner 1
RBI: Griffin Arnone 1 ; Luke Tanner 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Tony Livermore 1 ; Alex Calarco 1 ; Griffin Arnone 1
HBP: Griffin Arnone 1
PO: Griffin Arnone 1
Batting:
2B: Farquhar, Trent 1 ; Vradenburg, Brock 1
HR: Vradenburg, Brock 2
RBI: Vradenburg, Brock 4 ; Broecker, Bryan 1 ; Ziegler, Greg 1
SF: Broecker, Bryan 1 ; Ziegler, Greg 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Farquhar, Trent 1 ; Jebb, Mitch 1 ; Vradenburg, Brock 3 ; Broecker, Bryan 1
SB: Jebb, Mitch 1 ; Vradenburg, Brock 1
CS: Farquhar, Trent 1
HBP: Farquhar, Trent 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
3
H
3
RBI
4
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
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RHP
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LHP
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INF
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OF
/ Baseball
RHP
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INF
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INF
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OF
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RHP
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INF
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OF
/ BaseballPursuit to Greatness | Spartans All-Access
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