Saturday, May 20
McLane Stadium at Kobs Field | East Lansing, Mich.
3 p.m.
Michigan State University
32-20, 12-12
5
vs
6
Indiana
40-16, 16-8
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Indiana
0
0
1
0
2
1
0
2
0
6
10
0
Michigan State
1
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
2
5
11
0
MSU Edged By Indiana On Spartan Senior Day Saturday
5/20/2023 6:45:00 PM | Baseball
Spartans enter next week’s B1G Tournament as No. 8 seed.
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State baseball was edged by Indiana, 7-6, Saturday afternoon, spoiling Spartan Senior Day at McLane Stadium at Kobs Field in the regular-season finale.
The Spartans honored their six senior players, Andrew Carson, Zach Hopman, John Malcom, Brian Martin, Casey Mayes and Wyatt Rush, along with student manager Josh Wolf, in a pregame ceremony. After the game, the seven seniors went out to centerfield to kiss the painted Spartan head, the Michigan State tradition for Senior Day, and then posed for photos and interviews with the media.
"There was a lot of emotions. It's pretty bittersweet; five years here, with not a lot of guys left from my start," Martin said. "But Casey (Mayes) and Wyatt (Rush) are two guys that I consider like brothers now. Just to go through it with them was pretty special too. The best word I can say is just special. I mean, I've never gone through anything like it and won't ever again. I'm just trying to savor every moment."
Extremely proud to have a family member of each of the 7 Spartan seniors throw out the ceremonial first pitches today on #SpartanSeniorDay!! #GoGreen | #SpartanStrong pic.twitter.com/1SDr8nNasx
— Michigan State Baseball (@MSUBaseball) May 20, 2023
MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. echoed Martin.
"It's a great senior class, it's a special group," Boss said. "They've been through a lot. It's a group that has had to deal with COVID, which was tough for everybody. They had to deal with a pretty tragic situation early on the week of our first game. To see our guys kind of band together through a bunch of highs and a bunch of lows and stay together as a group; this might be the tightest group that we've ever had here in my 15 years, and that's a testament to our seniors and especially to our leadership. I give them all the credit in the world. This is their team. They've taken ownership of it and it's been fun to watch."
While the Spartans were denied a series sweep after taking games one and two of the three-game set with the Hoosiers, winning Thursday night's game, 8-6, and Friday night's contest, 7-6, MSU won the series with IU to become the first home team to win a series in the last six series meetings, as Indiana was the last home team to win a series, sweeping the 2014 meeting.
With Friday night's win, the Spartans clinched a berth in the Big Ten Tournament and will be the No. 8 seed in next week's B1G Tournament in Omaha, Neb., taking on regular-season champion and No. 1 seed Maryland on the opening day of the tournament on Tuesday, May 23 in a 7 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. CT start time.
Michigan State enters the postseason posting a 32-20 record in regular-season action and a 12-12 B1G mark. Indiana moved to 40-16 overall and 16-8 in B1G action.
Junior infielder Mitch Jebb was 3-for-3 with two RBI, while junior outfielder Jack Frank was 3-for-5 with two runs scored and one RBI. Mayes, along with junior infielder Brock Vradenburg and junior outfielder Greg Ziegler were all 1-for-4, with Vradenburg knocking in two RBI, while Mayes and Ziegler scored a run apiece, and Mayes swiped one base. Redshirt-sophomore catcher Bryan Broecker was 1-for-3 with a run scored. Broecker and Jebb both drew two walks each, while Vradenburg earned one free pass on base. Redshirt-sophomore designated hitter Sam Busch was 1-for-5.
On the mound, junior Nick Powers started the Spartan pitcher by committee day, preserving arms for the B1G Tournament, and went 2.0 IP with two Ks and no hits or runs. Redshirt-sophomore Adam Berghorst (2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 1 K), sophomore Ryan Szczepaniak (1.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 2 K), redshirt-sophomore Dominic Pianto (2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K), redshirt-sophomore Noah Matheny (1.0, 3 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 1 K) and Martin (1.0, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K), with Martin getting a standing ovation on his way off the mound of McLane Stadium at Kobs Field for the final time for the Green & White.
The Spartans got on the board in their first at bat, as Frank fulfilled his newly adopted role as leadoff hitter by starting things off with a single up the middle. Frank moved up to second on a balk, and three batters later, Jebb singled up the middle to plate Frank for an early 1-0 lead for the Green & White.
End 1st |
— Michigan State Baseball (@MSUBaseball) May 20, 2023
IND 0
MSU 1
Spartans get on board first on RBI single by Jebb, driving in Frank, who led off with a single of his own.
Powers back to bump with the early lead.#GoGreen | #SpartanStrong | @jebb_mitch | @JackF_22 pic.twitter.com/VFzbVtnvoX
Indiana countered with a run in the third on Devin Taylor's first solo home run of the day, adding another to lead off the fifth, and the Hoosiers tacked on a run later in the fifth on a sac fly to open a 3-1 advantage.
MSU got one run back in the home half of the fifth as Mayes ignited the rally with a single up the middle and stole second. Two batters later, Frank singled to move Mayes around to third. Following an IU pitching change and two batters later Vradenburg walked to load the bases, and Jebb laced a single to left to score Mayes, but Frank was thrown out at home trying to tie it up at 3-all, leaving the Hoosiers leading 3-2 heading to the sixth.
Indiana added a run in the top of the sixth on a solo home run for a 4-2 advantage.
Early contender for "Catch of the Day" is by the @BigTenNetwork camera operator Dan up on the scissor-lift with the one-handed snag, keeping other hand on camera!!!!#SCTop10 | @ESPNAssignDesk pic.twitter.com/3qkqerVsJh
— Michigan State Baseball (@MSUBaseball) May 20, 2023
MSU got a run back in the bottom of the sixth stanza, getting two on after Broecker and Busch singled, and Broecker scored on double play to pull the Spartans within 4-3.
The Hoosiers pulled away with a two-run eighth inning, plating a pair of runs on three hits in the frame.
MSU threatened in the ninth with Ziegler leading off with a single up the middle, followed by a Frank single to right. Two batters later, Vradenburg smacked a double to the base of the wall in the left center gap to plate Ziegler and Frank, pulling MSU within a run, but the Spartans were unable to tie it up to end the game and the home ledger of the season.
Michigan State will be the No. 8 seed for the 41st Big Ten Conference Baseball Tournament that will be held Tuesday-Sunday, May 23-28, at Charles Schwab Field Omaha (formerly TD Ameritrade Park) in Omaha, Neb., site of the NCAA Men's College World Series.
The Spartans will open B1G Tournament action against regular-season champion and No. 1 seed Maryland on Tuesday, May 23 at 7 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. CT.
It is MSU's first berth in the B1G Tournament since 2018, and no Spartan player on the roster has played in the conference tourney.
MSU's schedule is subject to change, stay tuned to MSUSpartans.com and @MSUBaseball on Twitter for schedule updates.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hayden, Luke (2-0)
L: Szczepaniak, Ryan (1-3)
S: Foley, Connor (3)
Batting:
2B: Cerny, Tyler 1
HR: Mathison, Carter 1 ; Taylor, Devin 2
RBI: Glasser, Phillip 1 ; Mathison, Carter 1 ; Taylor, Devin 3 ; Cerny, Tyler 1
SF: Glasser, Phillip 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Tibbitts, Brock 1 ; Mathison, Carter 2 ; Taylor, Devin 2 ; Cerny, Tyler 1
Batting:
2B: Vradenburg, Brock 1 ; Jebb, Mitch 1
RBI: Frank, Jack 1 ; Vradenburg, Brock 2 ; Jebb, Mitch 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Frank, Jack 2 ; Broecker, Bryan 1 ; Mayes, Casey 1 ; Ziegler, Greg 1
SB: Mayes, Casey 1
HBP: Kark, Dillon 1
Game Leaders
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3
RBI
1
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3
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0
H
3
RBI
2
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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/ BaseballPursuit to Greatness | Spartans All-Access
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