Tuesday, May 23
Charles Schwab Field | Omaha, Neb.
7 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. CT
Michigan State University
32-21
2
vs
3
Maryland
38-19
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Michigan State
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
2
7
0
Maryland
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
X
3
5
1
Photo by: Steven Branscombe
Spartans Nipped By Top-Seeded Terps, 3-2, Tuesday In B1G Tournament
5/23/2023 11:46:00 PM | Baseball
Powers pitches gem to stymie UMD bats in tough-luck loss.
OMAHA, Neb. -- Eighth-seeded Michigan State pushed top-seeded Maryland to the limits, before the Terrapins scored the go-ahead run in the eighth inning, and the Spartans were topped, 3-2, in the opening round of the Big Ten Baseball Tournament at Charles Schwab Field Omaha (formerly TD Ameritrade Park) in Omaha, Neb., site of the NCAA Men's College World Series.
The loss snuffed out a tremendous effort from junior starting pitcher Nick Powers, who went 7.1 IP with a season-high tying six strikeouts, scattering five hits and yielding three runs. Powers stymied the Terps' bats to just five hits, tying their season-low, along with only one walk, also a season low, as Maryland entered the game No. 1 in the B1G and No. 2 in the NCAA in home runs, along with tops in the B1G and second in the NCAA in slugging percentage and first in the league and third in the nation in scoring, in addition to among the B1G and NCAA leaders in several other categories.
"Once I settled in there, I just really trusted my stuff," Powers said. "My change-up felt really good today, and I was just pounding the zone with multiple pitches and that's the name of the game, that's how you keep hitters off balance, and I feel like I did that really well today."
Powers posted four three-up, three-down frames, doing so in the second, fourth, fifth and seventh stanzas, as he minimized the big-game atmosphere in facing the top seed in Charles Schwab Field Omaha.
"I've always dreamed about playing in this ballpark ever since I was a kid. So just getting the opportunity to do that, it's basically a dream come true for me," Powers said. "During the game, just tried to make it feel like it was just any other ballpark and not make it a huge thing. I really got to soak it in before and after the game, but during the game, it was just me and the catcher."
MSU scored a run in the first frame, but UMD plated a pair in the home half of the first to take a 2-1 lead, and that stayed the scored until the seventh, when the Spartans tied it up at 2-all on an RBI single from junior infielder Brock Vradenburg, driving in junior outfielder Greg Ziegler, who tripled to lead off the inning. The Terps scored their go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth.
"I thought we did some things really well at the plate tonight," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. "We had a lot of traffic on the bases. I think five double plays can get a little frustrating at times. I thought our guys did a great job of not letting that get to them and not getting too frustrated and just continue to come at them, one through nine. We had the big triple out of Greg in the nine-hole and that kind of sparked some things too. That's kind of who we are, these guys have done an incredible job of separating one game from the last, one at bat from the last, and I think we saw it again tonight. I was really proud of them, they could have could have went in a couple different directions, and nobody tore the dugout apart, nobody was out of control or out of sorts. It was just 'okay, well, we'll keep grinding and try to get 'em in the next inning.'"
Michigan State is 32-21 on the season, and will face the loser of No. 4 Nebraska and No. 5 Rutgers, in B1G Tournament Game 6 on Thursday, May 25 at 11 a.m. ET / 10 a.m. CT. Nebraska and Rutgers play on Wednesday afternoon.
The top-seeded and regular-season champion Terps improve to 38-19 and will play the winner between the Huskers and the Scarlet Knights in Game 8 on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. CT.
"Make no mistake, they're (Maryland) really good over there," Boss said. "I certainly hope that Kyle McCoy is ok, we've seen the video on him and know he's better when he's healthy. Maryland is just really good and Rob (Vaughn, Maryland head coach) does a great job with that group."
MSU had seven hits and drew 12 walks from Maryland pitchers, but the Spartans were stifled by five double plays, tying the B1G Tournament record.
Vradenburg ended 2-for-4 with an RBI and a walk. Ziegler was also 2-for-4 with a run scored. Junior infielder Mitch Jebb was 1-for-4 with an RBI single in the first. Senior outfielder Casey Mayes was 1-for-2 with a walk, while junior infielder Dillon Kark was 1-for-3. Junior infielder Trent Farquhar drew three walks and scored a run, while junior outfielder Jack Frank earned one walk, and both Frank and Farquhar had a stolen base apiece.
Senior reliever Wyatt Rush came on in the eighth, and rang up a groundout and a strikeout to end the inning, to give the Spartans a chance in their final at bat, but MSU went down in order to end the game.
The Spartans got on the board in their opening at bat in Omaha, as Farquhar drew a one-out walk and Vradenburg followed by lacing a single to right. Jebb came to bat next, and knocked a chopper for an infield RBI and moved up a Maryland throwing error on the play but was tagged out in a run down, but not before Farquhar scored for the early 1-0 Spartan advantage.
Maryland drew a walk then a double by Matt Shaw put Terps at second and third with no outs, before Powers induced back-to-back sacrifice flies to Ziegler in center, before ringing up an inning-ending strikeout to minimize the damage and limit the score to just 2-0.
From there, Powers settled in, chalking up a 1-2-3 frame in the second with a tandem of strikeouts, part of ringing up at least one K in each of his first five frames of work.
The Spartans would threaten throughout the night, but the threats were thwarted by double plays, to fizzle out the rally and keep MSU from scoring, until the top of the eighth.
Ziegler led off by smacking a triple off the wall in left. Two batters later, Farquhar drew a walk to bring Vradenburg to bat, and he laced an opposite-field single to left to drive in Ziegler and knot the score at 2-all.
A single, sac bunt, and wild pitch in the eighth was followed by an RBI double down the line in left drove in the go-ahead run, chasing Powers and MSU called Rush out of the pen. He induced a groundout then rang up a strikeout to end the Terp rally, and bring MSU to bat, but the Spartans were unable to tie it up.
The loss snuffed out a tremendous effort from junior starting pitcher Nick Powers, who went 7.1 IP with a season-high tying six strikeouts, scattering five hits and yielding three runs. Powers stymied the Terps' bats to just five hits, tying their season-low, along with only one walk, also a season low, as Maryland entered the game No. 1 in the B1G and No. 2 in the NCAA in home runs, along with tops in the B1G and second in the NCAA in slugging percentage and first in the league and third in the nation in scoring, in addition to among the B1G and NCAA leaders in several other categories.
"Once I settled in there, I just really trusted my stuff," Powers said. "My change-up felt really good today, and I was just pounding the zone with multiple pitches and that's the name of the game, that's how you keep hitters off balance, and I feel like I did that really well today."
Powers posted four three-up, three-down frames, doing so in the second, fourth, fifth and seventh stanzas, as he minimized the big-game atmosphere in facing the top seed in Charles Schwab Field Omaha.
"I've always dreamed about playing in this ballpark ever since I was a kid. So just getting the opportunity to do that, it's basically a dream come true for me," Powers said. "During the game, just tried to make it feel like it was just any other ballpark and not make it a huge thing. I really got to soak it in before and after the game, but during the game, it was just me and the catcher."
Mornin' Spartan Nation!!
— Michigan State Baseball (@MSUBaseball) May 24, 2023
Starting the day off w/ a HUGE hat tip to Nick Powers on his gem last night!!
He stymied heavy-hitting Maryland bats to their season-low tying 5 hits, while firing season-high tying 6 Ks in tough-luck loss!!#GoGreen | #SpartanStrong | @Nick_Powers22 pic.twitter.com/tuQKSr86nR
MSU scored a run in the first frame, but UMD plated a pair in the home half of the first to take a 2-1 lead, and that stayed the scored until the seventh, when the Spartans tied it up at 2-all on an RBI single from junior infielder Brock Vradenburg, driving in junior outfielder Greg Ziegler, who tripled to lead off the inning. The Terps scored their go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth.
"I thought we did some things really well at the plate tonight," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. "We had a lot of traffic on the bases. I think five double plays can get a little frustrating at times. I thought our guys did a great job of not letting that get to them and not getting too frustrated and just continue to come at them, one through nine. We had the big triple out of Greg in the nine-hole and that kind of sparked some things too. That's kind of who we are, these guys have done an incredible job of separating one game from the last, one at bat from the last, and I think we saw it again tonight. I was really proud of them, they could have could have went in a couple different directions, and nobody tore the dugout apart, nobody was out of control or out of sorts. It was just 'okay, well, we'll keep grinding and try to get 'em in the next inning.'"
Michigan State is 32-21 on the season, and will face the loser of No. 4 Nebraska and No. 5 Rutgers, in B1G Tournament Game 6 on Thursday, May 25 at 11 a.m. ET / 10 a.m. CT. Nebraska and Rutgers play on Wednesday afternoon.
The top-seeded and regular-season champion Terps improve to 38-19 and will play the winner between the Huskers and the Scarlet Knights in Game 8 on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. CT.
"Make no mistake, they're (Maryland) really good over there," Boss said. "I certainly hope that Kyle McCoy is ok, we've seen the video on him and know he's better when he's healthy. Maryland is just really good and Rob (Vaughn, Maryland head coach) does a great job with that group."
MSU had seven hits and drew 12 walks from Maryland pitchers, but the Spartans were stifled by five double plays, tying the B1G Tournament record.
Vradenburg ended 2-for-4 with an RBI and a walk. Ziegler was also 2-for-4 with a run scored. Junior infielder Mitch Jebb was 1-for-4 with an RBI single in the first. Senior outfielder Casey Mayes was 1-for-2 with a walk, while junior infielder Dillon Kark was 1-for-3. Junior infielder Trent Farquhar drew three walks and scored a run, while junior outfielder Jack Frank earned one walk, and both Frank and Farquhar had a stolen base apiece.
Senior reliever Wyatt Rush came on in the eighth, and rang up a groundout and a strikeout to end the inning, to give the Spartans a chance in their final at bat, but MSU went down in order to end the game.
The Spartans got on the board in their opening at bat in Omaha, as Farquhar drew a one-out walk and Vradenburg followed by lacing a single to right. Jebb came to bat next, and knocked a chopper for an infield RBI and moved up a Maryland throwing error on the play but was tagged out in a run down, but not before Farquhar scored for the early 1-0 Spartan advantage.
Maryland drew a walk then a double by Matt Shaw put Terps at second and third with no outs, before Powers induced back-to-back sacrifice flies to Ziegler in center, before ringing up an inning-ending strikeout to minimize the damage and limit the score to just 2-0.
From there, Powers settled in, chalking up a 1-2-3 frame in the second with a tandem of strikeouts, part of ringing up at least one K in each of his first five frames of work.
End 4th |
— Michigan State Baseball (@MSUBaseball) May 24, 2023
MSU 1
UMD 2
Powers with his second 1-2-3 inning, ending the frame with his 5th strikeout of the night through 4 frames.
Frank to lead off T5th.#GoGreen | #SpartanStrong | @Nick_Powers22 pic.twitter.com/2uLs7EG0gY
The Spartans would threaten throughout the night, but the threats were thwarted by double plays, to fizzle out the rally and keep MSU from scoring, until the top of the eighth.
Ziegler led off by smacking a triple off the wall in left. Two batters later, Farquhar drew a walk to bring Vradenburg to bat, and he laced an opposite-field single to left to drive in Ziegler and knot the score at 2-all.
Time to stretch and sing about 🥜&🍿 here at Charles Schwab Field Omaha...
— Michigan State Baseball (@MSUBaseball) May 24, 2023
The Spartans tie it up after Ziegler leads off with a triple off the wall in LF and Vradenburg drives him in!!
MSU 2
UMD 2#GoGreen | #SpartanStrong | @GKZ27 | @VradenburgBrock pic.twitter.com/joXgbpAYwV
A single, sac bunt, and wild pitch in the eighth was followed by an RBI double down the line in left drove in the go-ahead run, chasing Powers and MSU called Rush out of the pen. He induced a groundout then rang up a strikeout to end the Terp rally, and bring MSU to bat, but the Spartans were unable to tie it up.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Falco, Dave (4-0)
L: Powers, Nick (5-3)
Batting:
2B: Kark, Dillon 1
3B: Ziegler, Greg 1
RBI: Vradenburg, Brock 1 ; Jebb, Mitch 1
SH: Kark, Dillon 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Farquhar, Trent 1 ; Ziegler, Greg 1
SB: Frank, Jack 1 ; Farquhar, Trent 1
HBP: Busch, Sam 2 ; Mayes, Casey 1
Batting:
2B: Shliger, Luke 2 ; Shaw, Matt 1
RBI: Shliger, Luke 1 ; Lorusso, Nick 1 ; Petrutz, Ian 1
SH: Keister, Kevin 1
SF: Lorusso, Nick 1 ; Petrutz, Ian 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Shliger, Luke 1 ; Shaw, Matt 1 ; Orr, Jacob 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
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OF
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OF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF
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/ BaseballPursuit to Greatness | Spartans All-Access
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