Saturday, May 6
Illinois Field | Champaign, Ill.
4 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. CT
Michigan State University
28-15, 0
7
at
14
Illinois
21-22, 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Michigan State
0
3
0
0
0
2
0
2
0
7
10
1
Illinois
2
0
2
6
1
0
3
0
X
14
14
0
Photo by: MSU Baseball Social Squad
Mayes Ties MSU Career Triples Record In Spartans’ Loss at Illinois Saturday
5/6/2023 10:11:00 PM | Baseball
Senior outfielder knocks 14th career three-bagger.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Casey Mayes knocked a triple to tie the Michigan State baseball career triples record in MSU's loss at Illinois Saturday afternoon at a breezy to blustery Illinois Field, by a 14-7 final score.
Mayes, a senior outfielder, laced his 14th career triple with a three-bagger to lead off the sixth inning. The 14 triples ties Mike Davidson's 14 three-bagger from 1985-88. It was also the fifth triple of the season for Mayes, moving up to tie for No. 13 on MSU's single-season triples list, as he also has a share for the single-season triples record with seven three-baggers last season, tying for the top mark in school history, part of a now seven-way tie for the lead, joined this season by teammate junior infielder Mitch Jebb.
"As a lifelong Spartan fan, it's pretty exciting to accomplish something like that," Mayes said. "Hopefully I can get another one or even couple more. But it's been it's been an exciting journey and I'm excited to see what's coming next."
Mayes will leave his mark in the MSU record book, and that strikes up an extra sense of pride for the legacy Spartan as his father Craig, was a Spartan baseball player from 1989-1992, and his mother, Tracy, was on the Spartan track & field team.
"Having Spartan blood in my family, it's been really exciting to have the opportunity to leave a legacy of my own," Mayes said. "I think the triple probably kind of describes me as a player the most, in terms of 'hit it and run,' and that's kind of the game that I try to play, so it's pretty exciting."
Mayes' triple was one of five extra-base hits on the day, as Jebb belted his first home run of the season and added a double, while junior outfielder Greg Ziegler followed Mayes with a triple of his own in the sixth, driving in Mayes. Sophomore designated hitter Sam Busch also knocked a double in the loss.
The Spartans slide to 28-15 overall and 10-7 in Big Ten Conference competition, dropping just their second league series this season. Illinois improves to 21-22 overall and levels its league ledger at 10-10 with the win.
After entering the weekend with just two losses when scoring six or more runs and winning 21-straight games when scoring 6+ runs, MSU has lost both of this weekend's games when scoring nine Friday night and seven on Saturday. The Spartans are now 26-4 when scoring six or more runs in a game.
Michigan State scored its seven runs on 10 hits, while Illinois scored its 14 runs on 14 hits, including three home runs by Drake Westcott.
Jebb, Mayes, Busch and Ziegler all had two hits apiece, as Jebb was 2-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored, Mayes was 2-for-5 with a run scored, Busch and Ziegler were both 2-for-5, with Ziegler knocking in two RBI and scoring a pair of runs. Junior infielders Brock Vradenburg and Dillon Kark had a hit apiece, with Vradenburg going 1-for-4 with two ribbies while Kark was 1-for-5. Junior outfielder Jack Frank was walked three times and scored a run along with swiping one base, while fellow junior infielder Trent Farquhar drew two walks and scored two runs, while driving in one.
Freshman Nolan Higgins started on a mound, going 4.0 IP, spraying eight hits while yielding 10 runs, three walks and ringing up four strikeouts. Sophomore Nolan Higgins (2.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 1 K), junior Harrison Cook (0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K) and junior Adam Berghorst (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K) finished it.
"I'm proud of the offense for the way that we battled today," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. "We need to do a better job of locating on the mound when executing pitches. We'll be ready to play tomorrow."
Sunday's series finale start time has been moved up to 12 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. CT, due to inclement weather in the forecast for the Champaign area.
Just like in Friday's series opener, the Illini broke through in their first at bat on a home run, this time on a two-run homer Saturday afternoon from Westcott.
MSU's 2-0 deficit didn't last long as also like Friday night's opener, the Spartans quickly countered, plating three runs in the top of the second. Frank sparked the rally drawing a walk, then stealing second. Ziegler later come to the plate and laced a single through the right side and Frank scampered around to score. Farquhar and Jebb drew back-to-back walks and Vrandenburg strode to the dish with the bases full of Spartans, and deposited a single to right to score Ziegler and Farquhar for a 3-2 lead for the Green & White.
Illinois added two runs in the third on Westcott's second HR of the day, and six runs in the fourth, with the big blow coming on a grand slam by Camden Janik. The Illini added a run in the fifth on a solo homer by Cal Hejza for an 11-3 advantage.
The Spartans got two runs back in the top of the sixth, with Mayes leading off the stanza with his record-tying triple. That preceded Ziegler with a triple of his own to drive in Mayes. Farquhar was up next and he grounded out, but it was deep enough to drive in Ziegler and pull MSU within 11-5.
Illinois extended its lead with a three-run seventh, boosted by Westcott's third HR of the day, this one a two-run homer off the batter's eye in center to open the gap to 14-5 in the Illini's favor.
Farquhar drew a one-out walk in the eighth and Jebb belted his two-run opposite-field home run to left center to complete the scoring at 14-7.
Due to inclement weather in the Champaign forecast for Sunday mid-afternoon, Sunday's series finale has been moved up to a 12 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. CT start time.
MSU's schedule is subject to change, stay tuned to MSUSpartans.com and @MSUBaseball on Twitter for schedule updates.
Mayes, a senior outfielder, laced his 14th career triple with a three-bagger to lead off the sixth inning. The 14 triples ties Mike Davidson's 14 three-bagger from 1985-88. It was also the fifth triple of the season for Mayes, moving up to tie for No. 13 on MSU's single-season triples list, as he also has a share for the single-season triples record with seven three-baggers last season, tying for the top mark in school history, part of a now seven-way tie for the lead, joined this season by teammate junior infielder Mitch Jebb.
"As a lifelong Spartan fan, it's pretty exciting to accomplish something like that," Mayes said. "Hopefully I can get another one or even couple more. But it's been it's been an exciting journey and I'm excited to see what's coming next."
Mayes will leave his mark in the MSU record book, and that strikes up an extra sense of pride for the legacy Spartan as his father Craig, was a Spartan baseball player from 1989-1992, and his mother, Tracy, was on the Spartan track & field team.
"Having Spartan blood in my family, it's been really exciting to have the opportunity to leave a legacy of my own," Mayes said. "I think the triple probably kind of describes me as a player the most, in terms of 'hit it and run,' and that's kind of the game that I try to play, so it's pretty exciting."
Mayes' triple was one of five extra-base hits on the day, as Jebb belted his first home run of the season and added a double, while junior outfielder Greg Ziegler followed Mayes with a triple of his own in the sixth, driving in Mayes. Sophomore designated hitter Sam Busch also knocked a double in the loss.
The Spartans slide to 28-15 overall and 10-7 in Big Ten Conference competition, dropping just their second league series this season. Illinois improves to 21-22 overall and levels its league ledger at 10-10 with the win.
After entering the weekend with just two losses when scoring six or more runs and winning 21-straight games when scoring 6+ runs, MSU has lost both of this weekend's games when scoring nine Friday night and seven on Saturday. The Spartans are now 26-4 when scoring six or more runs in a game.
Michigan State scored its seven runs on 10 hits, while Illinois scored its 14 runs on 14 hits, including three home runs by Drake Westcott.
Jebb, Mayes, Busch and Ziegler all had two hits apiece, as Jebb was 2-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored, Mayes was 2-for-5 with a run scored, Busch and Ziegler were both 2-for-5, with Ziegler knocking in two RBI and scoring a pair of runs. Junior infielders Brock Vradenburg and Dillon Kark had a hit apiece, with Vradenburg going 1-for-4 with two ribbies while Kark was 1-for-5. Junior outfielder Jack Frank was walked three times and scored a run along with swiping one base, while fellow junior infielder Trent Farquhar drew two walks and scored two runs, while driving in one.
Freshman Nolan Higgins started on a mound, going 4.0 IP, spraying eight hits while yielding 10 runs, three walks and ringing up four strikeouts. Sophomore Nolan Higgins (2.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 1 K), junior Harrison Cook (0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K) and junior Adam Berghorst (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K) finished it.
"I'm proud of the offense for the way that we battled today," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. "We need to do a better job of locating on the mound when executing pitches. We'll be ready to play tomorrow."
Sunday's series finale start time has been moved up to 12 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. CT, due to inclement weather in the forecast for the Champaign area.
Just like in Friday's series opener, the Illini broke through in their first at bat on a home run, this time on a two-run homer Saturday afternoon from Westcott.
MSU's 2-0 deficit didn't last long as also like Friday night's opener, the Spartans quickly countered, plating three runs in the top of the second. Frank sparked the rally drawing a walk, then stealing second. Ziegler later come to the plate and laced a single through the right side and Frank scampered around to score. Farquhar and Jebb drew back-to-back walks and Vrandenburg strode to the dish with the bases full of Spartans, and deposited a single to right to score Ziegler and Farquhar for a 3-2 lead for the Green & White.
Illinois added two runs in the third on Westcott's second HR of the day, and six runs in the fourth, with the big blow coming on a grand slam by Camden Janik. The Illini added a run in the fifth on a solo homer by Cal Hejza for an 11-3 advantage.
The Spartans got two runs back in the top of the sixth, with Mayes leading off the stanza with his record-tying triple. That preceded Ziegler with a triple of his own to drive in Mayes. Farquhar was up next and he grounded out, but it was deep enough to drive in Ziegler and pull MSU within 11-5.
Illinois extended its lead with a three-run seventh, boosted by Westcott's third HR of the day, this one a two-run homer off the batter's eye in center to open the gap to 14-5 in the Illini's favor.
Farquhar drew a one-out walk in the eighth and Jebb belted his two-run opposite-field home run to left center to complete the scoring at 14-7.
Due to inclement weather in the Champaign forecast for Sunday mid-afternoon, Sunday's series finale has been moved up to a 12 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. CT start time.
MSU's schedule is subject to change, stay tuned to MSUSpartans.com and @MSUBaseball on Twitter for schedule updates.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Swartz, Jake (2-2)
L: Higgins, Nolan (4-2)
Batting:
2B: Jebb, Mitch 1 ; Busch, Sam 1
3B: Mayes, Casey 1 ; Ziegler, Greg 1
HR: Jebb, Mitch 1
RBI: Farquhar, Trent 1 ; Jebb, Mitch 2 ; Vradenburg, Brock 2 ; Ziegler, Greg 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Farquhar, Trent 2 ; Jebb, Mitch 1 ; Frank, Jack 1 ; Mayes, Casey 1 ; Ziegler, Greg 2
SB: Frank, Jack 1
Batting:
2B: Moerman, Ryan 1 ; Janik, Camden 1 ; Doligale, Danny 1
HR: Westcott, Drake 3 ; Janik, Camden 1 ; Hejza, Cal 1
RBI: Comia, Branden 1 ; McDonald, Cam 1 ; Westcott, Drake 7 ; Janik, Camden 4 ; Hejza, Cal 1
SH: Doligale, Danny 1
SF: McDonald, Cam 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Comia, Branden 2 ; McDonald, Cam 2 ; Westcott, Drake 4 ; Moerman, Ryan 1 ; Janik, Camden 1 ; Hejza, Cal 3 ; Doligale, Danny 1
HBP: Moerman, Ryan 1 ; Doligale, Danny 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballOF
/ BaseballPursuit to Greatness | Spartans All-Access
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