Sunday, February 18
Shipyard Park | Charleston, S.C.
9 AM
Michigan State University
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Ball State
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Michigan State
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Photo by: Ben Clemens
Spartans Clipped By Cardinals Sunday in Weekend Finale
2/18/2024 4:14:00 PM | Baseball
MSU wraps up weekend in Charleston at Swig & Swine Classic.
CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Michigan State baseball wrapped up its weekend at the 2024 Swig & Swine Classic Sunday morning at a chilly Shipyard Park in Charleston, S.C., getting clipped by the Cardinals of Ball State, 4-1.
The Spartans concluded the opening weekend of the season 1-3, after beating Merrimack, 10-3 Friday afternoon in the season-opener, but then losing a twinbill on Saturday to Seton Hall, 10-3, and Lehigh, 2-0.
"We're disappointed in how we played the last two days," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. "I thought we pitched it well enough again today for sure. I thought Nick Powers did a nice job in his first start of the year, Logan Pikur showed some signs of being very, very good at this level, and I thought Tommy Szczepanski also threw extremely well today."
Senior southpaw Nick Powers went 5.0 IP, scattering seven hits with two runs allowed, one earned, and striking out two. Freshman Logan Pikur came on in relief and went 1.2 IP with one K, two hits and two runs, before giving way to sophomore reliever Tommy Szczepanski, when pitched the final 1.1 IP with two punchouts.
In a match-up of a pair of Midwest teams, MSU and Ball State played in near-Midwest weather conditions, with a 42 degree temperature at first pitch at 9:15 a.m. ET, and the game saw chilly, breezy conditions throughout, with wind chill making it feel like 36 degrees at times.
Ball State took a 2-0 lead with a pair of runs in the fourth inning, before MSU got a run back in the top of the fifth. Senior infielder Dillon Kark sparked the rally with a one-out double to right center, and sophomore infielder Jacob Anderson later followed with an RBI single to right to drive in Kark, who slid in just ahead of the tag to pull within, 2-1. However, the Cardinals extended their lead in the bottom of the seventh to 4-1.
The Spartans threatened in the eighth, loading the bases, but the rally fizzled without a run. The Green & White didn't go quietly into the chilly morning air, as they again threatened in the top of the ninth, getting two runners on after sophomore infielder Randy Seymour singled and junior outfielder Nick Williams drew a walk. Unfortunately, the rally and the game came to a close.
Williams finished 2-for-3 for the lone Spartan with multiple hits, while Anderson, Kark, Seymour, junior infielder Sam Busch, sophomore outfielder Jake Dresselhouse each had one hit.
"Offensively, we need to be more productive, and we just didn't play very well offensively and we didn't play very well defensively, it was uncharacteristic of us defensively today as well," Boss said. "When you make that many mistakes against a good team, and you can't capitalize on some of the mistakes that they made, that's a recipe for a loss and unfortunately, that's what happened to us today."
MSU had seven hits Sunday, but committed three errors.
"We've got a lot of young guys that are getting their first regular chance at playing every day and we knew we thought there could be some ups and downs just as there is every year and so we're going to take what happened this weekend, both the good and the bad, and learn from it, and then be ready to play next weekend down in Florida."
Michigan State opens its Spring Break trip in Port Charlotte, Fla., playing at the Snowbird Classic at Centennial Park. The Spartans open action on Friday, Feb. 23 vs. Indiana State at 12 p.m. before meeting Marshall at 3:30 p.m. MSU then concludes the weekend with a second match-up with Marshall on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 3:30 p.m.
After playing at Georgia on Wednesday, Feb. 28, the Spartans return to their home-away-from-home, Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C., to play in the First Pitch Invitational I Friday-Sunday, March 1-3, taking on Western Michigan on Friday, March 1 at 6 p.m., then facing Florida State on Saturday, March 2 at 6 p.m., before finishing up the weekend playing Illinois on Sunday, March 3 at 10 a.m.
Fans can follow Spartan baseball action with "Watch Live" and "Live Stats" links at MSUSpartans.com.
Michigan State's baseball schedule is subject to change, fans can visit msuspartans.com for complete schedule information and updates.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Merritt Beeker (1-0)
L: Powers, Nick (0-1)
S: Tanner Knapp (2)
Batting:
2B: Williams, Nick 1 ; Kark, Dillon 1
RBI: Anderson, Jacob 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kark, Dillon 1
SB: Dresselhouse, Jake 1
CS: Williams, Nick 1
HBP: Anderson, Jacob 1 ; Bright, Noah 1
Batting:
2B: Hunter Dobbins 1 ; Nick Husovsky 1
RBI: Decker Scheffler 2 ; Michael Hallquist 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hunter Dobbins 1 ; Blake Bevis 1 ; Grant Miller 1 ; Nick Gregory 1
CS: Decker Scheffler 1 ; Dylan Grego 1 ; Michael Hallquist 1
HBP: Matthew Gonzalez 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Baseball
OF/C
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballOF
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