Sunday, March 10
Fluor Field | Greenville, S.C.
2 PM
Michigan State University
5-9
4
vs
8
VCU
11-4
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
VCU
0
0
0
2
2
3
0
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0
8
12
1
Michigan State
0
2
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0
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4
12
1
Photo by: Jeremy Fleming
Spartans Wrap Up First Pitch Invite Play With Loss To VCU Sunday
3/10/2024 7:47:00 PM | Baseball
MSU completes action in South Carolina with second weekend in Greenville.
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- For the second time in as many game, Michigan State mounted a late rally, only to come up short, as the Spartans wrapped up 2024 First Pitch Invitational II play with an 8-4 loss to VCU Sunday afternoon at Fluor Field, home of the Greenville Drive.
MSU finished the weekend 1-2 after corralling the Broncos of Western Michigan, 5-3, on Friday, before losing to Western Carolina, 9-5 on Saturday.
"We're disappointed in the way the game went today," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. "I thought we did some good things offensively. Dillon Kark had a good day, and Landen Lozier did a really nice job in his first start, so I'm really happy for him. Once again, we had a lot of traffic on the basepaths, but couldn't seem to push runs across. Defensively, on the mound, we just had a hard time keeping the ball in the park. VCU is a good club, they're a veteran team with lots of juniors and seniors in their starting nine, and they're going to win a lot of games this year. We're disappointed with how the weekend ended. We really thought we had a chance to go 3-0 or ate least 2-1, so we'll get back to work this week and get ready for the home opener on Friday."
The Spartans plated a pair of runs in the bottom of the ninth, but the rally came to a close with the bases loaded, leaving the score, 8-4.
MSU jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the second stanza, but VCU scored seven runs in the middle three innings with two runs in the fourth and fifth frames, before plating three in the sixth, for a 7-2 lead. The Rams added a run in the eighth to open an 8-2 advantage, before the Spartans rallied in the eighth.
Freshman infielder Ryan McKay ignited the rally with a single up the middle and junior DH Christian Williams knocked a double into the left-field corner. Junior infielder Sam Busch followed with an RBI groundout to drive in McKay. Next up, senior infielder Dillon Kark knocked a single to third, initiating a VCU pitching change.Â
After a strikeout, sophomore infielder Randy Seymour laced a single to right to plate C.Williams, and freshman outfielder Landen Lozier, who was making his first career start, singled to left to load the bases with two outs. However, a lineout ended the Spartan rally and the inning.
Kark and Lozier both finished 3-for-4 with Kark scoring a run and Lozier registering his first collegiate RBI. Seymour was 2-for-3 with two ribbies, while C.Williams was 2-for-5 with one run. McKay was 1-for-4 with a run scored, and Frank was also 1-for-5.
On the mound, junior Noah Matheny made his first start of the season, going 3.0 IP with one K. Sophomore Nolan Higgins (2.1 IP), freshman Logan Pikur (2.2 IP, 2 K), and sophomore Tommy Szczepanski (1.0 IP, 3 K) rounded out the Spartan pitchers.
Michigan State returns home to host Evansville, Friday-Sunday, March 15-17 at McLane Stadium at Kobs Field. Friday and Saturday are slated for 3:35 p.m. first pitches, while Sunday's first pitch is slated for a 1:05 p.m. start time.
Fans can follow this weekend's action with "Watch Live," "Listen Live" and "Live Stats" links at MSUSpartans.com.Â
The weekend schedule is subject to continued change based on weather.
---------
For the first time ever, Michigan State baseball fans have the ability to purchase season tickets.
Season tickets packages are on sale through the Spartan Ticket Office. The MSU baseball season ticket package, which includes 24 home games at McLane Stadium at Kobs Field, is available for $50.Â
All ticket levels for seniors, adults and children are the same price. Admission remains free for all Michigan State students by showing their MSU ID at the entry gate.
The 2024 Spartan baseball season includes Big Ten match-ups against Rutgers, Penn State and Nebraska, along with regional clashes with Central Michigan, Oakland and Notre Dame, in addition to giving fans admission to all three home games of baseball Rivalry Week against Michigan.
Individual game tickets will go on sale later this spring.
Fans can contact the Spartan Ticket Office at 517-355-1610 or by email at tickets@msu.edu for questions or more information. A direct link to purchase season tickets is here.
Â
MSU finished the weekend 1-2 after corralling the Broncos of Western Michigan, 5-3, on Friday, before losing to Western Carolina, 9-5 on Saturday.
"We're disappointed in the way the game went today," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. "I thought we did some good things offensively. Dillon Kark had a good day, and Landen Lozier did a really nice job in his first start, so I'm really happy for him. Once again, we had a lot of traffic on the basepaths, but couldn't seem to push runs across. Defensively, on the mound, we just had a hard time keeping the ball in the park. VCU is a good club, they're a veteran team with lots of juniors and seniors in their starting nine, and they're going to win a lot of games this year. We're disappointed with how the weekend ended. We really thought we had a chance to go 3-0 or ate least 2-1, so we'll get back to work this week and get ready for the home opener on Friday."
The Spartans plated a pair of runs in the bottom of the ninth, but the rally came to a close with the bases loaded, leaving the score, 8-4.
MSU jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the second stanza, but VCU scored seven runs in the middle three innings with two runs in the fourth and fifth frames, before plating three in the sixth, for a 7-2 lead. The Rams added a run in the eighth to open an 8-2 advantage, before the Spartans rallied in the eighth.
Freshman infielder Ryan McKay ignited the rally with a single up the middle and junior DH Christian Williams knocked a double into the left-field corner. Junior infielder Sam Busch followed with an RBI groundout to drive in McKay. Next up, senior infielder Dillon Kark knocked a single to third, initiating a VCU pitching change.Â
After a strikeout, sophomore infielder Randy Seymour laced a single to right to plate C.Williams, and freshman outfielder Landen Lozier, who was making his first career start, singled to left to load the bases with two outs. However, a lineout ended the Spartan rally and the inning.
Kark and Lozier both finished 3-for-4 with Kark scoring a run and Lozier registering his first collegiate RBI. Seymour was 2-for-3 with two ribbies, while C.Williams was 2-for-5 with one run. McKay was 1-for-4 with a run scored, and Frank was also 1-for-5.
On the mound, junior Noah Matheny made his first start of the season, going 3.0 IP with one K. Sophomore Nolan Higgins (2.1 IP), freshman Logan Pikur (2.2 IP, 2 K), and sophomore Tommy Szczepanski (1.0 IP, 3 K) rounded out the Spartan pitchers.
Michigan State returns home to host Evansville, Friday-Sunday, March 15-17 at McLane Stadium at Kobs Field. Friday and Saturday are slated for 3:35 p.m. first pitches, while Sunday's first pitch is slated for a 1:05 p.m. start time.
Fans can follow this weekend's action with "Watch Live," "Listen Live" and "Live Stats" links at MSUSpartans.com.Â
The weekend schedule is subject to continued change based on weather.
---------
For the first time ever, Michigan State baseball fans have the ability to purchase season tickets.
Season tickets packages are on sale through the Spartan Ticket Office. The MSU baseball season ticket package, which includes 24 home games at McLane Stadium at Kobs Field, is available for $50.Â
All ticket levels for seniors, adults and children are the same price. Admission remains free for all Michigan State students by showing their MSU ID at the entry gate.
The 2024 Spartan baseball season includes Big Ten match-ups against Rutgers, Penn State and Nebraska, along with regional clashes with Central Michigan, Oakland and Notre Dame, in addition to giving fans admission to all three home games of baseball Rivalry Week against Michigan.
Individual game tickets will go on sale later this spring.
Fans can contact the Spartan Ticket Office at 517-355-1610 or by email at tickets@msu.edu for questions or more information. A direct link to purchase season tickets is here.
Â
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Gordon, Christian (2-0)
L: Higgins, Nolan (1-2)
Batting:
2B: Eike, Brandon 1 ; Iannuzzi, Ethan 1 ; Bean, William 1 ; Ericsson, Nic 1
HR: Eike, Brandon 2 ; Iannuzzi, Ethan 1 ; Ericsson, Nic 1
RBI: Eike, Brandon 3 ; Iannuzzi, Ethan 2 ; Bean, William 1 ; Ericsson, Nic 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kleinman, Casey 1 ; Eike, Brandon 2 ; McHugh, Chris 1 ; Iannuzzi, Ethan 1 ; Hill, Aden 1 ; Bean, William 1 ; Ericsson, Nic 1
SB: Iannuzzi, Ethan 1 ; Hill, Aden 2
CS: Hill, Aden 1
HBP: Kleinman, Casey 2
Batting:
2B: Williams, Christian 1
RBI: Busch, Sam 1 ; Seymour, Randy 2 ; Lozier, Landen 1
SH: Seymour, Randy 1
Base Running:
RUNS: McKay, Ryan 1 ; Williams, Christian 1 ; Busch, Sam 1 ; Kark, Dillon 1
SB: Lozier, Landen 1
HBP: McKay, Ryan 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
1
H
3
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
3
RBI
1
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballC
/ BaseballPursuit to Greatness | Spartans All-Access
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