Saturday, April 27
Nick Swisher Field at Bill Davis Stadium | Columbus, Ohio
2 PM
Michigan State University
19-20, 7-7
17
at
12
Ohio State
19-20, 6-8
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Michigan State
1
3
1
6
1
4
1
0
0
17
16
2
Ohio State
0
3
5
0
4
0
0
0
0
12
13
2
Photo by: MSU Baseball Social Squad
Season-High Five HRs Lead Spartans To 17-12 Slug-Fest Victory For MSU Over OSU Saturday
4/27/2024 7:21:00 PM | Baseball
Frank cracks two homers as Michigan State wins second-straight B1G weekend series.
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Bolstered by blasting a season-high five home runs, including two by Jack Frank, Michigan State baseball beat Ohio State, 17-12, in a slug-fest on a windy Saturday afternoon at OSU's Nick Swisher Field at Bill Davis Stadium.
The Spartans bashed a season-high five home runs on Saturday, their most since four round-trippers in the season-opener vs. Merrimack on Feb. 16. All five MSU homers were hit by Spartan seniors, as along with Frank's pair of HRs, the other three were hit by classmates, infielder Dillon Kark, outfielder Greg Ziegler and catcher Sam Thompson.
MSU's 17 runs on Saturday were its second-most this season behind 19 at Georgia on Feb. 28, and coupled with Friday night's 11 runs were the Spartans' first back-to-back game with double-figure runs since Feb. 28 with 19 runs vs. Georgia and 13 vs. Western Michigan on March 2.
"The wind was blowing out, so you saw big numbers for both teams," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said with a chuckle. "I think we had a really sustained approach, guys kept their focus from inning one to nine, and we were able to put up some big numbers. We scored in a lot of innings and just kept coming at them relentlessly today, so it was a good day for the offense."
The win helped the Spartans win their second B1G weekend series, taking two of three from Penn State last weekend and capturing this weekend's series at Ohio State.
The victory was MSU's fifth in the last six games, moving to 19-20 overall and leveled the Spartans' B1G ledger at 7-7. Ohio State lost its fourth in a row and fifth in the last six outings in sliding to 19-20 overall and 6-8 in league play. Saturday's win was MSU's third win in a row over OSU, having won the last two series with the Buckeyes. Overall, MSU has won five of the last six meetings with OSU and 10 of the last 14.
Frank, a senior outfielder from Strongsville, Ohio (Strongsville HS), had a large section of family and friends in attendance for the second-straight game, and put on a show for them, knocking two home runs in a game for the second time in 10 days, also do so on April 17 vs. Western Michigan. His first home run on Saturday came on the game's first pitch, depositing it into the trees beyond the left-field wall. He finished the day 3-for-4 with two walks, adding five runs and three RBI.
"I'm not trying to do anything extra," Frank said with a laugh about playing so well in his home state in front of friends and family. "I think its been a good weekend for me personally so far, but also for the team. It's been a good weekend so far, I have a bunch of family and friends here and it's good to see everybody. I don't know if it's helping, but I don't think it's hurting. It's been good to see family and have them see me play well, because they've seen me not play well often, so it's been a good weekend for sure."
Frank was finally retired in the eighth inning, stopping his reached base streak at 13-straight at bats. He got on base in his final three at bats in last Sunday's game vs. Penn State, then went 4-for-4 with a walk on Friday, before his leadoff homer, then a walk in the second stanza, his second home run in the fourth inning, another walk in the fifth frame and a single in the sixth stanza.
"Hitting is contagious; I think it's as simple as you can put it," Frank said. "You see one guy after another get hits and it feels good, and that weighs on the other team. It's a product of us having good at bats one after another, seeing good pitches, swinging at good strikes, and it just becomes contagious. You see everybody in the line-up get a hit, so it's easy to go up there knowing the guy in front of you got a hit and having a good feeling the guy after you is going to get a hit, so it's good to see everyone have success today."
Frank's success at the plate Saturday was nothing new for his head coach.
"Jack is a good player. He's at the top of our line-up with good reason and he can do an awful lot. He can run and steal some bases, he's got power and good contact, you saw a little bit of everything from him today, he's a complete hitter," Boss said.
MSU mashed 16 hits on the afternoon in scoring in the first seven runs, plating a run in the first, three in the second stanza, one in the third, before erupting to hang a six-spot on the board in the fourth, then one more in the fifth frame, tacking on four in the sixth and one more in the seventh, before being held scoreless in the eighth and ninth.
All nine Spartans in the line-up had at least one hit, while eight of the ninth scored a run and seven of the nine had an RBI.
In addition to Frank's three hits, junior outfielder Nick Williams was 3-for-4 with two ribbies and a run scored, while Ziegler went 3-for-6 with three RBI and three runs scored, hitting his second HR in as many days after entering the weekend without a homer yet this season. Kark joined in the multiple hit outings going 2-for-6 with a career-high tying five RBI, his second time this season and third in his career with a five ribbie outing.
Thompson added two RBI and two runs scored, while junior designated hitter Christian Williams had a hit, an RBI and a run scored. Freshman infielder Ryan McKay had a hit and drove in one, junior first baseman Sam Busch had a hit and scored a run, and sophomore infielder Randy Seymour had a hit and scored two runs.
On the mound, senior southpaw Nick Powers went 3.0, scattering 10 hits and yielding eight runs with two walks and two strikeouts. He was relieved in the bottom of the fourth inning by senior Aaron Mishoulam after MSU's big offensive output with a six-run fourth frame took a while with two OSU pitching changes.
Mishoulam went 6.0 IP in relief, spraying three hits and four runs while ringing up two Ks and two walks, with four 1-2-3 frames, along with retiring his last 10 Buckeye batters faced and a stretch of 15 out of 16 with one reaching on an error, from the fifth inning on, after yielding a three-run home run with no outs tied it up at 12-12.
"Aaron Mishoulam, after he gave up the three-run home run, he settled in and threw extremely well, and I'm really proud of his effort today," Boss said.
MSU will be going for the series sweep in Sunday's finale, with first pitch slated for 1 p.m.
Michigan State returns home to McLane Stadium at Kobs Field to host Notre Dame on Tuesday, April 30 at 7:05 p.m., before hosting Michigan in a three-game B1G series, Friday-Sunday, May 3-5. Friday's series opener is slated for 6:05 p.m., before game two of the series on Saturday at 3:35 p.m. The MSU-UM series wraps up on Sunday at 2:05 p.m.
Fans can follow next weekend's action with "Tickets," "Watch Live," "Listen Live" and "Live Stats" links at MSUSpartans.com.
Michigan State's schedule is subject to change, stay tuned to MSUSpartans.com and @MSUBaseball on Twitter for schedule updates.
---------
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.
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 are also on sale through the Spartan Ticket Office.
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.
The Spartans bashed a season-high five home runs on Saturday, their most since four round-trippers in the season-opener vs. Merrimack on Feb. 16. All five MSU homers were hit by Spartan seniors, as along with Frank's pair of HRs, the other three were hit by classmates, infielder Dillon Kark, outfielder Greg Ziegler and catcher Sam Thompson.
MSU's 17 runs on Saturday were its second-most this season behind 19 at Georgia on Feb. 28, and coupled with Friday night's 11 runs were the Spartans' first back-to-back game with double-figure runs since Feb. 28 with 19 runs vs. Georgia and 13 vs. Western Michigan on March 2.
"The wind was blowing out, so you saw big numbers for both teams," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said with a chuckle. "I think we had a really sustained approach, guys kept their focus from inning one to nine, and we were able to put up some big numbers. We scored in a lot of innings and just kept coming at them relentlessly today, so it was a good day for the offense."
The win helped the Spartans win their second B1G weekend series, taking two of three from Penn State last weekend and capturing this weekend's series at Ohio State.
The victory was MSU's fifth in the last six games, moving to 19-20 overall and leveled the Spartans' B1G ledger at 7-7. Ohio State lost its fourth in a row and fifth in the last six outings in sliding to 19-20 overall and 6-8 in league play. Saturday's win was MSU's third win in a row over OSU, having won the last two series with the Buckeyes. Overall, MSU has won five of the last six meetings with OSU and 10 of the last 14.
Frank, a senior outfielder from Strongsville, Ohio (Strongsville HS), had a large section of family and friends in attendance for the second-straight game, and put on a show for them, knocking two home runs in a game for the second time in 10 days, also do so on April 17 vs. Western Michigan. His first home run on Saturday came on the game's first pitch, depositing it into the trees beyond the left-field wall. He finished the day 3-for-4 with two walks, adding five runs and three RBI.
"I'm not trying to do anything extra," Frank said with a laugh about playing so well in his home state in front of friends and family. "I think its been a good weekend for me personally so far, but also for the team. It's been a good weekend so far, I have a bunch of family and friends here and it's good to see everybody. I don't know if it's helping, but I don't think it's hurting. It's been good to see family and have them see me play well, because they've seen me not play well often, so it's been a good weekend for sure."
1 pitch... 1 swing... 1 HR!!
— Michigan State Baseball (@MSUBaseball) April 27, 2024
Jack Frank swings at the 1st pitch of game and smashes team-leading 6th HR of season to give Spartans the early lead!!
MSU 1
OSU 0#GoGreen | @JackF_22 pic.twitter.com/ChoL61k80k
Frank was finally retired in the eighth inning, stopping his reached base streak at 13-straight at bats. He got on base in his final three at bats in last Sunday's game vs. Penn State, then went 4-for-4 with a walk on Friday, before his leadoff homer, then a walk in the second stanza, his second home run in the fourth inning, another walk in the fifth frame and a single in the sixth stanza.
"Hitting is contagious; I think it's as simple as you can put it," Frank said. "You see one guy after another get hits and it feels good, and that weighs on the other team. It's a product of us having good at bats one after another, seeing good pitches, swinging at good strikes, and it just becomes contagious. You see everybody in the line-up get a hit, so it's easy to go up there knowing the guy in front of you got a hit and having a good feeling the guy after you is going to get a hit, so it's good to see everyone have success today."
Frank's success at the plate Saturday was nothing new for his head coach.
"Jack is a good player. He's at the top of our line-up with good reason and he can do an awful lot. He can run and steal some bases, he's got power and good contact, you saw a little bit of everything from him today, he's a complete hitter," Boss said.
Jack Frank with a 2-run HR for his 2nd #FrankJack of the day!!
— Michigan State Baseball (@MSUBaseball) April 27, 2024
It's his 2nd 2-HR game in just over a week, also doing so vs WMU on April 17!!
Jack Frank has now reached base in his last 11 at bats!!#GoGreen | @JackF_22 pic.twitter.com/xAnSC5Gkh2
MSU mashed 16 hits on the afternoon in scoring in the first seven runs, plating a run in the first, three in the second stanza, one in the third, before erupting to hang a six-spot on the board in the fourth, then one more in the fifth frame, tacking on four in the sixth and one more in the seventh, before being held scoreless in the eighth and ninth.
All nine Spartans in the line-up had at least one hit, while eight of the ninth scored a run and seven of the nine had an RBI.
Greg Ziegler entered the weekend without a HR this season, but now has 2 on the weekend after bashing 1st round-tripper of season Friday night and starting 3rd inning with a homer!!
— Michigan State Baseball (@MSUBaseball) April 27, 2024
MSU 5
OSU 3#GoGreen | @GKZ27 pic.twitter.com/Za6erMTyZJ
In addition to Frank's three hits, junior outfielder Nick Williams was 3-for-4 with two ribbies and a run scored, while Ziegler went 3-for-6 with three RBI and three runs scored, hitting his second HR in as many days after entering the weekend without a homer yet this season. Kark joined in the multiple hit outings going 2-for-6 with a career-high tying five RBI, his second time this season and third in his career with a five ribbie outing.
Sam Thompson's 2-run #SamSlam gave the Spartans an 11-8 lead in the top of the 4th!!
— Michigan State Baseball (@MSUBaseball) April 27, 2024
It was Thompson's 2nd HR of the season and first since 3/22 at Maryland!!#GoGreen | @sam_thompson34 pic.twitter.com/3wcDOGA6yN
Thompson added two RBI and two runs scored, while junior designated hitter Christian Williams had a hit, an RBI and a run scored. Freshman infielder Ryan McKay had a hit and drove in one, junior first baseman Sam Busch had a hit and scored a run, and sophomore infielder Randy Seymour had a hit and scored two runs.
A 3-run #KarkCrush HR puts MSU up 4-0!!
— Michigan State Baseball (@MSUBaseball) April 27, 2024
It's Kark's 3rd HR of season and 1st since 3/2 in Greenville!!#GoGreen | @KarkDillon pic.twitter.com/nP3ULhCJyF
On the mound, senior southpaw Nick Powers went 3.0, scattering 10 hits and yielding eight runs with two walks and two strikeouts. He was relieved in the bottom of the fourth inning by senior Aaron Mishoulam after MSU's big offensive output with a six-run fourth frame took a while with two OSU pitching changes.
Mishoulam went 6.0 IP in relief, spraying three hits and four runs while ringing up two Ks and two walks, with four 1-2-3 frames, along with retiring his last 10 Buckeye batters faced and a stretch of 15 out of 16 with one reaching on an error, from the fifth inning on, after yielding a three-run home run with no outs tied it up at 12-12.
"Aaron Mishoulam, after he gave up the three-run home run, he settled in and threw extremely well, and I'm really proud of his effort today," Boss said.
MSU will be going for the series sweep in Sunday's finale, with first pitch slated for 1 p.m.
Michigan State returns home to McLane Stadium at Kobs Field to host Notre Dame on Tuesday, April 30 at 7:05 p.m., before hosting Michigan in a three-game B1G series, Friday-Sunday, May 3-5. Friday's series opener is slated for 6:05 p.m., before game two of the series on Saturday at 3:35 p.m. The MSU-UM series wraps up on Sunday at 2:05 p.m.
Fans can follow next weekend's action with "Tickets," "Watch Live," "Listen Live" and "Live Stats" links at MSUSpartans.com.
Michigan State's schedule is subject to change, stay tuned to MSUSpartans.com and @MSUBaseball on Twitter for schedule updates.
---------
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.
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 are also on sale through the Spartan Ticket Office.
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.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Mishoulam, Aaron (2-1)
L: Morin, Jacob (4-1)
Batting:
2B: Williams, Nick 1 ; Williams, Christian 1 ; Ziegler, Greg 1 ; Busch, Sam 1
HR: Frank, Jack 2 ; Kark, Dillon 1 ; Ziegler, Greg 1 ; Thompson, Sam 1
RBI: Frank, Jack 3 ; Kark, Dillon 5 ; Williams, Nick 2 ; Williams, Christian 1 ; Ziegler, Greg 3 ; McKay, Ryan 1 ; Thompson, Sam 2
SF: Williams, Christian 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Frank, Jack 5 ; Kark, Dillon 2 ; Williams, Nick 1 ; Williams, Christian 1 ; Ziegler, Greg 3 ; Thompson, Sam 2 ; Busch, Sam 1 ; Seymour, Randy 2
Batting:
2B: Okuley, Mitchell 1 ; Giamarusti, Nick 1 ; Rosson, Hunter 1
HR: Lipsey, Trey 1 ; Rosson, Hunter 1
RBI: Lipsey, Trey 3 ; Kaczmar, Henry 1 ; Okuley, Mitchell 2 ; Rosson, Hunter 6
Base Running:
RUNS: Lipsey, Trey 1 ; Pettorini, Tyler 1 ; Mershon, Joseph 2 ; Okuley, Mitchell 1 ; Giamarusti, Nick 3 ; Stevenson, Josh 1 ; Rosson, Hunter 3
HBP: Mershon, Joseph 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
5
H
3
RBI
3
AB
4
R
1
H
3
RBI
2
AB
6
R
3
H
3
RBI
3
AB
6
R
2
H
2
RBI
5
Players Mentioned
OF
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
C
/ BaseballOF
/ BaseballOF
/ BaseballPursuit to Greatness | Spartans All-Access
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Jake Boss | Baseball Press Conference | April 17, 2025
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Jake Boss | Baseball Press Conference | Mar. 25 2025
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Tuesday, March 11