Sunday, February 23
Corpus Christi, Texas
11:30 AM ET / 10:30 AM CT
Michigan State University
6-1
9
vs
15
UCLA
6-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
UCLA
0
0
0
9
2
3
1
0
0
15
13
2
Michigan State
4
1
1
3
0
0
0
0
0
9
11
3
Photo by: Victoria Bazemore
MSU Overtaken By UCLA In Wild Contest Sunday
2/23/2025 6:17:00 PM | Baseball
Spartans dealt first defeat of season, finish weekend 2-1 and now 6-1 on year.
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas -- Michigan State baseball was overtaken by UCLA in a wild back-and-forth battle, 15-9, Sunday at a cloudy Whataburger Field at Corpus Christi, Texas on the final day of the Kleberg Bank College Classic.Â
It was MSU's first defeat of both the weekend and the season, finishing Kleberg Bank College Classic action 2-1 and are now 6-1 on the season. UCLA also finished the weekend 2-1 and are also 6-1 on the year.
Along with the first loss of the weekend and season, Sunday's loss was also MSU's first defeat in Corpus Christi, after the Spartans went 3-0 there in 2016 in the Kleberg Bank College Classic, part of the last time that MSU opened 6-0.
While Sunday's loss denied Michigan State of its first 7-0 start to a season since 1964, the Spartans' 6-1 start is the best since 2016 when MSU also was dealt defeat in game number seven after a 6-0 start. Overall, the 2025 start is MSU's third 6-1 start under head coach Jake Boss Jr., joining 2011 and 2016.
UCLA is in its first season in the Big Ten Conference, and while Sunday's battle against the Bruins was a non-conference game, Michigan State and UCLA also had the distinction of being the first match-up of B1G teams, giving the first-year league member Bruins their first taste of B1G baseball, even as Sunday's game won't count in the conference standings as a league contest. Neither USC, Oregon or Washington have played any other B1G foes this season.
While Sunday was the first time meeting as B1G foes, it was the fifth all-time meeting between the Spartans and Bruins, and UCLA has now won all five meetings.Â
Sunday's game-time temperature of 48 and calm conditions, at first pitch at 10:30 a.m. local time, were the best of the weekend, after cold, windy, rainy conditions for the Spartans' previous two games of the weekend.
MSU rapped out 11 hits for its second double-digit hits total of the season, both coming this weekend after a season-high 13 hits on Friday. Senior infielder Sam Busch was 2-for-5 on Sunday with three RBI and two runs scored. Busch blasted the Spartans' first home run of the season with a solo homer to right to lead off the third for MSU's 6-0 lead.
Busch's fellow seniors, outfielder Nick Williams and catcher Noah Bright were the other two Spartans with multiple hits, as N.Williams was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI and Bright was 2-for-5 with an RBI.
Sophomore infielder Ryan McKay was 1-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI, senior outfielder JT Sokolove was 1-for-3 with a run scored, sophomore outfielder Parker Picot was 1-for-3 with two RBI, junior infielder Jacob Anderson was 1-for-4 with a run scored and junior outfielder Jake Dresselhouse was 1-for-5 with a run scored.
Freshman Aidan Donovan started on the mound for his first collegiate start, and went 3.0 IP with one strikeout, two hits and no runs. From there, Spartan relievers junior Tommy Szczepanski, sophomore Logan Pikur, Â graduate Tyler Horvath, senior Dominic Pianto, junior Ryan Szczepaniak and graduate George Viebrock III saw action on the mound.
For the second time in the three games this weekend, MSU plated four runs in the first inning, also doing so in Friday's win over Washington State.
On Sunday, McKay sparked the rally with a one-out walk, then N.Williams doubled down the left field line. Two batters later, Busch roped a two-run single to right, plating both McKay and N.Williams. Dresselhouse singled and Picot followed with a two-run double down the left field line for a 4-0 Spartan lead.Â
MSU extended its lead to 6-0 after three innings, following a run in the second on an RBI single by McKay, driving in Sokolove who reached on an error, then a solo blast by Busch to lead off the third.
The Spartan advantage evaporated very quickly with a nine-run UCLA rally for a 9-6 lead in the top of the fourth frame.
MSU's deficit didn't last long, as a three-run home half of the inning by the Spartans tied it up. Anderson sparked the rally with a leadoff single, moving to second on a Sokolove walk and later scoring on a throwing error off the bat of McKay. N.Williams followed with an RBI double to the gap in right center to drive McKay in, and Bright followed with an RBI single to left to plate N.Williams and tie it back up at 9-all through four frames.
The Bruins broke the game open with two runs in the fifth, three in the sixth and one in the seventh to pull away from the 9-9 tie and post the 15-9 comeback win. It was UCLA's second big comeback win of the weekend as the Bruins rallied from a five-run deficit at 6-1 in the fifth for a 7-6 walk-off win on Saturday, plating three runs in the ninth.
Michigan State will then play eight games in 10 days at its home-away-from-home, Fluor Field, in Greenville, S.C., home of the Greenville Drive, the high-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, for MSU's Spring Break trip to Greenville, Feb. 31-March 9.
MSU hosts Harvard in a three-game series, Friday-Sunday, Feb. 28-March 2, then play Western Carolina on Wednesday, March 5 in a single midweek contest.Â
The Spartans then host the First Pitch Invitational on Friday-Sunday, March 7-9, tangling with Cornell and UAB on March 7, then Winthrop on March 8 and UAB again on March 9.
The weekend schedule is subject to further change, fans can stay tuned to MSUSpartans.com and @MSUBaseball on Twitter for schedule updates, along with follow this weekend's action with "Watch Live" and "Live Stats."
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It was MSU's first defeat of both the weekend and the season, finishing Kleberg Bank College Classic action 2-1 and are now 6-1 on the season. UCLA also finished the weekend 2-1 and are also 6-1 on the year.
Along with the first loss of the weekend and season, Sunday's loss was also MSU's first defeat in Corpus Christi, after the Spartans went 3-0 there in 2016 in the Kleberg Bank College Classic, part of the last time that MSU opened 6-0.
While Sunday's loss denied Michigan State of its first 7-0 start to a season since 1964, the Spartans' 6-1 start is the best since 2016 when MSU also was dealt defeat in game number seven after a 6-0 start. Overall, the 2025 start is MSU's third 6-1 start under head coach Jake Boss Jr., joining 2011 and 2016.
UCLA is in its first season in the Big Ten Conference, and while Sunday's battle against the Bruins was a non-conference game, Michigan State and UCLA also had the distinction of being the first match-up of B1G teams, giving the first-year league member Bruins their first taste of B1G baseball, even as Sunday's game won't count in the conference standings as a league contest. Neither USC, Oregon or Washington have played any other B1G foes this season.
While Sunday was the first time meeting as B1G foes, it was the fifth all-time meeting between the Spartans and Bruins, and UCLA has now won all five meetings.Â
Sunday's game-time temperature of 48 and calm conditions, at first pitch at 10:30 a.m. local time, were the best of the weekend, after cold, windy, rainy conditions for the Spartans' previous two games of the weekend.
MSU rapped out 11 hits for its second double-digit hits total of the season, both coming this weekend after a season-high 13 hits on Friday. Senior infielder Sam Busch was 2-for-5 on Sunday with three RBI and two runs scored. Busch blasted the Spartans' first home run of the season with a solo homer to right to lead off the third for MSU's 6-0 lead.
Busch's fellow seniors, outfielder Nick Williams and catcher Noah Bright were the other two Spartans with multiple hits, as N.Williams was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI and Bright was 2-for-5 with an RBI.
Sophomore infielder Ryan McKay was 1-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI, senior outfielder JT Sokolove was 1-for-3 with a run scored, sophomore outfielder Parker Picot was 1-for-3 with two RBI, junior infielder Jacob Anderson was 1-for-4 with a run scored and junior outfielder Jake Dresselhouse was 1-for-5 with a run scored.
Freshman Aidan Donovan started on the mound for his first collegiate start, and went 3.0 IP with one strikeout, two hits and no runs. From there, Spartan relievers junior Tommy Szczepanski, sophomore Logan Pikur, Â graduate Tyler Horvath, senior Dominic Pianto, junior Ryan Szczepaniak and graduate George Viebrock III saw action on the mound.
For the second time in the three games this weekend, MSU plated four runs in the first inning, also doing so in Friday's win over Washington State.
On Sunday, McKay sparked the rally with a one-out walk, then N.Williams doubled down the left field line. Two batters later, Busch roped a two-run single to right, plating both McKay and N.Williams. Dresselhouse singled and Picot followed with a two-run double down the left field line for a 4-0 Spartan lead.Â
MSU extended its lead to 6-0 after three innings, following a run in the second on an RBI single by McKay, driving in Sokolove who reached on an error, then a solo blast by Busch to lead off the third.
The Spartan advantage evaporated very quickly with a nine-run UCLA rally for a 9-6 lead in the top of the fourth frame.
MSU's deficit didn't last long, as a three-run home half of the inning by the Spartans tied it up. Anderson sparked the rally with a leadoff single, moving to second on a Sokolove walk and later scoring on a throwing error off the bat of McKay. N.Williams followed with an RBI double to the gap in right center to drive McKay in, and Bright followed with an RBI single to left to plate N.Williams and tie it back up at 9-all through four frames.
The Bruins broke the game open with two runs in the fifth, three in the sixth and one in the seventh to pull away from the 9-9 tie and post the 15-9 comeback win. It was UCLA's second big comeback win of the weekend as the Bruins rallied from a five-run deficit at 6-1 in the fifth for a 7-6 walk-off win on Saturday, plating three runs in the ninth.
Michigan State will then play eight games in 10 days at its home-away-from-home, Fluor Field, in Greenville, S.C., home of the Greenville Drive, the high-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, for MSU's Spring Break trip to Greenville, Feb. 31-March 9.
MSU hosts Harvard in a three-game series, Friday-Sunday, Feb. 28-March 2, then play Western Carolina on Wednesday, March 5 in a single midweek contest.Â
The Spartans then host the First Pitch Invitational on Friday-Sunday, March 7-9, tangling with Cornell and UAB on March 7, then Winthrop on March 8 and UAB again on March 9.
The weekend schedule is subject to further change, fans can stay tuned to MSUSpartans.com and @MSUBaseball on Twitter for schedule updates, along with follow this weekend's action with "Watch Live" and "Live Stats."
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Barnett, Michael (2-0)
L: Horvath, Tyler (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Martin, Roman 1
3B: Salgado, AJ 1
HR: Cholowsky, Roch 2 ; Dugger, Cashel 1
RBI: West, Dean 1 ; Cholowsky, Roch 5 ; Salgado, AJ 1 ; Hocking, Jarrod 1 ; Call, Phoenix 2 ; Kim, Cameron 1 ; Dugger, Cashel 2
SH: Hocking, Jarrod 1
SF: Hocking, Jarrod 1
Base Running:
RUNS: West, Dean 1 ; Cholowsky, Roch 2 ; Levu, Mulivai 1 ; Martin, Roman 2 ; Salgado, AJ 3 ; Hocking, Jarrod 1 ; Call, Phoenix 2 ; Kim, Cameron 1 ; Dugger, Cashel 2
SB: Salgado, AJ 2 ; Hocking, Jarrod 1 ; Call, Phoenix 1
HBP: Salgado, AJ 1 ; Dugger, Cashel 1
Batting:
2B: McKay, Ryan 1 ; Williams, Nick 2 ; Picot, Parker 1
HR: Busch, Sam 1
RBI: McKay, Ryan 1 ; Williams, Nick 1 ; Bright, Noah 1 ; Busch, Sam 3 ; Picot, Parker 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Sokolove, JT 1 ; McKay, Ryan 2 ; Williams, Nick 2 ; Busch, Sam 2 ; Dresselhouse, Jake 1 ; Anderson, Jacob 1
HBP: Sokolove, JT 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF/C
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
OF
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