Wednesday, March 19
East Lansing, Mich.
4:02 PM
Michigan State University
14-6
8
vs
5
Oakland
3-19
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Oakland
0
0
0
1
0
2
0
2
0
5
9
2
Michigan State
3
0
2
2
0
0
0
1
X
8
11
5
Photo by: MSU Baseball Social Squad
Spartans Grind Out 8-5 Win Over Golden Grizzlies Wednesday
3/19/2025 9:23:00 PM | Baseball
MSU opens big lead, holds off late Oakland rally.
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan State baseball opened a big lead on Oakland then the Spartans withstood a late rally by the Golden Grizzlies, to grind out an 8-5 win Wednesday evening at Jeff Ishbia Field at McLane Stadium, posting their first home win of the season.
MSU jumped out to an early advantage with three runs in the home half of the first frame, and adding two runs in the third inning and later had a 7-1 lead after the fourth frame. However, the Golden Grizzlies plated a pair of runs in the sixth and eighth innings to close to 7-5, before the Spartans added an insurance run in the eighth for the 8-5 final score.
"I think all of it, base running was really good, I think we hit a couple of home runs, we had some really good at bats and were deep into counts and had productive at bats there," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said about what was working well for the Spartans in the early innings. "We executed on a sacrifice bunt and moved some guys over. Our situational hitting, I thought was really good, and that's the stuff we're going to have to do if we're going to win."
With the win, MSU is now 1-1 at home after last week's home opener. Michigan State is now 14-6 overall on the year, the Spartans' best start through 20 games since 2016 when MSU was 17-3 after 20 games into the season.
Oakland slid to 3-19 on the season with Wednesday's loss, OU's ninth-straight loss. With the win, the Spartans have beaten the Golden Grizzlies in three of the last four meetings as part of 14 of the last 16 and 30 of the last 33, leading the all-time series, 38-5, including 22-3 under Coach Boss, who celebrated his birthday Wednesday along with the Victory for MSU.
Michigan State rapped out 11 hits in the game, including three extra-base hits, with two of them being home runs. Senior designated hitter Will Shannon blasted his first home run as a Spartan, on a solo round-tripper to left field in the first inning.
"Yeah, he's got all kinds of power, when he hits a ball in the air, good things happen," Boss said about Shannon. "His next at bat he hit a ground ball to drive a run in, so it was a good at bat as well. Then the one after that he hit another ground ball for a double play, and that's what we can't have out of him. So, if he flys out, I'm good with that, because he needs to get the ball in the air and he needs to elevate. Good things are going to happen because he's big and strong."
Shannon finished 1-for-3 with two RBI. Junior infielder Randy Seymour joined Shannon in the home run column with a solo homer also to left, to lead off the fourth inning, for his third homer of the season. Seymour finished 2-for-4 with the RBI and run scored from the HR.
Sophomore infielder Ryan McKay was 4-for-4 with three runs scored and one RBI, adding two stolen bases.
"I thought Ryan's approach was really good at the plate today," Boss said. "I think he used a 'green light' on the base paths when we gave it to him. I think it worked, with two stolen bases tonight. He kind of did it all for us and played really good defense. He swung the bat well, and he ran the bases well. I thought the biggest play in the game was scoring on the wild pitch in the first inning, the ball didn't travel more than 10 feet (away from home plate), but he had a great read, his timing was right, and he took advantage of it and scored, which was a huge momentum play for us. Ryan's a really good player, and I'm glad he's on our team."
The four hits was not just a season-high, but career-best night as well, spraying the field on all four hits.
"Coming into the game, everybody had the plan of doing their job and what they do, and what I do personally is I spray the ball around the field, I find holes anywhere in the infield, that's just what I did today and it worked, so just trying to keep going," McKay said.
Graduate catcher Caleb Berry was 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored, knocking a double for the Spartans' third extra-base hit of the day. Berry also swiped two stolen bases on the day.
Senior outfielder JT Sokolove was 1-for-5 with a run scored, while freshman outfielder Khamaree Thomas came on as a sub and knocked his first hit as a Spartan with a single to right in the seventh. Junior infielder Jacob Anderson drew a walk and later scored a run, while senior infielder Sam Busch had an RBI on a sacrifice fly in the first inning.
On the mound, redshirt-sophomore Tate Farquhar started the bullpen staff pitching outing, going 2.0 IP without a hit or run, to earn his first collegiate win. Sophomore Gannon Grundman went 2.0 IP with one K, two hits and a run, freshman Aidan Donovan went 1.1 IP with four hits and two runs, sophomore Garrett Brewer rang up four strikeouts in 1.2 IP, with one hit, two runs and a walk. Senior Dominic Pianto went 1.0 IP with two hits and no runs, posting one punchout.
Graduate reliever Tyler Horvath came on in the ninth and went three-up, three-down with one strikeout, coming on the final out, sparking the Victory for MSU celebration and securing his third save of the season.
"Tyler throws a lot of strikes, and he attacks hitters, something that he's used to doing," Boss said. "He's done that at his previous school, and so he's comfortable in that situation, and I think that's a huge part of pitching at the end of the game. You have to be comfortable in that situation, and he seems to be."
The Spartans scored in their first at bat,as they tend to do all season, having now scored 29 runs in the first inning through 20 games, their highest scoring inning.
Sokolove sparked the rally by leading off with a single, and McKay followed suite with a single of his own. Berry then laid down a sac bunt to move them both up a base, then Busch followed with a sac fly to right, plating Sokolove. McKay then scored on a wild pitch to clear the bases, before Shannon smacked his first Spartan homer for a 3-0 MSU lead after one full frame.
McKay ignited the Spartan rally in the third with a leadoff single, and Berry drove him in with a double to the left-center gap. Berry later stole third and scored on Shannon's RBI groundout, putting the home team Spartans ahead, 5-0.
Oakland got on the board with a run in the fourth, taking advantage of two hits and one MSU error in the inning, to close to 5-1.
MSU quickly expanded its lead in the home half of the inning, as Seymour led off with his homer to left. Two batters later, Anderson walk, Sokolove moved him up to second with a groundout, and McKay drove Anderson in with a single through the left side and a 7-1 MSU lead.
Oakland scored two in the sixth and two more in the eighth, before Pianto ended the rally with a strikeout to strand a pair of Golden Grizzlies on the basepaths.
Mckay again provided the sparkplug for MSU's run in the eighth, drawing a two-out walk, then stealing second. Berry reached on an infield single to move McKay to third, and he scored on another wild pitch, for the final scoring.
Horvath worked a quick 1-2-3 frame in the top of the ninth for the win.
The Spartans now return to both the road and B1G action, heading to University Park, Pa., to take on Penn State in a three-game weekend series at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park, Friday-Sunday, March 21-23. The series opener is on Friday at 5:30 p.m., before Saturday's contest at 2 p.m. MSU and PSU wrap up the weekend on Sunday at 1 p.m.
"Something we don't really do is look into the future, we kind of go one game at a time," McKay said. "So, we travel tomorrow, one on Friday and we'll just go from there. It's really just one game at a time, not thinking about the standings or anything, just one game at a time."
MSU then plays at Notre Dame on Wednesday, March 26 at 4:30 p.m.
Michigan State then hosts Illinois in its B1G home opening weekend series at Jeff Ishbia Field at McLane Stadium, Friday-Sunday, March 28-30 at Jeff Ishbia Field at McLane Stadium. First pitch in the series opener is slated for 3:32 p.m. on Friday, March 28, followed by game two's start time of 3:32 p.m. on Saturday, March 29. The series finale on Sunday, March 30 has a 1:02 p.m. first pitch.
The Spartans' schedule is subject to 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," "Listen Live" and "Live Stats" links where available.
Michigan State baseball tickets are available online at msuspartans.evenue.net, by contacting the Spartan Ticket Office at 517-355-1610 or by email at tickets@msu.edu for questions or more information.
MSU jumped out to an early advantage with three runs in the home half of the first frame, and adding two runs in the third inning and later had a 7-1 lead after the fourth frame. However, the Golden Grizzlies plated a pair of runs in the sixth and eighth innings to close to 7-5, before the Spartans added an insurance run in the eighth for the 8-5 final score.
"I think all of it, base running was really good, I think we hit a couple of home runs, we had some really good at bats and were deep into counts and had productive at bats there," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said about what was working well for the Spartans in the early innings. "We executed on a sacrifice bunt and moved some guys over. Our situational hitting, I thought was really good, and that's the stuff we're going to have to do if we're going to win."
With the win, MSU is now 1-1 at home after last week's home opener. Michigan State is now 14-6 overall on the year, the Spartans' best start through 20 games since 2016 when MSU was 17-3 after 20 games into the season.
Oakland slid to 3-19 on the season with Wednesday's loss, OU's ninth-straight loss. With the win, the Spartans have beaten the Golden Grizzlies in three of the last four meetings as part of 14 of the last 16 and 30 of the last 33, leading the all-time series, 38-5, including 22-3 under Coach Boss, who celebrated his birthday Wednesday along with the Victory for MSU.
Michigan State rapped out 11 hits in the game, including three extra-base hits, with two of them being home runs. Senior designated hitter Will Shannon blasted his first home run as a Spartan, on a solo round-tripper to left field in the first inning.
"Yeah, he's got all kinds of power, when he hits a ball in the air, good things happen," Boss said about Shannon. "His next at bat he hit a ground ball to drive a run in, so it was a good at bat as well. Then the one after that he hit another ground ball for a double play, and that's what we can't have out of him. So, if he flys out, I'm good with that, because he needs to get the ball in the air and he needs to elevate. Good things are going to happen because he's big and strong."
Shannon finished 1-for-3 with two RBI. Junior infielder Randy Seymour joined Shannon in the home run column with a solo homer also to left, to lead off the fourth inning, for his third homer of the season. Seymour finished 2-for-4 with the RBI and run scored from the HR.
Sophomore infielder Ryan McKay was 4-for-4 with three runs scored and one RBI, adding two stolen bases.
"I thought Ryan's approach was really good at the plate today," Boss said. "I think he used a 'green light' on the base paths when we gave it to him. I think it worked, with two stolen bases tonight. He kind of did it all for us and played really good defense. He swung the bat well, and he ran the bases well. I thought the biggest play in the game was scoring on the wild pitch in the first inning, the ball didn't travel more than 10 feet (away from home plate), but he had a great read, his timing was right, and he took advantage of it and scored, which was a huge momentum play for us. Ryan's a really good player, and I'm glad he's on our team."
The four hits was not just a season-high, but career-best night as well, spraying the field on all four hits.
"Coming into the game, everybody had the plan of doing their job and what they do, and what I do personally is I spray the ball around the field, I find holes anywhere in the infield, that's just what I did today and it worked, so just trying to keep going," McKay said.
Graduate catcher Caleb Berry was 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored, knocking a double for the Spartans' third extra-base hit of the day. Berry also swiped two stolen bases on the day.
Senior outfielder JT Sokolove was 1-for-5 with a run scored, while freshman outfielder Khamaree Thomas came on as a sub and knocked his first hit as a Spartan with a single to right in the seventh. Junior infielder Jacob Anderson drew a walk and later scored a run, while senior infielder Sam Busch had an RBI on a sacrifice fly in the first inning.
On the mound, redshirt-sophomore Tate Farquhar started the bullpen staff pitching outing, going 2.0 IP without a hit or run, to earn his first collegiate win. Sophomore Gannon Grundman went 2.0 IP with one K, two hits and a run, freshman Aidan Donovan went 1.1 IP with four hits and two runs, sophomore Garrett Brewer rang up four strikeouts in 1.2 IP, with one hit, two runs and a walk. Senior Dominic Pianto went 1.0 IP with two hits and no runs, posting one punchout.
Graduate reliever Tyler Horvath came on in the ninth and went three-up, three-down with one strikeout, coming on the final out, sparking the Victory for MSU celebration and securing his third save of the season.
"Tyler throws a lot of strikes, and he attacks hitters, something that he's used to doing," Boss said. "He's done that at his previous school, and so he's comfortable in that situation, and I think that's a huge part of pitching at the end of the game. You have to be comfortable in that situation, and he seems to be."
The Spartans scored in their first at bat,as they tend to do all season, having now scored 29 runs in the first inning through 20 games, their highest scoring inning.
Sokolove sparked the rally by leading off with a single, and McKay followed suite with a single of his own. Berry then laid down a sac bunt to move them both up a base, then Busch followed with a sac fly to right, plating Sokolove. McKay then scored on a wild pitch to clear the bases, before Shannon smacked his first Spartan homer for a 3-0 MSU lead after one full frame.
McKay ignited the Spartan rally in the third with a leadoff single, and Berry drove him in with a double to the left-center gap. Berry later stole third and scored on Shannon's RBI groundout, putting the home team Spartans ahead, 5-0.
Oakland got on the board with a run in the fourth, taking advantage of two hits and one MSU error in the inning, to close to 5-1.
MSU quickly expanded its lead in the home half of the inning, as Seymour led off with his homer to left. Two batters later, Anderson walk, Sokolove moved him up to second with a groundout, and McKay drove Anderson in with a single through the left side and a 7-1 MSU lead.
Oakland scored two in the sixth and two more in the eighth, before Pianto ended the rally with a strikeout to strand a pair of Golden Grizzlies on the basepaths.
Mckay again provided the sparkplug for MSU's run in the eighth, drawing a two-out walk, then stealing second. Berry reached on an infield single to move McKay to third, and he scored on another wild pitch, for the final scoring.
Horvath worked a quick 1-2-3 frame in the top of the ninth for the win.
The Spartans now return to both the road and B1G action, heading to University Park, Pa., to take on Penn State in a three-game weekend series at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park, Friday-Sunday, March 21-23. The series opener is on Friday at 5:30 p.m., before Saturday's contest at 2 p.m. MSU and PSU wrap up the weekend on Sunday at 1 p.m.
"Something we don't really do is look into the future, we kind of go one game at a time," McKay said. "So, we travel tomorrow, one on Friday and we'll just go from there. It's really just one game at a time, not thinking about the standings or anything, just one game at a time."
MSU then plays at Notre Dame on Wednesday, March 26 at 4:30 p.m.
Michigan State then hosts Illinois in its B1G home opening weekend series at Jeff Ishbia Field at McLane Stadium, Friday-Sunday, March 28-30 at Jeff Ishbia Field at McLane Stadium. First pitch in the series opener is slated for 3:32 p.m. on Friday, March 28, followed by game two's start time of 3:32 p.m. on Saturday, March 29. The series finale on Sunday, March 30 has a 1:02 p.m. first pitch.
The Spartans' schedule is subject to 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," "Listen Live" and "Live Stats" links where available.
Michigan State baseball tickets are available online at msuspartans.evenue.net, by contacting the Spartan Ticket Office at 517-355-1610 or by email at tickets@msu.edu for questions or more information.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Farquhar, Tate (1-0)
L: Ethan Glassman (0-3)
S: Horvath, Tyler (3)
Batting:
2B: Brandon Nigh 1 ; Carter Hain 1
RBI: Carter Hain 1 ; Jack Lux 1 ; Taylor Tomlin 1 ; Boston Halloran 1 ; Sam Griffith 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Brandon Nigh 1 ; Carter Hain 3 ; Jack Lux 1
SB: John Lauinger 1 ; Brandon Nigh 1
HBP: Brandon Nigh 1 ; Boston Halloran 1
Batting:
2B: Berry, Caleb 1
HR: Shannon, Will 1 ; Seymour, Randy 1
RBI: McKay, Ryan 1 ; Berry, Caleb 1 ; Busch, Sam 1 ; Shannon, Will 2 ; Seymour, Randy 1
SH: Berry, Caleb 1
SF: Busch, Sam 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Sokolove, JT 1 ; McKay, Ryan 3 ; Berry, Caleb 1 ; Shannon, Will 1 ; Seymour, Randy 1 ; Anderson, Jacob 1
SB: McKay, Ryan 2 ; Berry, Caleb 2
HBP: Dresselhouse, Jake 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
3
H
4
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
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LHP
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RHP
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RHP
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LHP
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RHP
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RHP
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OF/INF
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OF
/ BaseballPursuit to Greatness | Spartans All-Access
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