Michigan State University
Kentucky
MSU Falls To Kentucky, 9-2
2/27/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
The Spartan pitchers had no answer for Kentucky's Colin Cowgill, who went 4-for-5 with five RBI and a home run. Cowgill recorded an RBI double in the first inning and drove in another run in the third to give the Wildcats a quick 2-0 advantage. The Green and White managed to cut the lead in half in the fourth, as Ryan Basham brought Kyle Day around the dish, but the Spartans had trouble generating any offense for the rest of the game.
UK cushioned its lead with two runs in the sixth, and Cowgill's solo homer and Justin Scutchfield's RBI double in the eighth pushed the score to 6-1. The Spartans picked up a run on Sean Walker's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth inning, but the 'Cats put the game out of reach with a three-run ninth.
Jeff Gerbe (0-1) took the loss on the mound, surrendering four earned runs and 10 hits in six innings. UK's Tommy Warner (1-0) picked up his first win of the year, allowing just one run on three hits in four innings.
Adam Tripp (2-for-3) and Quinn Ewert (2-for-3) combined for four of the Spartans' nine hits.
"This was a challenging weekend for us, but that's what we needed," MSU head coach David Grewe said. "We saw a lot of good things and some things we need to work on. We are just going to stay focused on Spartan baseball."
Michigan State will head to Florida for its spring trip, March 4-11. The Green and White will make stops in Clearwater, Miami and Boca Raton, while facing Lehigh, Florida International, Miami, Seton Hall and Rhode Island.
