Michigan State University
Lehigh
MSU Baseball Wins Third Straight
3/6/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 6, 2006
CLEARWATER, Fla. - The Michigan State (3-3) baseball team won its third game in as many days, overpowering Lehigh (5-3), 15-6, Monday afternoon at the Winning Inning College Classic in Clearwater, Fla. The Spartan offense erupted for 18 hits, as Troy Krider went 4-for-5 with an RBI and Ryan Basham batted 3-for-5 with a home run and a career-best five RBI.
Lehigh jumped out to 1-0 lead in the first inning, but the Spartans answered in a commanding fashion, scoring four runs in the third. With the bases loaded, Basham ripped a two-run single. Two batters later, Adam Tripp cleared the bags with a stand-up, two-run triple.
MSU continued the onslaught in the fifth inning, adding two more runs to its total. Sean Walker got things going with a double and advanced to third on Oliver Wolcott's sacrifice bunt. Quinn Ewert drove in Walker with a single down the left field line and later stole second, advancing to third on a single by Krider, before scoring on a balk to push the lead to 6-1.
Lehigh mustered a run of its own in the bottom half of the fourth inning and both clubs put a run on the board in the sixth inning for a 6-3 ball game, but MSU blew the game open with a five-run performance in the seventh, doing its damage with two outs. With the bases loaded for the second time in the game, Jamey Embree unloaded a two-run double, setting the stage for Basham, who blasted his first home run of the season, a three-run shot to right field.
Down by nine, Lehigh cut the lead to 12-5 with two runs in the bottom of the seventh, but had no answer for the Spartan offense, which continued to pour it on in the eighth inning, using five hits and one error to push the lead to 15-5. The Mountain Hawks would put one more run on the board in the bottom of the ninth, before falling to the Spartans by a 15-6 final.
Starting pitcher Mike Takashima (1-0) earned the win in his first appearance of the season, allowing two runs on four hits in 4.0 innings, while Lehigh's Andrew Grim (0-1) suffered the loss.
Ewert also had the hot bat for the Green and White, hitting 3-for-4 from the plate. Lehigh was led by Andrew Smith, who produced three hits, while Nick Bet, Matt McBride and John Zaszewski contributed two hits apiece.
With the Winning Inning College Classic under their belt, the Spartans begin the second phase of their spring trip with two games in Miami, facing Florida International Tuesday and Miami (Fla.) on Wednesday. Both games will be played at the opponent's home facility, with first pitch set for 7 p.m.
