Michigan State University
Minnesota
MSU Baseball Falls In Series Finale To Minnesota, 6-3
4/23/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 23, 2006
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State and Minnesota waited out an hour and 45-minute rain delay Sunday afternoon at Kobs Field, but the Spartans fell in the shortened contest, 6-3, to split the series with the Golden Gophers. Scheduled to be a nine-inning outing, Sunday's game went just seven innings, due to the rain delay and travel arrangements. The Green and White dropped to 19-18, 8-8 in Big Ten, while Minnesota improved to 20-17, 8-8.
Scoring two runs in the first and a run in the second, Minnesota jumped out to a 3-0 advantage. MSU's Steve Gerstenberger cut the lead by one driving in a run in the bottom of the second.
The two teams traded runs, with Minnesota scoring in the third and Michigan State scoring in the fourth on an Adam Tripp solo home run before rain caused a stoppage of play. Down 4-2 with one out and runners on the corners when play resumed, the Spartans looked like they were in good shape, but Minnesota's Andy Peters entered the game and shut down the MSU offense. Throwing against 16 batters in the final 3.2 innings, Peters struck out half of those he faced, recording eight strikeouts on the day.
The Green and White bullpen struggled after replacing starter Mark Sorensen and walked in two runs in the fifth. Trailing 6-2, time was becoming a factor for the Spartans, as no inning could begin after 4:15 p.m. due to Minnesota's travel schedule.
Six straight outs in the sixth allowed Michigan State one more at bat in the seventh, starting the inning just minutes before the time constraint, but the Spartans were only able to muster one run and fell by a final score of 6-3.
Allowing four runs on six hits in 4.0 innings pitched, Sorensen (2-2) was saddled with the loss. Peters (2-3) earned the win for the Gophers.
Alan Cattrysse accounted for two of the Spartans six hits on the day, while Mike Mee and Kyle Baran combined for four of Minnesota's eight hits.
Michigan State returns to action on Wednesday, April 26 as it entertains Toledo at Kobs Field at 3:00 p.m.
