Michigan State University
Lansing Lugnuts
Spartans Pound Lugnuts, 12-2, In Crosstown Showdown
4/16/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 16, 2009
The Crosstown Showdown Experience
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Jake | A.J.
LANSING, Mich - The Michigan State baseball team used back-to-back multi-run innings and several strong pitching performances to get its first win over the Lansing Lugnuts, 12-2, on Thursday (April 16) night in the third annual Crosstown Showdown at Oldsmobile Park. The exhibition game drew a stadium-record crowd of 12,992.
"Our guys played very, very well tonight," said Boss. "It's nice to play well for two days in a row. We came out swinging the bat and what a great atmosphere here tonight. It was a thrill to be a part of my first Crosstown Showdown and for us to play so well in front of a big crowd is great for Michigan State."
Four consecutive Spartan hits in the second inning helped MSU race out to a 4-0 lead. Jeff Holm got things started with a double down the left field line and then scored the first run of the day when Bo Felt singled him in. Brandon Eckerle then followed with a single and Eli Boike walked to load the bases with one out. A.J. Shindler then cashed in with a shot to left field and a mishandled ball in the outfield on the play helped clear the bases and gave MSU a 4-0 lead.
The Spartans widened the margin in the third with three more runs to take a 7-0 lead. Holm picked up his second double of the game and drove in Jonathan Roof who scored from first on a tag-avoiding slide for the first run of the inning. Holm later touched home on a wild pitch and Eckerle drove in his first run of the day to give MSU a seven-run advantage.
The Spartans got solid pitching from starter A.J. Dunn and relievers Max Miller and Kurtis Frymier who combined to give up just five hits while striking out nine in the first six innings.
"Tonight was a lot of fun," said Dunn, who played in this third Showdown. "It was a great crowd, great atmosphere and a lot of Michigan State fans here. We had a blast and just played loose."
A pair of walks and hit batter to start the seventh frame put the Green and White in position to score more runs and Johnny Lee cleaned up with a two-RBI single. An RBI-ground out by Jonathan Roof and a Lugnuts error led to two more runs and an 11-0 Spartan lead.
Eric Roof drove in the final Spartan run of the day in the eighth with a double to put MSU up 12-2.
MSU and Michigan will start a three-game series on Friday (April 17) at McLane Baseball Stadium with first pitch scheduled for 3 p.m.
"We need to take the same approach into the game tomorrow," said Boss. "We played loose and we had a good time playing tonight."
Notes: Prior to the game, MSU and the Lansing Lugnuts organization announced a three-year extension for the Crosstown Showdown. The annual event will now run through 2012...Men's basketball coach Tom Izzo and former men's soccer head coach Joe Baum each coached first base for an inning during Thursday's game...Seven different Spartans picked up RBIs in the game.
