Michigan State University
Miami (Oh)
Big Sixth Inning Leads Baseball Over Miami, 11-5
2/21/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 21, 2010
GREENVILLE, S.C. - The Michigan State baseball team broke a 5-5 tie in the sixth inning with six runs and went on to defeat Miami (Ohio), 11-5, on Sunday (Feb. 21) afternoon in Greenville, S.C. Down 5-2 in the fifth inning, the Spartans scored three runs to tie the game before going ahead for good in the sixth.
"We started slowly and in all phases, but Kurt Wunderlich settled down and we stayed the course and got on track," said MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. "Our guys stayed into the game mentally and it paid off."
The Spartans are now 2-1 after college baseball's opening weekend, while Miami is 1-2.
"Overall, I think we're pleased with how we played this weekend," said Boss. "We would like to be 3-0. We played a lot of young guys that handled themselves very well this weekend and we're happy with that."
After fighting back to tie the score at five, the Spartans completed their comeback in the sixth inning with six runs - keyed by a grand slam off the bat of Chris Roberts. Roberts' blast to right field made it 10-5 and then Jonathan Roof followed one batter later with a solo home run that cleared the left field wall and made the score 11-5.
"That was certainly the big inning for us and Chris' home run was the difference," Boss said.
The RedHawks jumped out to a 4-0 lead with one run in the first and three more in the second. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the second and no, outs MSU got its first runs of the game, courtesy of Torsten Boss and a Miami error. Boss reached on a fielder's choice and then Miami shortstop Brad Gschwind's error allowed another Spartan run to score and cut the Miami advantage to 4-2.
With Miami leading 5-2 in the bottom of the fifth inning, Michigan State began its comeback with three runs. With Ryan Jones and Brandon Eckerle on base, senior Eli Boike drove in Jones with a single through the right side to get things going. A Roberts groundout then scored Eckerle one batter later to make it a one-run game. Later in the inning with two outs, Boike touched home to tie the game at five when Jeff Holm doubled him in.
After giving up the four runs over the first three innings, starter Kurt Wunderlich shutdown the RedHawks over the next three innings before Trey Popp took over in the seventh inning. Wunderlich gave up three earned runs off seven hits while fanning three to earn the win.
Jamaal Hollis (0-1), who came on for the RedHawks in relief in the critical sixth inning, suffered the loss.
The Spartans will resume play next weekend when they take part in the second annual BIG EAST/Big Ten Challenge. MSU will meet Seton Hall at 10 a.m. on Friday (Feb. 26) in St. Petersburg, Fla., in its first game of the challenge.
