Friday, April 12
Piscataway, NJ
1 PM ET
Michigan State University
2
at
4
Rutgers
Photo by: Jeremy Fleming
MSU Topped By Rutgers Friday In Opener
4/12/2019 4:44:00 PM | Baseball
Spartans dropped by Scarlet Knights in opener of three-game series.
PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Michigan State baseball was doubled up by Rutgers, 4-2, Friday afternoon at RU's Bainton Field, in the opener of a three-game Big Ten Conference series.
MSU had seven hits, while Rutgers had eight. Neither team had any extra base hits, and both teams left six runners on base.
"Give Rutgers credit, they played well, they didn't make any defensive mistakes. I think their guys really threw well. They got a couple timely hits when they needed them. That one in the eighth was kind of a back-breaker for us, since it started by hitting a guy with nobody on and two outs," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. "We need to do better at the plate. We struck out eight times and we were off balance at the plate a lot. It's disappointing."
Sophomore infielder Zach Iverson was 2-for-3 with an RBI, while freshman outfielder Zaid Walker was 2-for-4 with a run scored. Junior infielder Justin Antoncic was 1-for-3 with an RBI, while junior outfielder Bryce Kelley and senior infielder Royce Ando were both 1-for-4, with Kelley scoring a run.
Kelley scored the run in the sixth after singling and stealing second, giving him a B1G-leading 14 stolen bases for the season. The swipe was Kelley's 60th stolen base for his career, becoming the fourth Spartan in program history with 60 career stolen bases. Kelley needs one more to tie Brandon Eckerle with 61 from 2008-11 for No. 3 on MSU career stolen base list.
On the mound, sophomore Mason Erla went 6.1 IP, scattering six hits, while yielding three runs and ringing up five strikeouts. Freshman Colten Panaranto went the final 1.2 IP, allowing two hits and one run, while chalking up a pair of punchouts.
RU got on the board early with a run in the home half of the first, stringing together a pair of hits around an MSU error and fielder's choice.
The Scarlet Knights plated a pair of runs in the fourth inning, with a one-out walk and three singles, before Erla got out of jam with a groundout, leaving two runners on the basepaths.
In the sixth, MSU rallied with Kelley lacing a one-out single and later stealing second. Antoncic followed with a single to left center to plate Kelley and get the Spartans on the board. After Ando singled, the rally fizzled with a nice play by Rutgers second baseman David Soto for a fielder's choice to get Ando at second.
The Spartans continued their scoring in the top of the seventh, as Walker led off with an infield single, moved to second on a walk by junior designated hitter Bailey Peterson. Both Walker and Peterson advanced a base on a sacrifice bunt by senior outfielder Dan Chmielewski. An infield single by Iverson plated Walker, before the rally ended with a groundout with the Spartans trailing, 3-2.
Rutgers scored an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth on a two-out single by Peter Serruto, before Kelley threw out Luke Bowerbank at third trying to go from first to third on the single, with Iverson applying the tag to end the inning.
Saturday's second game of the series is slated for a 1 p.m. start.
Fans can also follow this weekend's Spartan baseball action through "Live Stats," "Listen Live" and "Watch Live" links found at MSUSpartans.com. The games will be video streamed on BTN2Go, and will also be carried on the Spartan Sports Network live audio stream. The broadcast will be available exclusively at SpartanSportsNetwork.com and on the network's 24/7 app for mobile devices (available on iTunes and Google Play). Broadcast veteran Scott Moore calls the action alongside former MSU manager/bullpen catcher David Greenberg in select games.
Any schedule updates will be announced on www.MSUSpartans.com and on twitter @statebaseball.
MSU had seven hits, while Rutgers had eight. Neither team had any extra base hits, and both teams left six runners on base.
"Give Rutgers credit, they played well, they didn't make any defensive mistakes. I think their guys really threw well. They got a couple timely hits when they needed them. That one in the eighth was kind of a back-breaker for us, since it started by hitting a guy with nobody on and two outs," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. "We need to do better at the plate. We struck out eight times and we were off balance at the plate a lot. It's disappointing."
Sophomore infielder Zach Iverson was 2-for-3 with an RBI, while freshman outfielder Zaid Walker was 2-for-4 with a run scored. Junior infielder Justin Antoncic was 1-for-3 with an RBI, while junior outfielder Bryce Kelley and senior infielder Royce Ando were both 1-for-4, with Kelley scoring a run.
Kelley scored the run in the sixth after singling and stealing second, giving him a B1G-leading 14 stolen bases for the season. The swipe was Kelley's 60th stolen base for his career, becoming the fourth Spartan in program history with 60 career stolen bases. Kelley needs one more to tie Brandon Eckerle with 61 from 2008-11 for No. 3 on MSU career stolen base list.
On the mound, sophomore Mason Erla went 6.1 IP, scattering six hits, while yielding three runs and ringing up five strikeouts. Freshman Colten Panaranto went the final 1.2 IP, allowing two hits and one run, while chalking up a pair of punchouts.
RU got on the board early with a run in the home half of the first, stringing together a pair of hits around an MSU error and fielder's choice.
The Scarlet Knights plated a pair of runs in the fourth inning, with a one-out walk and three singles, before Erla got out of jam with a groundout, leaving two runners on the basepaths.
In the sixth, MSU rallied with Kelley lacing a one-out single and later stealing second. Antoncic followed with a single to left center to plate Kelley and get the Spartans on the board. After Ando singled, the rally fizzled with a nice play by Rutgers second baseman David Soto for a fielder's choice to get Ando at second.
The Spartans continued their scoring in the top of the seventh, as Walker led off with an infield single, moved to second on a walk by junior designated hitter Bailey Peterson. Both Walker and Peterson advanced a base on a sacrifice bunt by senior outfielder Dan Chmielewski. An infield single by Iverson plated Walker, before the rally ended with a groundout with the Spartans trailing, 3-2.
Rutgers scored an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth on a two-out single by Peter Serruto, before Kelley threw out Luke Bowerbank at third trying to go from first to third on the single, with Iverson applying the tag to end the inning.
Saturday's second game of the series is slated for a 1 p.m. start.
Fans can also follow this weekend's Spartan baseball action through "Live Stats," "Listen Live" and "Watch Live" links found at MSUSpartans.com. The games will be video streamed on BTN2Go, and will also be carried on the Spartan Sports Network live audio stream. The broadcast will be available exclusively at SpartanSportsNetwork.com and on the network's 24/7 app for mobile devices (available on iTunes and Google Play). Broadcast veteran Scott Moore calls the action alongside former MSU manager/bullpen catcher David Greenberg in select games.
Any schedule updates will be announced on www.MSUSpartans.com and on twitter @statebaseball.
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