Sunday, April 14
Piscataway, NJ
12 PM ET
Michigan State University
8-25, 0-8
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Rutgers
13-19, 5-4
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Michigan State
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Senior Nic Lacayo walked twice on Sunday.
Spartan Baseball Blanked by Rutgers in Series Finale
4/14/2019 6:19:00 PM | Baseball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Michigan State baseball was defeated by Rutgers, 8-0, on Sunday afternoon at RU's Bainton Field, in the third and final game of the three-game Big Ten Conference weekend series.
Rutgers used lengthy second and fourth innings to build a 7-0 advantage over the Spartans early before tacking on an eighth run late in the seventh stanza.
With a loss, Michigan State's record slides to 8-25 overall and 0-8 in the Big Ten. Rutgers is now 13-19 overall with a 5-4 mark in conference action following the sweep.
The Spartans had just five baserunners on Sunday with senior Marty Bechina earning the team's lone base hit, a double down the left field line in the sixth inning. Senior Nic Lacayo improved his season on-base percentage with a pair of walks, while fellow senior Royce Ando reached on a hit-by-pitch, and freshman Zaid Walker reached first on an error.
Making his second start of the season and just the fourth of his career, junior Caleb Sleeman (2-2, 4.30 ERA) lasted 1.1 innings before being pulled. Sleeman allowed five hits, three earned runs, and walked three, while striking out two Scarlet Knights batters.
Junior left-hander Jarret Olson was the longest tenured Spartan on the mound Sunday, tossing 2.0 innings, allowing two hits, four runs (three earned), and walking three. Olson struck out a team-best three Rutgers batters to match the total of junior Sam Benschoter who pitched one inning of relief.
Coming in for shorter stints of relief were freshman Colten Panaranto, sophomore Jesse Heikkinen, Benschoter, and junior Indigo Diaz. Panaranto fired off 1.2 hitless innings, while Diaz tossed a clean frame in the eighth to go along with one strikeout.
After a 1-2-3 visiting half of the first inning for Michigan State, Rutgers got its offense going early with back-to-back-to-back singles to load the bases. With their backs against the wall, Sleeman induced an unconventional 3-2-3 double play before striking out the final batter of the inning and ending the Scarlet Knights threat.
Things didn't go the Spartans way in the second inning however as a two-on one-out double broke the 0-0 tie and gave Rutgers a 1-0 lead. A pair of walks followed the double by Kevin Blum and forced MSU to make a pitching change with the Spartans trailing 2-0. The Scarlet Knights added their third and final run of the inning on a sacrifice fly to left field before Olson ended the inning with a strikeout.
Three walks came back to bite the Spartans in the fourth inning as a bases loaded single drove in two baserunners, while a fielding error, and a sacrifice fly brought home two additional runners. A four spot in the fourth inning gave Rutgers a sizable 7-0 lead over MSU.
Michigan State's offense found some life with two outs in the sixth when Bechina laced a double down the left field line for the Spartans' first hit of the afternoon. Ando was hit by a pitch and Lacayo walked to load the bases, but a swinging strikeout ended the Spartan offensive threat.
In the seventh inning, Rutgers capped off a strong day in the runs column by scoring on a wild pitch to take an 8-0 lead.
Michigan State returns home to host in-state foe Eastern Michigan on Wednesday, April 17 at McLane Stadium at Kobs Field, starting at 6:35 p.m.
Fans can also follow 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.
Rutgers used lengthy second and fourth innings to build a 7-0 advantage over the Spartans early before tacking on an eighth run late in the seventh stanza.
With a loss, Michigan State's record slides to 8-25 overall and 0-8 in the Big Ten. Rutgers is now 13-19 overall with a 5-4 mark in conference action following the sweep.
The Spartans had just five baserunners on Sunday with senior Marty Bechina earning the team's lone base hit, a double down the left field line in the sixth inning. Senior Nic Lacayo improved his season on-base percentage with a pair of walks, while fellow senior Royce Ando reached on a hit-by-pitch, and freshman Zaid Walker reached first on an error.
Making his second start of the season and just the fourth of his career, junior Caleb Sleeman (2-2, 4.30 ERA) lasted 1.1 innings before being pulled. Sleeman allowed five hits, three earned runs, and walked three, while striking out two Scarlet Knights batters.
Junior left-hander Jarret Olson was the longest tenured Spartan on the mound Sunday, tossing 2.0 innings, allowing two hits, four runs (three earned), and walking three. Olson struck out a team-best three Rutgers batters to match the total of junior Sam Benschoter who pitched one inning of relief.
Coming in for shorter stints of relief were freshman Colten Panaranto, sophomore Jesse Heikkinen, Benschoter, and junior Indigo Diaz. Panaranto fired off 1.2 hitless innings, while Diaz tossed a clean frame in the eighth to go along with one strikeout.
After a 1-2-3 visiting half of the first inning for Michigan State, Rutgers got its offense going early with back-to-back-to-back singles to load the bases. With their backs against the wall, Sleeman induced an unconventional 3-2-3 double play before striking out the final batter of the inning and ending the Scarlet Knights threat.
Things didn't go the Spartans way in the second inning however as a two-on one-out double broke the 0-0 tie and gave Rutgers a 1-0 lead. A pair of walks followed the double by Kevin Blum and forced MSU to make a pitching change with the Spartans trailing 2-0. The Scarlet Knights added their third and final run of the inning on a sacrifice fly to left field before Olson ended the inning with a strikeout.
Three walks came back to bite the Spartans in the fourth inning as a bases loaded single drove in two baserunners, while a fielding error, and a sacrifice fly brought home two additional runners. A four spot in the fourth inning gave Rutgers a sizable 7-0 lead over MSU.
Michigan State's offense found some life with two outs in the sixth when Bechina laced a double down the left field line for the Spartans' first hit of the afternoon. Ando was hit by a pitch and Lacayo walked to load the bases, but a swinging strikeout ended the Spartan offensive threat.
In the seventh inning, Rutgers capped off a strong day in the runs column by scoring on a wild pitch to take an 8-0 lead.
Michigan State returns home to host in-state foe Eastern Michigan on Wednesday, April 17 at McLane Stadium at Kobs Field, starting at 6:35 p.m.
Fans can also follow 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.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Murray (2-3)
L: Sleeman, Caleb (2-2)
Batting:
2B: Bechina, Marty 1
Base Running:
HBP: Ando, Royce 1
Batting:
2B: Sclafani 1 ; Blum 1
RBI: Welsh 1 ; Dezzi 1 ; McNamara 2 ; Valderrama 1 ; Bowerbank 1 ; Blum 1
SF: Dezzi 1 ; Bowerbank 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Nyisztor 1 ; Welsh 1 ; Dezzi 1 ; McNamara 1 ; Valderrama 1 ; Bowerbank 1 ; Greco 1 ; Blum 1
SB: Nyisztor 2 ; Welsh 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
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H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
AB
2
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
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