Wednesday, April 19
McLane Stadium at Kobs Field | East Lansing, Mich.
6:05 p.m.
Michigan State University
23-11
2
vs
3
Purdue Fort Wayne
10-28
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Purdue Fort Wayne
1
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
3
8
1
Michigan State
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
2
6
1
Photo by: Sarah Smith
MSU Clipped By Purdue Fort Wayne Wednesday Night
4/19/2023 11:16:00 PM | Baseball
Spartans’ six-game win streak halted.
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State baseball had the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, but the rally ended without a run, falling to Purdue Fort Wayne, 3-2, Wednesday night at a rainy McLane Stadium at Kobs Field.
The Spartans were down 3-1 entering the eighth, and scored one in the home half of the eighth, and threatened in the ninth, but a groundout ended the rally and the game, which was played throughout a steady rain for most of the latter half of the contest.
Wednesday's loss snapped MSU's six-game win streak, as Michigan State is now 23-11 overall, while Purdue Fort Wayne moved to 10-28 with the win. The Spartans' five-game win streak over the Mastadons was also halted with Wednesday night's result, for MSU's first loss to Purdue Fort Wayne in the all-time series.
The Spartans had four hits in the first inning, pushing across one run, but leaving two on. MSU managed just two hits the rest of the night, with one in the sixth and one in the eighth.
"One hundred percent it was definitely our approach," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said about the issues in Wednesday's game. "We talked about several things before the game, like a consistent offensive approach and we had four hits in the first inning and finished with six. We talked about consistent energy throughout the game, and half the time it looked like we didn't want to be there. We talked about not missing opportunities and we missed many of them, we missed an opportunity in the first with some bad base-running and that cost us a run, we missed an opportunity in the seventh on a missed sign, on a play that should not have happened but it did, so we took the bat out of our hitter's hands, and that potentially cost us a run, and we lost by one. So that's the recipe for getting beat."
In Friday's win over Western Illinois, the Spartans were down 8-3 in the sixth, but rallied for a 10-9 triumph, but were unable to rally Wednesday night against Purdue Fort Wayne.
"They gave it to us on Friday night and we took advantage of it, so I think you need to give us a little bit of credit there, but if they played clean, we probably didn't deserve to win that game Friday night and it bit us tonight," Boss said. "We talk about if you give other teams enough opportunities, you're going to get beat and that is exactly what happened tonight."
Purdue Fort Wayne scored its three runs on eight hits, including two home runs and a double, while the Spartans' six hits were all singles.
Junior infielders Trent Farquhar, Mitch Jebb and Brock Vradenburg , along with sophomore infielder Bryan Broecker and junior outfielders Jack Frank and Greg Zielger, all had one hit apiece. Vradenburg and Broecker posted the RBI for MSU, while Farquhar and Jebb scored the Spartan runs. Jebb and senior catcher Sam Thompson both drew two walks apiece, while Farquhar and redshirt-freshman pinch-hitter Jacob Anderson drew one free pass each. Farquhar and Frank also each swiped one stolen base apiece.
On the mound, freshman Nolan Higgins started and went 3.0 IP with two hits, one run and two strikeouts. Redshirt-sophomore Adam Berghorst (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 0 K), redshirt-sophomore Noah Matheny (1.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 1 K), senior Andrew Carson (2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K) and senior Wyatt Rush (1.0, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 0 K), pitched the rest of the game.
The Mastadons scored in their first at bat on an RBI double by Braedon Blackford, and nearly scored another run as Caileb Johnson reached on an MSU error, but Vradenburg was able to throw out Blackford at home trying to score on the play, keeping it a 1-0 ballgame going into the Spartans home half of the opening frame.
MSU responded with a run in its first at bat, as Farquhar led off with a single to left, moved to second on a single up the middle by Jebb, then stole third, and scored on a Vradenburg single to center, leveling the score at 1-1 after one.
Purdue Fort Wayne scored a run each in the fourth and fifth frames on solo home runs by Grant Thoroman and Cade Fitzpatrick, respectively, for its 3-1 lead.
That stayed the score until the eighth, when MSU manufactured a run, with Jebb sparking the rally with a walk. He advanced to second on a wild pitch on strike three to Vradenburg and to third on a wild pitch on ball four on a walk to Anderson. Freshman Jake Dresselhouse pinch ran for Anderson, and after a pitching change, Broecker knocked a fielder's choice, wiping out Dresselhouse from the basepaths and beating the throw to prevent the double play and allow Jebb to score. A strikeout ended the Spartan spurt with one run.
MSU rallied trying to force the tying and winning run in the ninth, with Ziegler sparking the rally with a leadoff single. After a pair of strikeouts, Ziegler advanced to second on a wild pitch, and to third on wild pitch on ball four on a walk to Farquhar. Jebb drew a walk to fill the bases full of Spartans, but a groundout ended the Green & White rally and the game.
Wednesday also concluded MSU's six-game non-conference stretch and five-game homestand, and Michigan State now resumes Big Ten Conference action with a three-game conference series at Michigan, Friday-Sunday, April 21-23. The Spartans and Wolverines open their series in Ann Arbor on Friday at 4 p.m., followed by Saturday's middle game at 2 p.m., and wrapping up on Sunday at 1 p.m.Â
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Fans can follow the MSU baseball action with "Watch Live," "Listen Live" and "Live Stats" links at MSUSpartans.com.
Michigan State's schedule is subject to change, stay tuned to MSUSpartans.com and @MSUBaseball on Twitter for schedule updates.Â
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The Spartans were down 3-1 entering the eighth, and scored one in the home half of the eighth, and threatened in the ninth, but a groundout ended the rally and the game, which was played throughout a steady rain for most of the latter half of the contest.
Wednesday's loss snapped MSU's six-game win streak, as Michigan State is now 23-11 overall, while Purdue Fort Wayne moved to 10-28 with the win. The Spartans' five-game win streak over the Mastadons was also halted with Wednesday night's result, for MSU's first loss to Purdue Fort Wayne in the all-time series.
The Spartans had four hits in the first inning, pushing across one run, but leaving two on. MSU managed just two hits the rest of the night, with one in the sixth and one in the eighth.
"One hundred percent it was definitely our approach," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said about the issues in Wednesday's game. "We talked about several things before the game, like a consistent offensive approach and we had four hits in the first inning and finished with six. We talked about consistent energy throughout the game, and half the time it looked like we didn't want to be there. We talked about not missing opportunities and we missed many of them, we missed an opportunity in the first with some bad base-running and that cost us a run, we missed an opportunity in the seventh on a missed sign, on a play that should not have happened but it did, so we took the bat out of our hitter's hands, and that potentially cost us a run, and we lost by one. So that's the recipe for getting beat."
In Friday's win over Western Illinois, the Spartans were down 8-3 in the sixth, but rallied for a 10-9 triumph, but were unable to rally Wednesday night against Purdue Fort Wayne.
"They gave it to us on Friday night and we took advantage of it, so I think you need to give us a little bit of credit there, but if they played clean, we probably didn't deserve to win that game Friday night and it bit us tonight," Boss said. "We talk about if you give other teams enough opportunities, you're going to get beat and that is exactly what happened tonight."
Purdue Fort Wayne scored its three runs on eight hits, including two home runs and a double, while the Spartans' six hits were all singles.
Junior infielders Trent Farquhar, Mitch Jebb and Brock Vradenburg , along with sophomore infielder Bryan Broecker and junior outfielders Jack Frank and Greg Zielger, all had one hit apiece. Vradenburg and Broecker posted the RBI for MSU, while Farquhar and Jebb scored the Spartan runs. Jebb and senior catcher Sam Thompson both drew two walks apiece, while Farquhar and redshirt-freshman pinch-hitter Jacob Anderson drew one free pass each. Farquhar and Frank also each swiped one stolen base apiece.
On the mound, freshman Nolan Higgins started and went 3.0 IP with two hits, one run and two strikeouts. Redshirt-sophomore Adam Berghorst (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 0 K), redshirt-sophomore Noah Matheny (1.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 1 K), senior Andrew Carson (2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K) and senior Wyatt Rush (1.0, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 0 K), pitched the rest of the game.
The Mastadons scored in their first at bat on an RBI double by Braedon Blackford, and nearly scored another run as Caileb Johnson reached on an MSU error, but Vradenburg was able to throw out Blackford at home trying to score on the play, keeping it a 1-0 ballgame going into the Spartans home half of the opening frame.
MSU responded with a run in its first at bat, as Farquhar led off with a single to left, moved to second on a single up the middle by Jebb, then stole third, and scored on a Vradenburg single to center, leveling the score at 1-1 after one.
Purdue Fort Wayne scored a run each in the fourth and fifth frames on solo home runs by Grant Thoroman and Cade Fitzpatrick, respectively, for its 3-1 lead.
That stayed the score until the eighth, when MSU manufactured a run, with Jebb sparking the rally with a walk. He advanced to second on a wild pitch on strike three to Vradenburg and to third on a wild pitch on ball four on a walk to Anderson. Freshman Jake Dresselhouse pinch ran for Anderson, and after a pitching change, Broecker knocked a fielder's choice, wiping out Dresselhouse from the basepaths and beating the throw to prevent the double play and allow Jebb to score. A strikeout ended the Spartan spurt with one run.
MSU rallied trying to force the tying and winning run in the ninth, with Ziegler sparking the rally with a leadoff single. After a pair of strikeouts, Ziegler advanced to second on a wild pitch, and to third on wild pitch on ball four on a walk to Farquhar. Jebb drew a walk to fill the bases full of Spartans, but a groundout ended the Green & White rally and the game.
Wednesday also concluded MSU's six-game non-conference stretch and five-game homestand, and Michigan State now resumes Big Ten Conference action with a three-game conference series at Michigan, Friday-Sunday, April 21-23. The Spartans and Wolverines open their series in Ann Arbor on Friday at 4 p.m., followed by Saturday's middle game at 2 p.m., and wrapping up on Sunday at 1 p.m.Â
Â
Fans can follow the MSU baseball action with "Watch Live," "Listen Live" and "Live Stats" links at MSUSpartans.com.
Michigan State's schedule is subject to change, stay tuned to MSUSpartans.com and @MSUBaseball on Twitter for schedule updates.Â
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Brendan Reid (2-2)
L: Berghorst, Adam (1-1)
S: Justin Miller (4)
Batting:
2B: Braedon Blackford 1
HR: Grant Thoroman 1 ; Cade Fitzpatrick 1
RBI: Braedon Blackford 1 ; Grant Thoroman 1 ; Cade Fitzpatrick 1
SH: Cade Fitzpatrick 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jacob Walker 1 ; Grant Thoroman 1 ; Cade Fitzpatrick 1
CS: Jarrett Bickel 1 ; Tyler Nelson 1
Batting:
RBI: Vradenburg, Brock 1 ; Broecker, Bryan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Farquhar, Trent 1 ; Jebb, Mitch 1
SB: Farquhar, Trent 1 ; Frank, Jack 1
CS: Jebb, Mitch 1 ; Busch, Sam 1
HBP: Busch, Sam 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
5
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
INF
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RHP
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C
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RHP
/ Baseball
OF/C
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballPursuit to Greatness | Spartans All-Access
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