Friday, April 11
East Lansing, Mich.
5:32 PM
Michigan State University
17-15, 4-9
10
vs
11
Northwestern
16-15, 7-6
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7
8
9
10
11
R
H
E
Northwestern
2
4
1
0
0
2
0
0
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0
1
11
14
2
Michigan State
2
0
0
0
1
0
2
5
0
0
0
10
11
4
Photo by: MSU Baseball Social Squad
MSU Downed By Northwestern, 11-10, In 11-Innings Friday Night
4/11/2025 11:59:00 PM | Baseball
Spartans rally late but Wildcats counter to take series-opener, spoiling Busch’s five RBI night.
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan State baseball was downed by Northwestern in an 11-10 11-inning thriller Friday night at Jeff Ishbia Field at McLane Stadium in the opening game of a three-game Big Ten Conference weekend series.
A national television audience on Big Ten Network saw the Spartans rally from a 9-3 deficit after the sixth inning to take 10-9 lead in eighth, before Northwestern tied it in the ninth to send it the game to extras, and the Wildcats scored the go-ahead run in the top of the 11th.
MSU slides to 17-15 overall and 4-9 in B1G play, while with the win, Northwestern improves to 16-15 overall and 7-6 in B1G action. Friday's loss snapped MSU's four-game win streak in the series, but the Spartans have still won five of the last nine meetings and still lead the all-time series, 103-56-1.
Northwestern out-hit MSU, 14-11, and there were a combined six errors, with four by the Spartans and two by the Wildcats. Both teams also left 10 runners on base.
"Well, we just have to continue to address it. I mean, we were in there for a long time because we made a lot of mistakes," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said about the post-game team meeting. "I addressed every one of them, and these are all mistakes that are in my opinion, preventable mistakes, I think they're all mental errors. There's no excuse for that, these are the things we have been working on since September, and we continue to make some of the same mistakes. As I said, we'll continue to address it. I'll give our guys a lot of credit for coming back, I thought they didn't quit, and they didn't fold. It was tough luck there with Horvath giving up a home run. Those things are going to happen, but that game was lost in the first three innings, unfortunately. Balks and throwing to the wrong base, and not backing up bases, all of that stuff is recipe for losing a one-run game."
The loss also spoiled senior infielder Sam Busch's five RBI night, including a two-run blast into the Red Cedar River in the first inning. Busch added a two-run single in the seventh and a sacrifice fly RBI as part of the Spartans' five-run eighth inning.
Busch finished 3-for-4 with the five RBI, his second game this season with five RBI, also doing so on March 29 vs. Illinois, which was also the last time he homered and it also went into the Red Cedar River.
"I think Sam's showing great leadership on the field, we need more of that," Boss said. "Unfortunately, right now, I think Sam's one of the only guys. I think we get pretty good leadership out of JT Sokolove, Ryan McKay, and Caleb Berry. Those four guys are kind of making us go right now, so we need more guys to act like those four guys."
MSU's 1-3 hitters, senior outfielder JT Sokolove, sophomore infielder Ryan McKay and graduate catcher Caleb Berry, all had two hits apiece and all had at least one RBI each, with Berry driving in two. Sokolove was also hit-by-pitch twice, part of the five HBP that MSU batters drew from Northwestern's pitchers, which came into the game leading the B1G in hit batters.
Senior designated hitter Nick Williams added a single and also got hit by a pitch once, while junior outfielder Griffin Brown knocked a hit. Sophomore outfielder Parker Picot and senior pinch hitter Noah Bright both drew a walk and scored a run apiece, while senior infielder Jacob Anderson scored a run after getting hit by a pitch in the eighth.
Sophomore starter Logan Pikur scattered six runs on five hits in 2.0 IP, with two walks and one strikeout. Sophomore reliever Tate Farquhar went 3.1 IP with a career-high four strikeouts, while yielding three runs on five hits. Graduate Zach Maxey went 2.0 IP with two Ks and one hit, while graduate George Viebrock III posted a pair of punchouts in 0.2 IP. Fellow graduate Tyler Horvath chalked up a season-high five strikeouts while tying a season-long going 3.0, with two runs on three hits, taking the tough-luck loss to fall to 3-2 on the season.
"I thought Maxey (Zach Maxey), Farquhar (Tate Farquhar), Viebrock (George Viebrock III), and even Horvath (Tyler Horvath) all threw well enough to win," Boss said. "You're going to give up runs, and you're going to give up runs here and there. The average team ERA is around 6.00 in college baseball, I think, so it's an offensive game right now, and I thought all those guys did their jobs. They got themselves into some jams and got out of some jams and gave us a chance to win for sure. They gave us a chance to come back and tie the score and gave us a chance to win."
MSU will look to correct its miscues and rebound from Friday's loss in games two and three of the series on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
"There are things again that we've been working on since September, and this is a different team than what showed up early in the season in North Carolina and South Carolina," Boss said. "We've talked about being consistent all year long, and when we are consistent, we are pretty good, but we aren't consistent. Those are the guys that are on the field, they have to go out and do some things differently. We talked about some of the things that we need to do differently out there, and now it's up to them to go out and do it."
Northwestern got on the board first with two runs in the top of the first for an early 2-0 lead.
The Spartans quickly countered with two runs of their own on a two-run Busch blast into the Red Cedar River to level the score at 2-all.
It was Busch's team-leading ninth HR of the season, adding to his single-season career-high. The homer was his first round-tripper since March 29 vs. Illinois, which was also a blast into the Red Cedar River.
The Spartans' two runs in the first frame was their 200th run scored this season, now with 42 (21.0 percent) coming in the first frame through the first 32 games of the season. The 42 runs in the first are 10 more than the next-highest scoring inning of the fifth, now with 32 after the one run in the frame on Friday.
Northwestern took the lead with four runs in the second and another in the third for a 7-2 lead.
The Spartans got a run back in the fifth on an RBI single by Berry to pull within, 7-3. After the Wildcats tacked on two runs in the sixth for a 9-3 advantage, MSU plated a pair of runs on a two-run single by Busch to close to 9-5.
Picot drew a walk to lead off the eighth, and Brown followed by getting hit by pitch. Northwestern changed pitchers, bringing in reliever Crawford Wade, who hit Anderson to load the bases. Sokolove followed with a single up the middle to drive in Picot. McKay drew a four-pitch walk to bring Brown in to score. Berry came to bat next and he reached on a fielder's choice to short, with McKay out on the play, which drew a challenge by NU and review, but stood as called. With Spartans on first and third, Wade tried to pick off Berry at first, but the throw sailed wide and down the line, allowing Sokolove to score and Berry to scamper around to third and tie it up at 10-10. Busch the flew out to center, but was deep enough for Berry to bolt home and slide in safely to put MSU on top, 11-10.
However, the home team's lead didn't last long, as Ryan Kucherak led off the top of the ninth with a solo home run to center, before Horvath closed out the frame with his second strikeout of the inning, sending the game to the final half inning of regulation baseball. Brown reached on an infield single down the third-base line, that Wade scooped and made an athletic, spinning throw to first that Brown beat out. Brown moved up to second on a wild pitch, but a strikeout left him stranded and sent the game to bonus baseball and extra innings.
Horvath worked a 1-2-3 top of the 10th inning, ending the stanza with a strikeout looking.
Berry knocked a two-out single in the home half of the 10th, and moved up to second on a fielding error on the play, and Busch was intentionally walked, but a flyout fizzled out the threat.
Northwestern scored the go-ahead run in the 11th, with a one-out single, followed by a groundout and a walk, before another single drove in the 11th run of the game in the 11th inning. MSU went down in order in the bottom of the frame to end the game.
The Spartans and Wildcats continue their three-game B1G series on Saturday, April 12 with a 3:32 p.m. first pitch before wrapping up with a 1:02 p.m. contest on Sunday, April 13.
MSU continues the nine-game homestand at Jeff Ishbia Field at McLane Stadium by hosting Western Michigan on Tuesday, April 15 at 6:02 p.m., before hosting Ohio State in another three-game B1G series, Friday-Sunday, April 18-20. The homestand wraps up on Tuesday, April 22 against Purdue Fort Wayne.
The Spartans' schedule is subject to further change, fans can stay tuned to MSUSpartans.com and @MSUBaseball on Twitter for schedule updates, along with follow this weekend's action with "Watch Live," "Listen Live" and "Live Stats" links where available.
Michigan State baseball tickets are available online at msuspartans.evenue.net, by contacting the Spartan Ticket Office at 517-355-1610 or by email at tickets@msu.edu for questions or more information.
A national television audience on Big Ten Network saw the Spartans rally from a 9-3 deficit after the sixth inning to take 10-9 lead in eighth, before Northwestern tied it in the ninth to send it the game to extras, and the Wildcats scored the go-ahead run in the top of the 11th.
MSU slides to 17-15 overall and 4-9 in B1G play, while with the win, Northwestern improves to 16-15 overall and 7-6 in B1G action. Friday's loss snapped MSU's four-game win streak in the series, but the Spartans have still won five of the last nine meetings and still lead the all-time series, 103-56-1.
Northwestern out-hit MSU, 14-11, and there were a combined six errors, with four by the Spartans and two by the Wildcats. Both teams also left 10 runners on base.
"Well, we just have to continue to address it. I mean, we were in there for a long time because we made a lot of mistakes," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said about the post-game team meeting. "I addressed every one of them, and these are all mistakes that are in my opinion, preventable mistakes, I think they're all mental errors. There's no excuse for that, these are the things we have been working on since September, and we continue to make some of the same mistakes. As I said, we'll continue to address it. I'll give our guys a lot of credit for coming back, I thought they didn't quit, and they didn't fold. It was tough luck there with Horvath giving up a home run. Those things are going to happen, but that game was lost in the first three innings, unfortunately. Balks and throwing to the wrong base, and not backing up bases, all of that stuff is recipe for losing a one-run game."
The loss also spoiled senior infielder Sam Busch's five RBI night, including a two-run blast into the Red Cedar River in the first inning. Busch added a two-run single in the seventh and a sacrifice fly RBI as part of the Spartans' five-run eighth inning.
Busch finished 3-for-4 with the five RBI, his second game this season with five RBI, also doing so on March 29 vs. Illinois, which was also the last time he homered and it also went into the Red Cedar River.
"I think Sam's showing great leadership on the field, we need more of that," Boss said. "Unfortunately, right now, I think Sam's one of the only guys. I think we get pretty good leadership out of JT Sokolove, Ryan McKay, and Caleb Berry. Those four guys are kind of making us go right now, so we need more guys to act like those four guys."
MSU's 1-3 hitters, senior outfielder JT Sokolove, sophomore infielder Ryan McKay and graduate catcher Caleb Berry, all had two hits apiece and all had at least one RBI each, with Berry driving in two. Sokolove was also hit-by-pitch twice, part of the five HBP that MSU batters drew from Northwestern's pitchers, which came into the game leading the B1G in hit batters.
Senior designated hitter Nick Williams added a single and also got hit by a pitch once, while junior outfielder Griffin Brown knocked a hit. Sophomore outfielder Parker Picot and senior pinch hitter Noah Bright both drew a walk and scored a run apiece, while senior infielder Jacob Anderson scored a run after getting hit by a pitch in the eighth.
Sophomore starter Logan Pikur scattered six runs on five hits in 2.0 IP, with two walks and one strikeout. Sophomore reliever Tate Farquhar went 3.1 IP with a career-high four strikeouts, while yielding three runs on five hits. Graduate Zach Maxey went 2.0 IP with two Ks and one hit, while graduate George Viebrock III posted a pair of punchouts in 0.2 IP. Fellow graduate Tyler Horvath chalked up a season-high five strikeouts while tying a season-long going 3.0, with two runs on three hits, taking the tough-luck loss to fall to 3-2 on the season.
"I thought Maxey (Zach Maxey), Farquhar (Tate Farquhar), Viebrock (George Viebrock III), and even Horvath (Tyler Horvath) all threw well enough to win," Boss said. "You're going to give up runs, and you're going to give up runs here and there. The average team ERA is around 6.00 in college baseball, I think, so it's an offensive game right now, and I thought all those guys did their jobs. They got themselves into some jams and got out of some jams and gave us a chance to win for sure. They gave us a chance to come back and tie the score and gave us a chance to win."
MSU will look to correct its miscues and rebound from Friday's loss in games two and three of the series on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
"There are things again that we've been working on since September, and this is a different team than what showed up early in the season in North Carolina and South Carolina," Boss said. "We've talked about being consistent all year long, and when we are consistent, we are pretty good, but we aren't consistent. Those are the guys that are on the field, they have to go out and do some things differently. We talked about some of the things that we need to do differently out there, and now it's up to them to go out and do it."
Northwestern got on the board first with two runs in the top of the first for an early 2-0 lead.
The Spartans quickly countered with two runs of their own on a two-run Busch blast into the Red Cedar River to level the score at 2-all.
It was Busch's team-leading ninth HR of the season, adding to his single-season career-high. The homer was his first round-tripper since March 29 vs. Illinois, which was also a blast into the Red Cedar River.
The Spartans' two runs in the first frame was their 200th run scored this season, now with 42 (21.0 percent) coming in the first frame through the first 32 games of the season. The 42 runs in the first are 10 more than the next-highest scoring inning of the fifth, now with 32 after the one run in the frame on Friday.
Northwestern took the lead with four runs in the second and another in the third for a 7-2 lead.
The Spartans got a run back in the fifth on an RBI single by Berry to pull within, 7-3. After the Wildcats tacked on two runs in the sixth for a 9-3 advantage, MSU plated a pair of runs on a two-run single by Busch to close to 9-5.
Picot drew a walk to lead off the eighth, and Brown followed by getting hit by pitch. Northwestern changed pitchers, bringing in reliever Crawford Wade, who hit Anderson to load the bases. Sokolove followed with a single up the middle to drive in Picot. McKay drew a four-pitch walk to bring Brown in to score. Berry came to bat next and he reached on a fielder's choice to short, with McKay out on the play, which drew a challenge by NU and review, but stood as called. With Spartans on first and third, Wade tried to pick off Berry at first, but the throw sailed wide and down the line, allowing Sokolove to score and Berry to scamper around to third and tie it up at 10-10. Busch the flew out to center, but was deep enough for Berry to bolt home and slide in safely to put MSU on top, 11-10.
However, the home team's lead didn't last long, as Ryan Kucherak led off the top of the ninth with a solo home run to center, before Horvath closed out the frame with his second strikeout of the inning, sending the game to the final half inning of regulation baseball. Brown reached on an infield single down the third-base line, that Wade scooped and made an athletic, spinning throw to first that Brown beat out. Brown moved up to second on a wild pitch, but a strikeout left him stranded and sent the game to bonus baseball and extra innings.
Horvath worked a 1-2-3 top of the 10th inning, ending the stanza with a strikeout looking.
Berry knocked a two-out single in the home half of the 10th, and moved up to second on a fielding error on the play, and Busch was intentionally walked, but a flyout fizzled out the threat.
Northwestern scored the go-ahead run in the 11th, with a one-out single, followed by a groundout and a walk, before another single drove in the 11th run of the game in the 11th inning. MSU went down in order in the bottom of the frame to end the game.
The Spartans and Wildcats continue their three-game B1G series on Saturday, April 12 with a 3:32 p.m. first pitch before wrapping up with a 1:02 p.m. contest on Sunday, April 13.
MSU continues the nine-game homestand at Jeff Ishbia Field at McLane Stadium by hosting Western Michigan on Tuesday, April 15 at 6:02 p.m., before hosting Ohio State in another three-game B1G series, Friday-Sunday, April 18-20. The homestand wraps up on Tuesday, April 22 against Purdue Fort Wayne.
The Spartans' schedule is subject to further change, fans can stay tuned to MSUSpartans.com and @MSUBaseball on Twitter for schedule updates, along with follow this weekend's action with "Watch Live," "Listen Live" and "Live Stats" links where available.
Michigan State baseball tickets are available online at msuspartans.evenue.net, by contacting the Spartan Ticket Office at 517-355-1610 or by email at tickets@msu.edu for questions or more information.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: WADE, CRAWFORD (3-4)
L: Horvath, Tyler (3-2)
Batting:
2B: KNOTT, PRESTON 1 ; MCELFATRICK, OWEN 1
HR: KUCHERAK, RYAN 1
RBI: MCELFATRICK, OWEN 3 ; LIOLIOS, TRENT 1 ; FREEMAN, JACKSON 1 ; KUCHERAK, RYAN 1 ; RAMOS, JOSHUA 1
SF: LIOLIOS, TRENT 1
Base Running:
RUNS: KNOTT, PRESTON 2 ; MCELFATRICK, OWEN 2 ; LIOLIOS, TRENT 1 ; KUCHERAK, RYAN 2 ; CARLSON, ZACH 1 ; GANUS, TYLER 1 ; COUNSELL, JACK 2
SB: COUNSELL, JACK 1
HBP: KNOTT, PRESTON 1
Batting:
HR: Busch, Sam 1
RBI: Sokolove, JT 1 ; McKay, Ryan 1 ; Berry, Caleb 2 ; Busch, Sam 5
SF: Busch, Sam 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Sokolove, JT 2 ; McKay, Ryan 2 ; Berry, Caleb 1 ; Busch, Sam 1 ; Picot, Parker 1 ; Brown, Griffin 1 ; Bright, Noah 1 ; Anderson, Jacob 1
HBP: Sokolove, JT 2 ; Williams, Nick 1 ; Brown, Griffin 1 ; Anderson, Jacob 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
INF
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OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
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/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ BaseballPursuit to Greatness | Spartans All-Access
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Jake Boss | Baseball Press Conference | April 17, 2025
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Jake Boss | Baseball Press Conference | Mar. 25 2025
Tuesday, March 25
Jake Boss | Baseball Press Conference | Mar. 11 2025
Tuesday, March 11