Sunday, May 11
Los Angeles, Calif.
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27-23, 12-15
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Photo by: MSU Baseball Social Squad
MSU Defeated By No. 25 USC Sunday In Series Finale
5/11/2025 9:16:00 PM | Baseball
Spartans denied series sweep, but win series to finish busy week.
IRVINE, Calif. -- Michigan State baseball was denied a series sweep in the first-ever series with USC, as the Spartans were downed by the 25th-ranked Trojans, 10-3, Sunday afternoon at a sunny Great Park in Irvine, Calif., as USC's home stadium, Dedeaux Field, is undergoing renovations.
After Saturday's scorching temperatures of 95 at first pitch, Sunday afternoon's game got underway at 88 degrees.
MSU had scored in the top of the first inning in the previous two games, but the Spartans were held scoreless in first frame on Sunday, but the Trojans jumped out to a 2-0 lead after one inning against junior starting pitcher Nolan Higgins. USC then broke the game open in the third with four run on four hits and capitalized on one MSU error to take a 6-0 lead. USC stretched its advantage to 10-0 with another four-run frame in the fifth.
The Spartans didn't go quietly into the hot, sunny Irvine afternoon, rallying with two runs in the seventh and one in the eighth, with the rally coming to a close with two runners on base in the eighth.
"It was a tough start for us today, and I thought Nolan Higgins did a nice job of damage control there in the first to keep it at 2-0," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. "Unfortunately, it kind of got away from us in the third and fifth, but our guys never stopped competing and never stopped fighting, and that what the expectation is. It's a high character group so we know we're going to get a good effort out of them every time we play. So they just kept chipping away and unfortunately, it just wasn't enough today."
MSU won Friday night's inaugural meeting between the Spartans and Trojans, 2-0, behind Spartan southpaw junior Joseph Dzierwa's gem, going 7.0 innings with eight strikeouts and only two hits without a run. On Saturday, the Spartans scorched the Trojans, 15-5, in eight innings, as MSU won the series, snapping USC's eight-series win streak, its longest series win streak since 1978.
The Spartans are the first previous Big Ten team to win a series at one of the four West Coast new B1G members.
"Well, I mean tomorrow I'll probably enjoy it a little bit more than today, but I think it's a great accomplishment for our guys," Boss said. "It's a tough place to play. The travel is not easy and they're very good ball club. So to come in here, fly across the country and come out here and win two out of three is something that is a testament to our guys. As much as we would have liked to have had today's game, I think if you look at the big picture, you'll take a series win any weekend."
MSU is also only one of three of the previous B1G teams to take a series from the West Coast members, joining Ohio State over Oregon and Rutgers over Washington, but the Buckeyes and Scarlet Knights were the home teams in both of those series, entering the final weekend of the regular-season, with UCLA playing at Northwestern, Oregon playing at Iowa, and USC playing at Washington.
Sunday's game wrapped up a busy week for the Spartans, who had five games on the week, beating Eastern Michigan, 3-1, at home on Tuesday, then losing, 6-5, in 12 innings at Western Michigan. It was also a hard-fought stretch for MSU, with eight games in the span of the last 10 days, as Michigan State played No. 6 Oregon last weekend, winning one of the three games to give the Spartans six games against Top 25 opponents in the last week, going 3-3 in those six contests. The three wins over Top 25 wins is Michigan State's most since 2019.
The Spartans are now 27-23 overall and 12-15 in Big Ten play, entering the final weekend of the regular-season, hosting Minnesota, Thursday-Saturday, May 15-17.
"They're all big series, and that's what we try to really convey to our guys from the first series of the year to the last one, that they're all of equal importance, and we treat them all the same way," Boss said. "So that's what we'll do on Thursday when Minnesota comes to town, and this series has the same amount of weight and importance as every other of the nine Big Ten series we've played all year long, and so we'll be ready to compete."
USC moved to 33-18 overall and 17-10 in Big Ten action.
After not scoring in the top of the first frame for the first time on the weekend, MSU found itself down early as USC scored two runs in the home half of the opening inning for 2-0 lead.
The Trojans broke the game open in the third with four run on four hits and capitalized on one MSU error to take a 6-0 lead. USC stretched its advantage to 10-0 with another four-run frame in the fifth.
MSU chased the shutout and the run-rule out of the stadium with two runs in the top of the seventh. Graduate designated hitter Caleb Berry drew a one-out walk. Senior catcher Noah Bright followed with a ground-rule double down the right-field line to bump Berry to third.
After a USC pitching change, senior outfielder JT Sokolove reached on a fielding error by the Trojan shortstop, driving in Berry to score. Sophomore outfielder Parker Picot was up next and flew out to center for the sacrifice fly to bring Bright in to close the Spartans to 10-2.
In the eighth, sophomore infielder Ryan McKay led off with a single and later moved to second on a walk by junior infielder Randy Seymour, and Berry followed with an RBI single to left to make the score 10-3.
Higgins went 3.0 IP, spraying nine hits with six runs, with four earned, striking out four Trojans. Graduates Zach Maxey (1.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 K), Tyler Horvath (1.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 BB) and George Viebrock III (1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 K), and sophomore Logan Pikur (1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 K) finished out the game on the mound.
Berry finished 1-for-2 with an RBI, adding two walks, while Bright, Sokolove, McKay and senior outfielder Nick Williams added one hit apiece, with McKay, Berry and Bright scoring runs. Berry, Sokolove and Picot each posted one RBI.
Michigan State ten wraps up regular-season action against Minnesota in a three-game B1G series, Thursday-Saturday, May 15-17, in which will be MSU Senior Weekend Celebrations, presented by HAP, at Jeff Ishbia Field at McLane Stadium.
Thursday and Saturday's games are both 6:02 p.m. start times, with Saturday's regular-season finale slated for 1:02 p.m.
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.
After Saturday's scorching temperatures of 95 at first pitch, Sunday afternoon's game got underway at 88 degrees.
MSU had scored in the top of the first inning in the previous two games, but the Spartans were held scoreless in first frame on Sunday, but the Trojans jumped out to a 2-0 lead after one inning against junior starting pitcher Nolan Higgins. USC then broke the game open in the third with four run on four hits and capitalized on one MSU error to take a 6-0 lead. USC stretched its advantage to 10-0 with another four-run frame in the fifth.
The Spartans didn't go quietly into the hot, sunny Irvine afternoon, rallying with two runs in the seventh and one in the eighth, with the rally coming to a close with two runners on base in the eighth.
"It was a tough start for us today, and I thought Nolan Higgins did a nice job of damage control there in the first to keep it at 2-0," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. "Unfortunately, it kind of got away from us in the third and fifth, but our guys never stopped competing and never stopped fighting, and that what the expectation is. It's a high character group so we know we're going to get a good effort out of them every time we play. So they just kept chipping away and unfortunately, it just wasn't enough today."
MSU won Friday night's inaugural meeting between the Spartans and Trojans, 2-0, behind Spartan southpaw junior Joseph Dzierwa's gem, going 7.0 innings with eight strikeouts and only two hits without a run. On Saturday, the Spartans scorched the Trojans, 15-5, in eight innings, as MSU won the series, snapping USC's eight-series win streak, its longest series win streak since 1978.
The Spartans are the first previous Big Ten team to win a series at one of the four West Coast new B1G members.
"Well, I mean tomorrow I'll probably enjoy it a little bit more than today, but I think it's a great accomplishment for our guys," Boss said. "It's a tough place to play. The travel is not easy and they're very good ball club. So to come in here, fly across the country and come out here and win two out of three is something that is a testament to our guys. As much as we would have liked to have had today's game, I think if you look at the big picture, you'll take a series win any weekend."
MSU is also only one of three of the previous B1G teams to take a series from the West Coast members, joining Ohio State over Oregon and Rutgers over Washington, but the Buckeyes and Scarlet Knights were the home teams in both of those series, entering the final weekend of the regular-season, with UCLA playing at Northwestern, Oregon playing at Iowa, and USC playing at Washington.
Sunday's game wrapped up a busy week for the Spartans, who had five games on the week, beating Eastern Michigan, 3-1, at home on Tuesday, then losing, 6-5, in 12 innings at Western Michigan. It was also a hard-fought stretch for MSU, with eight games in the span of the last 10 days, as Michigan State played No. 6 Oregon last weekend, winning one of the three games to give the Spartans six games against Top 25 opponents in the last week, going 3-3 in those six contests. The three wins over Top 25 wins is Michigan State's most since 2019.
The Spartans are now 27-23 overall and 12-15 in Big Ten play, entering the final weekend of the regular-season, hosting Minnesota, Thursday-Saturday, May 15-17.
"They're all big series, and that's what we try to really convey to our guys from the first series of the year to the last one, that they're all of equal importance, and we treat them all the same way," Boss said. "So that's what we'll do on Thursday when Minnesota comes to town, and this series has the same amount of weight and importance as every other of the nine Big Ten series we've played all year long, and so we'll be ready to compete."
USC moved to 33-18 overall and 17-10 in Big Ten action.
After not scoring in the top of the first frame for the first time on the weekend, MSU found itself down early as USC scored two runs in the home half of the opening inning for 2-0 lead.
The Trojans broke the game open in the third with four run on four hits and capitalized on one MSU error to take a 6-0 lead. USC stretched its advantage to 10-0 with another four-run frame in the fifth.
MSU chased the shutout and the run-rule out of the stadium with two runs in the top of the seventh. Graduate designated hitter Caleb Berry drew a one-out walk. Senior catcher Noah Bright followed with a ground-rule double down the right-field line to bump Berry to third.
After a USC pitching change, senior outfielder JT Sokolove reached on a fielding error by the Trojan shortstop, driving in Berry to score. Sophomore outfielder Parker Picot was up next and flew out to center for the sacrifice fly to bring Bright in to close the Spartans to 10-2.
In the eighth, sophomore infielder Ryan McKay led off with a single and later moved to second on a walk by junior infielder Randy Seymour, and Berry followed with an RBI single to left to make the score 10-3.
Higgins went 3.0 IP, spraying nine hits with six runs, with four earned, striking out four Trojans. Graduates Zach Maxey (1.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 K), Tyler Horvath (1.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 BB) and George Viebrock III (1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 K), and sophomore Logan Pikur (1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 K) finished out the game on the mound.
Berry finished 1-for-2 with an RBI, adding two walks, while Bright, Sokolove, McKay and senior outfielder Nick Williams added one hit apiece, with McKay, Berry and Bright scoring runs. Berry, Sokolove and Picot each posted one RBI.
Michigan State ten wraps up regular-season action against Minnesota in a three-game B1G series, Thursday-Saturday, May 15-17, in which will be MSU Senior Weekend Celebrations, presented by HAP, at Jeff Ishbia Field at McLane Stadium.
Thursday and Saturday's games are both 6:02 p.m. start times, with Saturday's regular-season finale slated for 1:02 p.m.
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: Edwards, Mason (2-0)
L: Higgins, Nolan (3-6)
Batting:
2B: Bright, Noah 1
RBI: Berry, Caleb 1 ; Sokolove, JT 1 ; Picot, Parker 1
SH: Seymour, Randy 1
SF: Picot, Parker 1
Base Running:
RUNS: McKay, Ryan 1 ; Berry, Caleb 1 ; Bright, Noah 1
SB: Sokolove, JT 2
Batting:
2B: Grudzielanek, Bryce 1 ; Covarrubias, Abbrie 2
HR: Dowd, Brayden 1 ; Basseer, Jack 1
RBI: Dowd, Brayden 2 ; Lopez, Adrian 2 ; Basseer, Jack 1 ; Covarrubias, Abbrie 2 ; Elliott, John 1
SH: Lamb, Andrew 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Dowd, Brayden 2 ; Hedges, Ethan 2 ; Grudzielanek, Bryce 1 ; Lopez, Adrian 1 ; Lamb, Andrew 1 ; Basseer, Jack 1 ; Covarrubias, Abbrie 1 ; Elliott, John 1
SB: Grudzielanek, Bryce 1 ; Covarrubias, Abbrie 2
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/ BaseballPursuit to Greatness | Spartans All-Access
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