Friday, May 9
Los Angeles, Calif.
9:32 PM
Michigan State University
26-22, 11-14
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No. 25 USC
32-17, 16-9
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Michigan State
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USC
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Photo by: MSU Baseball Social Squad
Dzierwa’s Pitching And Busch’s Blasts Help Spartans Blank No. 25 Trojans, 5-0, Friday Night
5/9/2025 11:59:00 PM | Baseball
MSU knocks off USC as Dzierwa rings up eight Ks and Busch blasts two HR.
IRVINE, Calif. -- Michigan State baseball made its inaugural meeting with USC a memorable one, as Joseph Dzierwa and Sam Busch spearheaded the Spartans to a 5-0 Victory for MSU over the No. 25 Trojans late Friday night at Great Park in Irvine, Calif., as USC's home stadium, Dedeaux Field, is undergoing renovations.
Junior pitcher Dzierwa was dealing, firing eight strikeouts in 7.0 IP, stymieing USC's bats in only allowing two hits. Busch's bat was anything but stymied Friday night, as the senior infielder belted a ground-rule double and two home runs in his first three at bats.
"Both those guys were really good tonight," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. "I mean, Joe was in really command the entire way, he filled up the strike zone, and pitched, I think, is as well as he did last week against Oregon. So doing so against two really quality opponents, and we needed him to be as good as he was and he did that."
While Dzierwa was filling up the strikeout, Busch was filling up the scorebook and the scoreboard, with his ground-rule double and two home runs all coming in the first four frames, finishing with four RBI on the night, flying out to deep center field in his other two at bats.
"Sam Busch had a breakout day today," Boss said. "I think he was kind of scuffling a little bit, maybe pressing a little bit too much, but he was able to get the barrel to the ball and a couple home runs and a double and made it loud out later on the game. So Sam saw the ball really well tonight, which is what we need our seniors and our leaders and the guys in the middle of the order to do."
It was the second-straight Friday night that the Spartans shutout a Top 25 team after last week's 2-0 Victory for MSU over No. 6 Oregon, as Dzierwa pitched a complete-game shutout with 11 strikeouts. It's the first time since 2019 that MSU has beaten two Top 25 teams.
"That's two wins over two really good opponents," Boss said. Now we need to go out and play better the rest of this weekend than we did last Saturday and Sunday. So that's the challenge this weekend, to be ready to play and ready to compete. We know USC is going to be really good, and so we have to answer that bell and be better tomorrow than we were last Saturday, so that's the challenge."
With the win, MSU improved to 26-22 overall and 11-14 in B1G play, after winning its second Friday game and its third in the last four. USC is now 32-17 overall and 16-9 in conference competition.
This Friday night, Dzierwa was dealing again, ringing up eight Ks in only yielding two hits in 7.0 IP. He retired the first eight batters he faced, striking out half of those eight, including back-to-back Ks in the third. After yielding a one-out HBP and a single in the third, he retired the next six Trojan batters, before a two-out double in the fifth, but thwarted any threat by the Trojans by ringing up a strikeout to end the inning.
Dzierwa then chalked up a three-up, three-down frame in both the sixth and seventh innings, ending both frames with strikeouts, including back-to-back Ks in the seventh, for his final outs of the night.
Sophomore Garrett Brewer pitched the final 2.0 innings, allowing a walk against his first batter faced, but then settling in and only allowing a two-out single in the ninth while tallying two total strikeouts.
Along with Busch's 3-for-5 outing with four RBI and two runs scored, senior catcher Noah Bright joined Busch with multiple hits, going 2-for-3 with a run scored. Senior outfielders Nick Williams and JT Sokolove both added a hit apiece, with N.Williams scoring a run and Sokolove drawing two walksS. Redshirt-junior infielder Randy Seymour added the Spartans' other hit on the night. Redshirt-junior infielder Jacob Anderson notched one RBI, coming on a sacrifice fly in the second inning. Freshman infielder Dayton Murphy scored a run after drawing a walk, one of two free passes in the game.
As they have done many time this season, the Spartans scored in their first at bat, as Busch knocked a ground-rule double, driving in N.Williams who sparked the rally with a single and moved to third on a single by Seymour, and Busch drove him in.
MSU scored its second run of the game in the second inning, as Bright led off with a single up the middle, and Sokolove followed with a bunt single. After both runners moved up a base on a passed ball, redshirt-junior infielder Jacob Anderson lofted a deep flyout to left field for a sacrifice fly to drive in Bright as the Spartans doubled up their lead to 2-0.
Busch blasted his first homer of the night to lead off the top of the third, sending the solo shot over the wall in right. It was not only the third time this season that Busch has led off an inning, but all three occurrences have led off the third frame. He started off the third frame against UCLA on Feb. 23 in Corpus Christi, Texas with a home run to right field. Busch went yard to right center in the third inning on March 5 vs. Western Carolina at Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C. The Spartan senior then knocked his third third-inning leadoff homer Friday night at USC.
Murphy started off the fourth inning by reaching on a fielding error by USC relief pitcher Grant Govel. Three batters later, Busch blasted his second homer of the night, again belting it over the right field wall and a 5-0 Spartan advantage.
That was all the run support that Dzierwa and Brewer needed, as they stymied the Trojan bats from there on out, just as they'd done all night long, and Brewer rang up a strikeout for the final out of the game to spark the Victory for MSU celebration in winning the series opener.
MSU and USC continue the three-game B1G series on Saturday with a 5:02 p.m. ET / 2:02 p.m. PT first pitch. The Spartans and Trojans wrap up their series on Sunday at 4:02 p.m. ET / 1:02 p.m. PT.
Michigan State then 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.
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.
Junior pitcher Dzierwa was dealing, firing eight strikeouts in 7.0 IP, stymieing USC's bats in only allowing two hits. Busch's bat was anything but stymied Friday night, as the senior infielder belted a ground-rule double and two home runs in his first three at bats.
"Both those guys were really good tonight," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. "I mean, Joe was in really command the entire way, he filled up the strike zone, and pitched, I think, is as well as he did last week against Oregon. So doing so against two really quality opponents, and we needed him to be as good as he was and he did that."
While Dzierwa was filling up the strikeout, Busch was filling up the scorebook and the scoreboard, with his ground-rule double and two home runs all coming in the first four frames, finishing with four RBI on the night, flying out to deep center field in his other two at bats.
"Sam Busch had a breakout day today," Boss said. "I think he was kind of scuffling a little bit, maybe pressing a little bit too much, but he was able to get the barrel to the ball and a couple home runs and a double and made it loud out later on the game. So Sam saw the ball really well tonight, which is what we need our seniors and our leaders and the guys in the middle of the order to do."
It was the second-straight Friday night that the Spartans shutout a Top 25 team after last week's 2-0 Victory for MSU over No. 6 Oregon, as Dzierwa pitched a complete-game shutout with 11 strikeouts. It's the first time since 2019 that MSU has beaten two Top 25 teams.
"That's two wins over two really good opponents," Boss said. Now we need to go out and play better the rest of this weekend than we did last Saturday and Sunday. So that's the challenge this weekend, to be ready to play and ready to compete. We know USC is going to be really good, and so we have to answer that bell and be better tomorrow than we were last Saturday, so that's the challenge."
With the win, MSU improved to 26-22 overall and 11-14 in B1G play, after winning its second Friday game and its third in the last four. USC is now 32-17 overall and 16-9 in conference competition.
This Friday night, Dzierwa was dealing again, ringing up eight Ks in only yielding two hits in 7.0 IP. He retired the first eight batters he faced, striking out half of those eight, including back-to-back Ks in the third. After yielding a one-out HBP and a single in the third, he retired the next six Trojan batters, before a two-out double in the fifth, but thwarted any threat by the Trojans by ringing up a strikeout to end the inning.
Dzierwa then chalked up a three-up, three-down frame in both the sixth and seventh innings, ending both frames with strikeouts, including back-to-back Ks in the seventh, for his final outs of the night.
Sophomore Garrett Brewer pitched the final 2.0 innings, allowing a walk against his first batter faced, but then settling in and only allowing a two-out single in the ninth while tallying two total strikeouts.
Along with Busch's 3-for-5 outing with four RBI and two runs scored, senior catcher Noah Bright joined Busch with multiple hits, going 2-for-3 with a run scored. Senior outfielders Nick Williams and JT Sokolove both added a hit apiece, with N.Williams scoring a run and Sokolove drawing two walksS. Redshirt-junior infielder Randy Seymour added the Spartans' other hit on the night. Redshirt-junior infielder Jacob Anderson notched one RBI, coming on a sacrifice fly in the second inning. Freshman infielder Dayton Murphy scored a run after drawing a walk, one of two free passes in the game.
As they have done many time this season, the Spartans scored in their first at bat, as Busch knocked a ground-rule double, driving in N.Williams who sparked the rally with a single and moved to third on a single by Seymour, and Busch drove him in.
MSU scored its second run of the game in the second inning, as Bright led off with a single up the middle, and Sokolove followed with a bunt single. After both runners moved up a base on a passed ball, redshirt-junior infielder Jacob Anderson lofted a deep flyout to left field for a sacrifice fly to drive in Bright as the Spartans doubled up their lead to 2-0.
Busch blasted his first homer of the night to lead off the top of the third, sending the solo shot over the wall in right. It was not only the third time this season that Busch has led off an inning, but all three occurrences have led off the third frame. He started off the third frame against UCLA on Feb. 23 in Corpus Christi, Texas with a home run to right field. Busch went yard to right center in the third inning on March 5 vs. Western Carolina at Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C. The Spartan senior then knocked his third third-inning leadoff homer Friday night at USC.
Murphy started off the fourth inning by reaching on a fielding error by USC relief pitcher Grant Govel. Three batters later, Busch blasted his second homer of the night, again belting it over the right field wall and a 5-0 Spartan advantage.
That was all the run support that Dzierwa and Brewer needed, as they stymied the Trojan bats from there on out, just as they'd done all night long, and Brewer rang up a strikeout for the final out of the game to spark the Victory for MSU celebration in winning the series opener.
MSU and USC continue the three-game B1G series on Saturday with a 5:02 p.m. ET / 2:02 p.m. PT first pitch. The Spartans and Trojans wrap up their series on Sunday at 4:02 p.m. ET / 1:02 p.m. PT.
Michigan State then 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.
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: Dzierwa, Joseph (8-2)
L: Hunter, Caden (6-4)
Batting:
2B: Busch, Sam 1
HR: Busch, Sam 2
RBI: Busch, Sam 4 ; Anderson, Jacob 1
SF: Anderson, Jacob 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Williams, Nick 1 ; Busch, Sam 2 ; Bright, Noah 1 ; Murphy, Dayton 1
CS: Sokolove, JT 1
HBP: Bright, Noah 1
PO: Sokolove, JT 1
Batting:
2B: Basseer, Jack 1
Base Running:
CS: Lamb, Andrew 1
HBP: Tejeda, Richard 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
5
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
5
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ BaseballC
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
OF
/ BaseballOF
/ BaseballPursuit to Greatness | Spartans All-Access
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Jake Boss | Baseball Press Conference | Mar. 25 2025
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