Michigan State Downed By No. 3 Texas Sunday In Series Finale

Sunday, February 22

UFCU Disch-Falk Field | Austin, Texas

1 PM ET / 12 PM CT

Michigan State University

2-4

No. 3 Texas

7-0

Michigan State

Texas

Photo by: Alexandra Carnochan

Michigan State Downed By No. 3 Texas Sunday In Series Finale

2/22/2026 7:18:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score TEX 4, MSU 0 Box Score

Spartans conclude three-game weekend series.

AUSTIN, Texas -- Michigan State baseball concluded its three-game weekend series at No. 3 Texas with a 4-0 loss on Sunday afternoon at UT's UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

Sunday's contest capped the inaugural weekend meeting between the Spartans and Longhorns, with Texas completing the sweep, after Friday night's 8-1 UT triumph, which was the first-ever meeting on the diamond between the Spartans and the Longhorns and Saturday's 3-1 ballgame.

Texas moved to 7-0 after seven home games in the first two weekends of the season, while MSU is now 2-4 after playing a pair of series on the road against Top-10 opponents, taking 2-of-3 at No. 8 Louisville in the opening weekend of the 2026 season.

MSU had five hits on the day, with junior infielder Ryan McKay, senior infielder Randy Seymour and freshman infielder CJ Deckinga all going 1-for-4. Deckinga earned his first collegiate hit by beating out an infield single in the second inning. Sophomore infielder Dayton Murphy and junior outfielder Trent Rice were both 1-for-3.

Spartan junior starting pitcher Logan Pikur went 3.1 IP, scattering four runs on six hits, with two walks and one strikeout. Senior reliever Tommy Szczepanski had 2.2 IP, with no runs on two hits, with four Ks and one walk, while redshirt-freshman reliever Brady Chambers tossed 2.0 IP of one-hit baseball without a run nor walk.

"We're disappointed with today's outcome," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. "I thought we pitched really well after the first, and Logan settled in and did a nice job, and then the bullpen was really good today with Tommy Szczepanski and Brady Chambers, but disappointed in the offense today. It was a struggle for us all weekend, and credit the Texas pitching staff, because those are some really good arms that we saw today and all weekend long. It's a deep and very talented pitching staff. We weren't really able to make many adjustments and it's just a disappointing outcome on our end. We've got a lot of work to do, we'll work hard this week in practice and have a good plan for next weekend, but we do have to do some things differently offensively if we're going to be successful."

Longhorn pitcher Dylan Volantis kept the Spartan bats in check throughout his 7.0 IP, firing a career-high nine strikeouts and earned the win to improve to 2-0 and is yet to allow an unearned run through two outings.

For the third time in as many games in the weekend series, the Longhorns got on the board first, doing so in their first at bat for the second day in a row. On Sunday, Texas plated a pair of runs, leading off with back-to-back singles, then after a strikeout, consecutive walks brought in a run and a groundout drove in another for a 2-0 Longhorn lead.

The Spartans quickly countered, Deckinga got his first collegiate hit with an infield single, and two batters later, Murphy laced a single to right. Rice reached on another infield single, after initially being called out, the call was overturned after a review, to load the bases, but a strikeout thwarted the threat by MSU without a run.

McKay reached on an infield single to lead off the visitor's third, and moved to second on a groundout, but didn't advance any further.

Texas added a run in the third on a two-out double and an RBI single, before tacking on another in the fourth frame, tallying three singles in the inning for the 4-0 advantage, and that remained the score for the rest of the game.

Up next, Michigan State heads to its home-away-from-home, Greenville, South Carolina and Fluor Field, home of the Greenville Drive, the High-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. The Spartans host their annual First Pitch Invitational, Friday-Sunday, Feb. 27-March 1. MSU opens against B1G foe Illinois on Friday, Feb. 27 at 2 p.m., in a non-conference contest, as the Spartans and Illini aren't scheduled to face each other during the league schedule. Michigan State then plays Albany on Saturday, Feb. 28 at 6 p.m., before wrapping up the weekend against James Madison on Sunday, March 1 at 2 p.m.

The Spartans then stay in Greenville and square off with Winthrop on Tuesday, March 3, at 6 p.m. before concluding the Greenville trip by tangling with the Tigers of Clemson on Wednesday, March 4, also at 6 p.m.

The Spartans' schedule is subject to change, fans can stay tuned to MSUSpartans.com and @MSUBaseball on Twitter for schedule updates, along with follow action with "Watch Live," "Listen Live" and "Live Stats" links where available.