MSU Baseball Nipped By Nebraska In Extra-Inning Walk-Off Friday Night

Friday, March 6

Haymarket Park | Lincoln, Neb.

3 PM ET / 2 PM CT

Michigan State University

3-9, 0

Nebraska

8-5, 0

Michigan State

Nebraska

Isaac Sturgess action vs Clemson in Greenville, S.C.

Photo by: Jeremy Fleming

MSU Baseball Nipped By Nebraska In Extra-Inning Walk-Off Friday Night

3/6/2026 10:08:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score NEB 5, MSU 4 (10 inn.) Box Score

Weather delay pushes start time back two hours; Sturgess smacked three-run HR in ninth to force extras.

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Michigan State baseball sophomore outfielder Isaac Sturgess smacked a three-run home run in the top of the ninth to tie the game at 4-4 and force extra innings, but Nebraska walked it off in the bottom of the 10th to win the Big Ten Conference opener for both teams, 5-4 in 10 innings at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park, after the start of the game was delayed two hours due to inclement weather.

Lightning in the area pushed the first pitch originally slated for 3 p.m. ET/2 p.m. CT to 5 p.m. ET/4 p.m. CT, and the game was played in windy conditions with dropping temperatures. After temps were near 50 degrees at first pitch, the game ended in the 30s, with real feel of mid-20s with the wind.

Friday marked the second-straight 5-4, 10-inning outcome between the Spartans and Cornhuskers, as that was the same score and result in the 2025 Big Ten Tournament in Omaha, Neb., on May 20, 2025. It was also MSU's second-straight Friday night loss score and outcome, after losing 5-4 in 10-innings to Illinois last Friday night, Feb. 27, at Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C.

Michigan State trailed 4-1 entering the top of the ninth, before senior outfielder Nick Williams led off with a walk and redshirt-sophomore catcher Adam Broski knocked a single to right. Sturgess stepped in and battled to a 3-2 full count, then smacked a blast to right center for the three-run home run.

Sturgess smacks a 3-run HR to right center field to knot this game at 4-all in the top of the 9th!!#GoGreen | @sturgess_isaac pic.twitter.com/eW9gnvtzLO
— Michigan State Baseball (@MSUBaseball) March 7, 2026

Graduate reliever JD Greeley took over on the mound to open the bottom of the ninth, and induced three-straight groundouts to junior infielder Ryan McKay at second base to end the inning and send the game to the 10th inning. It was both MSU and Nebraska's second extra-inning contest of the season, as the Huskers also went extras last Friday, winning 9-8 in 10-innings at No. 7 Auburn.

In the top of the 10th, McKay knocked a double to left and after a Husker pitching change, Williams flew out to right to advance McKay to third, but a groundout ended the Spartan rally without the go-ahead run. After a strikeout and a flyout, Case Sanderson hit the walk-off home run to right field to end the game.

The Huskers scored their five runs on 13 hits, while the Spartans tallied their four runs on 10 hits, their second-highest of the season behind 14 hits in the 13-5 win at No. 8 Louisville on Feb. 14.

"I'm pleased with the fight and the heart our guys showed tonight," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. "We had some good at bats, and I thought offensively, we were much better today than we were the last couple weeks. So, that was a positive, but at the same time, I'm not really big into moral victories, and there were a handful of plays in the game that I thought we should have made, and unfortunately, we didn't, and it led to them making one more play than we did, but credit Nebraska, they played very well and made plays when they needed to."

Nebraska improves to 8-5 overall and 1-0 in B1G action with the win, while MSU is now 3-9 overall and 0-1 in conference competition.

Sturgess was 2-for-4 with the three RBI and run scored on the home run, his second of the season and his Spartan career. It was the second Friday night in a row for Sturgess to hit a home run, as he hit the first round-tripper of his collegiate career last Friday vs. Illinois in Greenville.

He was joined in the multi-hit column by fellow sophomore outfielder Khamaree Thomas, who was 3-for-4 with a run scored. Senior designated hitter Noah Bright was 1-for-3, Broski was 1-for-4, while McKay and senior infielder Randy Seymour were both 1-for-5, with Seymour posting an RBI on a single in the fifth, and freshman pinch hitter Cole Van Ameyde got his first collegiate hit with a triple in the ninth three batters after the Sturgess HR in the ninth.

On the mound, sophomore starter Aidan Donovan scattered eight hits in 6.0 IP, yielding two runs, while striking out five and no walks. Senior reliever Nolan Higgins went 2.0 IP with two runs, one earned, on four hits and four Ks, while Greeley went 1.2 IP with one hit, one run and one K, in suffering the loss.

Once the game got going, the home-standing Huskers scored first with a run in the second stanza for the early 1-0 lead.

The Spartans countered with a run in the fifth, when Thomas sparked the rally with a two-out single. After moving to second on a wild pitch, Thomas was driven in on a Seymour seeing-eye single to right field to level the score at 1-all.

Mid 5th |
MSU 1
NEB 1

Spartans tie it up on an RBI single by Seymour, driving in Thomas, who got on base with a 2-out single, took 2nd on a wild pitch and scored on the Seymour single.

Donovan back to mound for B5th.#GoGreen | @RandySeymour14 | @mareest7 pic.twitter.com/qh52QhhKLy
— Michigan State Baseball (@MSUBaseball) March 6, 2026

Nebraska scored a run in each of the sixth, seventh and eighth innings to take the 4-1 lead into the top of the ninth, before Sturgess tied it up and sent the game to the extra stanza.

MSU and Nebraska return to the diamond of Hawks Field at Haymarket Park for game two of the series on Saturday, March 7 with a 2 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. CT start time, followed by the series finale on Sunday, March 8, starting at 1 p.m. ET / 12 p.m. CT.

Michigan State then returns home and will play its first game in the state of Michigan on Wednesday, March 11 at Eastern Michigan in a 3 p.m. start in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

The Spartans then head east to Piscataway, New Jersey for a B1G three-game weekend series at Rutgers, Friday-Sunday, March 13-15. The series opens on Friday at 4 p.m., followed by a 2 p.m. start on Saturday, before concluding on Sunday at 1 p.m.

MSU's 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.