Michigan State University Athletics
Friday, April 3
Rocky and Bernice Miller Park | Evanston, Ill.
4 PM ET / 3 PM CT
Michigan State University
10-17, 0
5
at
1
Northwestern
10-15-1, 0
1st innning1
2nd innning2
3rd innning3
4th innning4
5th innning5
6th innning6
7th innning7
8th innning8
9th innning9
RunsR
HitsH
ErrorsE
Michigan State
0
0
0
0
0
2
2
1
0
5
11
0
Northwestern
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
5
0
Photo by: Erin Grady/MSU Athletic Communications
Donovan’s Dominating Outing Leads Spartans To 5-1 Victory For MSU Friday At Northwestern
4/3/2026 8:28:00 PM | Baseball
MSU celebrates 100 years of Spartan nickname in winning style as sophomore hurler goes career-high 8.0 IP in stymieing Wildcats’ bats; 8-of-9 Spartans in lineup collect hits.
The Mystery Behind the Spartan Nickname 100 Years On
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Michigan State baseball got a dominate performance from Aidan Donovan on the mound and timely hitting in the later innings to pull away from Northwestern in a 5-1 Victory for MSU Friday afternoon at NU's Rocky and Berenice Miller Park as the Green & White successfully celebrated the 100th Anniversary of the Spartans nickname.
Sophomore starting pitcher Aidan Donovan went a career-high 8.0 IP, firing a career-high 102 pitches, stymieing Northwestern's bats, only yielding five hits and one run, with two strikeouts and no walks, getting solid defense behind him.
"Aidan was masterful today, he was filling up the strike-zone and was ahead in the count really all night long, and he forced a lot of contact early in the count and our guys defended really well behind him. It was fun to watch Aidan tonight, he was in control the whole way and was just a really good day out of him today."
Donovan levels his record at 2-2, in posting his sixth career outing without a walk, including his second this season. The 102 pitches topped his previous career-high of 101 at Nebraska earlier this season on March 6, and was his third 100+ pitch outing of the season, joining 100 pitches vs. Iowa on March 20.
Redshirt-freshman reliever Brady Chambers pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning on three flyouts to all three outfield spots, the last one a can of corn for Sturgess in center to secure the Victory for MSU and spark the jubilant winning celebrations. The Michigan State baseball team was the first varsity team on campus and was given the nickname "Spartans" in a newspaper article in April, 1926.
Friday's win was MSU's fourth in its last seven games, moving to 10-17 overall and 5-8 in B1G action. Northwestern is now 10-15-1 overall and 3-7 in conference competition.
The Spartans are making their first trip to Evanston since 2022, but MSU has now won seven of the last eight meetings with NU, and now leads the all-time series, 106-56-1, including 45-25-1 in Evanston.
Meanwhile, the MSU offense overcame a quiet start, rapping out 11 hits on the night, including nine in the last four innings, as eight of the nine Spartans in the line-up had at least one hit.
"It took us a little while to get going really for the first half of the game, we didn't have a lot of production and chased a lot of balls outside of the strike zone before the sixth, but had a some good at bats and got a couple hits in a row there in the sixth and seventh innings, and then executed a hit-and-run in the eighth that we ended up scoring a run on," Boss said. "I thought we hit some balls hard earlier in the game, but we just didn't have anything to show for it. But all-in-all, it was good day. I thought our guys stayed the course, and were able to step back and re-focus and stick to the plan. Give their starter credit because he got us out of what we were trying to accomplish at the plate, but our guys stayed resilient and got the job done later in the game when it counted, and I'm very proud of them."
Northwestern starting pitcher freshman starter Jake Rifenburg made his first collegiate start, keeping the Spartan bats in check for the first five innings of the game, with only two hits and five strikeouts from innings 1-5, before MSU got to him in the sixth.
Sophomore outfielders Issac Sturgess and Khamaree Thomas, along with junior infielder Ryan McKay, tallied two hits apiece. Sturgess was 2-for-4 with two RBI, McKay was 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and one RBI, while Thomas was 2-for-3 with a run scored and drawing the game's lone walk.
Junior outfielder Trent Rice was 1-for-5 with an RBI, coming on an infield "bingle" as base hits were called back in 1926 when the Spartans first got their nickname.
Sophomore infielder Dayton Murphy was 1-for-5 with a double, and scored a run. Senior infielder Randy Seymour was 1-for-4 with a run scored, while freshman infielder CJ Deckinga and senior outfielder Nick Williams were both 1-for-4 and both scored a run, with Williams knocking an RBI, driving in Deckinga.
Both Deckinga and Williams made stellar plays in the field on defense to the aid of Donovan, flashing the leather.
A strong Chicagoland wind knocked down several hits for both teams, with cans of corn caught at the wall that would have been home runs on non-windy days.
Murphy now has at least one hit in 14 of the last 15 games as part of in 17 of the 22 games played, while Sturgess and Seymour have both knocked a hit in 12 of the last 13 games.
After a scoreless first five frames of the game, the Spartans broke through in the sixth, with Sturgess knocking a two-run "bingle," driving in Thomas, who reached on an infield base hit, and Murphy with a double, chasing Rifenburg from the game.
Sturgess rudely welcomed Wildcat reliever Alex Grant to the game with a two-run base hit up the middle to plate both Thomas and Murphy and put MSU ahead 2-0.
In the seventh, Deckinga knocked a one-out single, and NU changed pitchers, replacing Grant with Sam Hliboki, and much like Sturgess an inning earlier, Williams wasn't very welcoming, belting a double to the gap in right center and Deckinga scampered all the way around from first to score. A flyout moved Williams up to third and Rice reached on an infield single to score Williams and give the Spartans a 4-0 lead.
Seymour socked a one-out single in the eighth, and McKay followed with his second double of the day to drive him in and put MSU on top, 5-0.
NU got on the board with a run in the bottom of the seventh, with a single and an RBI double, before Donovan got out of the jam with a flyout to end the Wildcats' rally and the inning.
Chambers worked a quick bottom of the ninth to clinch the Victory for MSU.
The Spartans and Wildcats return to the diamond on Saturday for game two of the series, followed by the series finale on Sunday. Both Saturday and Sunday's games are set for 2 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. CT start times.
Michigan State then plays at Notre Dame on Wednesday, April 8 at 5:30 p.m., before returning home to host Michigan in a three-game B1G series, Friday-Sunday, April 10-12 at Jeff Ishbia Field at McLane Stadium.
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.
The Michigan State baseball season ticket package, which includes 24 home games at Jeff Ishbia Field at McLane Stadium, and also single game 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, or fans can visit the MSU Ticket Office in person, located in 1855 Place.
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Michigan State baseball got a dominate performance from Aidan Donovan on the mound and timely hitting in the later innings to pull away from Northwestern in a 5-1 Victory for MSU Friday afternoon at NU's Rocky and Berenice Miller Park as the Green & White successfully celebrated the 100th Anniversary of the Spartans nickname.
Sophomore starting pitcher Aidan Donovan went a career-high 8.0 IP, firing a career-high 102 pitches, stymieing Northwestern's bats, only yielding five hits and one run, with two strikeouts and no walks, getting solid defense behind him.
"Aidan was masterful today, he was filling up the strike-zone and was ahead in the count really all night long, and he forced a lot of contact early in the count and our guys defended really well behind him. It was fun to watch Aidan tonight, he was in control the whole way and was just a really good day out of him today."
Donovan levels his record at 2-2, in posting his sixth career outing without a walk, including his second this season. The 102 pitches topped his previous career-high of 101 at Nebraska earlier this season on March 6, and was his third 100+ pitch outing of the season, joining 100 pitches vs. Iowa on March 20.
Redshirt-freshman reliever Brady Chambers pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning on three flyouts to all three outfield spots, the last one a can of corn for Sturgess in center to secure the Victory for MSU and spark the jubilant winning celebrations. The Michigan State baseball team was the first varsity team on campus and was given the nickname "Spartans" in a newspaper article in April, 1926.
VICTORY FOR MSU!!
— Michigan State Baseball (@MSUBaseball) April 3, 2026
Michigan State 5, Northwestern 1
Sturgess snares can of corn for final hand down and it's high fives & handshakes allllll around!! The Spartan rooters are jubilant w/ the victory!!
G2 of MSU vs. NU @B1Gbaseball series is Sat at 2 pm ET/1 pm CT#VictoryForMSU pic.twitter.com/DtqITYpywh
Friday's win was MSU's fourth in its last seven games, moving to 10-17 overall and 5-8 in B1G action. Northwestern is now 10-15-1 overall and 3-7 in conference competition.
The Spartans are making their first trip to Evanston since 2022, but MSU has now won seven of the last eight meetings with NU, and now leads the all-time series, 106-56-1, including 45-25-1 in Evanston.
Meanwhile, the MSU offense overcame a quiet start, rapping out 11 hits on the night, including nine in the last four innings, as eight of the nine Spartans in the line-up had at least one hit.
"It took us a little while to get going really for the first half of the game, we didn't have a lot of production and chased a lot of balls outside of the strike zone before the sixth, but had a some good at bats and got a couple hits in a row there in the sixth and seventh innings, and then executed a hit-and-run in the eighth that we ended up scoring a run on," Boss said. "I thought we hit some balls hard earlier in the game, but we just didn't have anything to show for it. But all-in-all, it was good day. I thought our guys stayed the course, and were able to step back and re-focus and stick to the plan. Give their starter credit because he got us out of what we were trying to accomplish at the plate, but our guys stayed resilient and got the job done later in the game when it counted, and I'm very proud of them."
Northwestern starting pitcher freshman starter Jake Rifenburg made his first collegiate start, keeping the Spartan bats in check for the first five innings of the game, with only two hits and five strikeouts from innings 1-5, before MSU got to him in the sixth.
Sophomore outfielders Issac Sturgess and Khamaree Thomas, along with junior infielder Ryan McKay, tallied two hits apiece. Sturgess was 2-for-4 with two RBI, McKay was 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and one RBI, while Thomas was 2-for-3 with a run scored and drawing the game's lone walk.
Junior outfielder Trent Rice was 1-for-5 with an RBI, coming on an infield "bingle" as base hits were called back in 1926 when the Spartans first got their nickname.
Sophomore infielder Dayton Murphy was 1-for-5 with a double, and scored a run. Senior infielder Randy Seymour was 1-for-4 with a run scored, while freshman infielder CJ Deckinga and senior outfielder Nick Williams were both 1-for-4 and both scored a run, with Williams knocking an RBI, driving in Deckinga.
Both Deckinga and Williams made stellar plays in the field on defense to the aid of Donovan, flashing the leather.
"Deckinga to the deck!"
— Michigan State Baseball (@MSUBaseball) April 3, 2026
CJ Deckinga successfully mans the hot corner, making diving snare of line drive to end the inning w/ a #SCTop10 worthy catch!!
End 7th |
MSU 4
NU 0#GoGreen | @ESPNAssignDesk | @cjdecks_10 pic.twitter.com/myyWE2DXSn
Nick Williams doin' Nick Williams type things in LF, stirring his stumps and making diving catch to snare the onion!! (...aka he hustles to make diving catch and snare the ball!!)#GoGreen | @NicklasWilliam1 pic.twitter.com/1CA8T6GRlf
— Michigan State Baseball (@MSUBaseball) April 3, 2026
A strong Chicagoland wind knocked down several hits for both teams, with cans of corn caught at the wall that would have been home runs on non-windy days.
Murphy now has at least one hit in 14 of the last 15 games as part of in 17 of the 22 games played, while Sturgess and Seymour have both knocked a hit in 12 of the last 13 games.
After a scoreless first five frames of the game, the Spartans broke through in the sixth, with Sturgess knocking a two-run "bingle," driving in Thomas, who reached on an infield base hit, and Murphy with a double, chasing Rifenburg from the game.
Sturgess rudely welcomed Wildcat reliever Alex Grant to the game with a two-run base hit up the middle to plate both Thomas and Murphy and put MSU ahead 2-0.
During the pitching change, take a look back at how the Spartans got on the board w/ a 2-run single by Sturgess.
— Michigan State Baseball (@MSUBaseball) April 3, 2026
MSU 2
NU 0#GoGreen | @sturgess_isaac pic.twitter.com/h6g8uU5FKb
In the seventh, Deckinga knocked a one-out single, and NU changed pitchers, replacing Grant with Sam Hliboki, and much like Sturgess an inning earlier, Williams wasn't very welcoming, belting a double to the gap in right center and Deckinga scampered all the way around from first to score. A flyout moved Williams up to third and Rice reached on an infield single to score Williams and give the Spartans a 4-0 lead.
Seymour socked a one-out single in the eighth, and McKay followed with his second double of the day to drive him in and put MSU on top, 5-0.
NU got on the board with a run in the bottom of the seventh, with a single and an RBI double, before Donovan got out of the jam with a flyout to end the Wildcats' rally and the inning.
Chambers worked a quick bottom of the ninth to clinch the Victory for MSU.
The Spartans and Wildcats return to the diamond on Saturday for game two of the series, followed by the series finale on Sunday. Both Saturday and Sunday's games are set for 2 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. CT start times.
Michigan State then plays at Notre Dame on Wednesday, April 8 at 5:30 p.m., before returning home to host Michigan in a three-game B1G series, Friday-Sunday, April 10-12 at Jeff Ishbia Field at McLane Stadium.
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.
The Michigan State baseball season ticket package, which includes 24 home games at Jeff Ishbia Field at McLane Stadium, and also single game 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, or fans can visit the MSU Ticket Office in person, located in 1855 Place.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Donovan, Aidan (2-2)
L: RIFENBURG, JAKE (2-2)
S: Chambers, Brady (2)
Batting:
2B: Murphy, Dayton 1 ; McKay, Ryan 2 ; Williams, Nick 1
RBI: Rice, Trent 1 ; Sturgess, Isaac 2 ; McKay, Ryan 1 ; Williams, Nick 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Thomas, Khamaree 1 ; Murphy, Dayton 1 ; Seymour, Randy 1 ; Deckinga, CJ 1 ; Williams, Nick 1
SB: Rice, Trent 1
CS: Sturgess, Isaac 1
HBP: Thomas, Khamaree 1
PO: Sturgess, Isaac 1
Batting:
2B: MCELFATRICK,OWEN 1 ; LAUSCH,JACK 1
RBI: MCELFATRICK,OWEN 1
Base Running:
RUNS: SLATER, JAY 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
2
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
RHP
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INF/OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF
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/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
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/ Baseball
OF
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