Spartans Corral Broncos Wednesday, 8-3, To Close Out Homestand

Wednesday, May 6

6:02 PM

Michigan State University

Western Michigan

Photo by: Erin Grady/MSU Athletic Communications

Spartans Corral Broncos Wednesday, 8-3, To Close Out Homestand

5/6/2026 11:35:00 PM | Baseball

MSU 8, WMU 3 Box Score

MSU scores in four-straight innings to pull away from 1-1 tie in 2nd, finish season-long nine-game homestand with a win.

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Tied 1-1 after two innings, Michigan State baseball scored seven unanswered runs over the next three frames to open an 8-1 lead on the way to an 8-3 Victory for MSU over Western Michigan Wednesday night as the Spartans closed their season-long nine-game homestand at Jeff Ishbia Field at McLane Stadium with their second-straight win.

Both victories came over Mid-American Conference (MAC) foes, after flying past the Falcons of Bowling Green, 12-4, on Tuesday. With Wednesday's win, the Spartans remain unbeaten against MAC opponents this season, moving to 4-0 with victories over Eastern Michigan, Central Michigan, Western Michigan and Bowling Green.

Michigan State is now 18-28 overall on the season, while Western Michigan is 22-21. Wednesday was the lone official game played between MSU and WMU this season, as the Spartans and Broncos were scheduled to play on April 15 at LMCU Ballpark in Comstock Park, Mich., but it was cancelled due to inclement weather.

With the win Wednesday, MSU has won 13 of the last 15 meetings with WMU, as part of 14 of the last 17 and 22 of the last 26 match-ups, trimming the Broncos' all-time series lead to 96-94, and WMU still leads, 45-44 in games played in East Lansing.

Former Spartan assistant coach Billy Gernon is in his 15th year at the reins of the Broncos, as he was on MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr.'s staff with MSU assistant coach/pitching coach Mark Van Ameyde from 2009-10, before Gernon left to become head coach at WMU.

The Spartans improved to 25-8 against the Broncos under Coach Boss, and MSU is now 22-6 vs. WMU in Coach Boss vs. Coach Gernon match-ups.

Gernon's Broncos took an early 1-0 lead in the second stanza on a one-out double followed by an RBI single. The Spartans quickly countered with a run in the home half of the second stanza, then two in the third, three in the fourth and two more in the fifth frame to open an 8-1 advantage. WMU got a run back in the sixth before one more in the ninth for the final score of 8-3.

MSU scored its eight runs on 12 hits, leaving eight runners on base, while WMU scored its three runs on 11 hits but 10 Bronco baserunners were left on the base paths. The Spartan pitchers and defense snuffed out WMU rallies, stranding two in the third then the bases loaded in the fourth before two more in the fifth, before one each in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings.

Redshirt-freshman starter Brady Chambers went 3.1 IP, scattering six hits and just one run, with one walk and two strikeouts. Graduate senior reliever Andrew Siler went 1.2 IP with one hit and one K, coming on in the fourth and leaving the bases loaded, then worked a shutdown fifth inning. Junior Logan Pikur went 2.2 IP with three hits, one run, no walks and one punchout. Senior Tommy Szczepanski went 0.2 IP with one hit, one run, no walks and one K, while junior Gannon Grundman went the final 0.2 IP with a groundout and a strikeout to end the game and spark the Victory for MSU celebrations.

MSU's offense backed up its defense and pitching, as eight different Spartans had at least one hit, with six players scoring at least one run and five players knocking in an RBI.

Junior outfielder Parker Picot continued swinging a hot bat with a solo home run in the third inning, while freshman infielder CJ Deckinga was 3-for-4 with two runs scored.

Senior outfielder Nick Williams was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI, knocking a triple in the third and later scoring, while belting an RBI double in the sixth.

Fellow senior, infielder Randy Seymour was 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI, adding to his team-leading total, with RBI numbers 48 and 49 on Wednesday, now just nine RBI from MSU's single-season Top 10 list. Seymour smacked an RBI single in the second and another one in the fifth frame.

Graduate senior designated hitter Noah Bright matched Picot going 1-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI, while junior infielder Ryan McKay was 1-for-3 with a run scored and sophomore infielder Dayton Murphy was 1-for-4 with a run scored. Junior outfielder Trent Rice came on as a defensive replacement in top of the eighth, and added a single in the bottom of the frame. Redshirt-sophomore catcher Adam Broski had one RBI on a perfectly executed safety squeeze sacrifice bunt in the fifth.

After WMU got on the board first in the top of the second, the Spartans countered with a run of their own in the second half of the second stanza. Deckinga led off with a single to left, and McKay moved him up with a sac bunt. Seymour then laced a seeing-eye single through the left side of the WMU infield and Deckinga darted around to score and level the game at 1-1.

Williams smacked a triple to right center that went off the wall and the top of the hill. Bright followed with an RBI groundout to bring Williams in with the go-ahead RBI at 2-1 and the Spartans didn't trail again. Two batters later, Picot smacked his solo home run down the left field line and high into the trees beyond the left field wall for a 3-1 MSU lead.

Murphy sparked the Spartan rally in the fourth with a one-out single, and two batters later, stole second, after initially being called out, but the call was challenged and overturned with a safe ruling. Williams then doubled to right center to plate Murphy. Bright then singled and Williams scored on a WMU error on the play. Thomas then followed by reaching on another Bronco miscue, and Bright scored on the play for MSU's third run of the frame and a 6-1 advantage.

Deckinga again ignited the Green & White's rally in the fifth, leading off with a single and going first-to-third on a hit-and-run on a McKay single through the right side. Seymour came to bat and smacked a single up the middle to drive in Deckinga and move McKay to third. Two batters later, Broski laid down a picture-perfect safety squeeze bunt to plate McKay and make the scoreboard read 8-1 in the Spartans' favor.

WMU got a run back in the sixth and another in the ninth, but Szczepanski and Grundman slammed the gate on a Bronco busting rally, to seal the win.

With their nine-game homestand completed, the Spartans now head to Columbus to play at Ohio State this weekend, Friday-Sunday, May 8-10, in the penultimate weekend of the regular-season and final weekend of Michigan State's B1G schedule.

MSU opens the series with OSU at Huntington Park in Columbus, home of the Columbus Clippers, the Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians, on Friday, May 8 at 6 p.m. The Spartans and Buckeyes then play game two of the series on Saturday, May 9 at 3 p.m., before the series finale on Sunday, May 10 at 1 p.m., with Saturday and Sunday's games played on campus at OSU's Bill Davis Stadium.

The Spartans drew their bye in the conference schedule on the final weekend, and will host Illinois State, Thursday-Saturday, May 14-16 in Spartan Senior Celebrations weekend.

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.

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.