Michigan State was swept by Maryland over the weekend in a three game conference series. The trio of losses puts this team at 20-16 for the year (5-7 B1G) which is good for ninth in the Big Ten. The Terrapins, on the other hand, improved to 28-11 (12-3 B1G).

The teams were forced to play a double header on Sunday due to Saturday’s game being rained out and the pair of games did not go well for Michigan State.

Maryland was able to strike first with a run in their first at bats, giving them an early 1-0 lead. The Spartans, try as they might, weren’t able to push a run across until the mid to late innings. The Terrapins managed to add another run in the fifth, making the score 2-0. Michigan State was able to plate one run during the seventh but couldn’t do much of anything throughout their 2-1 loss.

During the second outing, Maryland scored runs in the second and fourth innings, putting them ahead 4-0 early on. Michigan State finally got on the board in the sixth thanks to a RBI single by Matt Byars.

The Terps extended their lead in the home half of the sixth to take a commanding 6-1 lead over the Spartans. Michigan State gave themselves plenty of chances — they had two on in the eighth and two more in the ninth but both rallies died out.

Spartans Staying The Course

The Spartans aren’t looking so hot, losing their last five games, all against B1G opponents.

They have slipped in nearly every category they used to own early on in the season. This team has remained inconsistent all year long and it doesn’t look like its going to get any better.

Regardless, here are some Spartans still going strong in the latter part of 2017.

• Bryce Kelley (OF): .325 (27-83), 2 2B, 3 2B, 12 RBI
• Brandon Hughes (CF): .323 (43-133), 7 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR, 28 RBI
• Alex Troop (P/1B): .319 (22-69), 6 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 9 RBI
• Dan Chmielewski (OF): .291 (39-134), 9 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 19 RBI

Quick Takeaways

• The Spartans have slowly but surely been falling apart, fans have seen it for weeks now.
• At one point this team was sitting pretty at 15-5 — they’ve won five games since that time and have capped out at 20-16.
• Biggest take I have for you guys this week is the Spartans aren’t going anywhere. MSU has fallen below .500 in conference play and don’t seem to be getting any better as the year wears on.
• It’s hard enough for a Big Ten team to get into the Big Dance and Michigan State isn’t one of them.

Next Series

The Spartans are coming home to host Toledo on Wednesday, April 26th at 3:05 p.m.