Hey Spartan baseball fans! I hope you were able to catch the game at Kobs Field yesterday because even though our Michigan State Spartans couldn’t walk away with a victory it was one heck of a contest.

With the loss Michigan State is now 6-13 on the season, while Central Michigan improves to 5-15-1.

Wednesday’s letdown brought the MSU momentum to an unfortunate stop. Prior to facing the Chippewas they played against the Niagara Purple Eagles where the Spartans won two out of four games and looked like they were headed in the right direction. Suffice to say I was very wrong about that.

Michigan State will remain competitive for the rest of this season, but they have a long way to go before winning becomes the norm.

The Spartans played extremely well for majority of the game. So well, in fact, that they had a no hitter going for almost seven innings before Central Michigan finally broke through and got a hit. But Michigan State walked a total of 10 batters Wednesday afternoon leaving themselves vulnerable on the base paths.

Central Michigan was able to take full advantage of their free bases by being patient and smart at the plate. During the fifth inning (after the Spartans walked a couple guys) the Chippewas were able to score their first run of the game due to a wild pitch.

Fast forward to the seventh inning and Central Michigan scored two more runs thanks to a single by Evan Kratt. Which gave the Chippewas a 3-1 lead heading into the late innings.

The Spartans did their best to battle back but it never amounted to much. Michigan State had nine hits on the day but left 10 runners on base.

Their inability to drive anyone home was the difference in the game.

Spartans Staying The Course

Andrew Gonzalez had a no hitter going through 5.0 IP in Wednesdays game against Central Michigan. He struck out six batters, allowed one earned run, and walked seven.

Spartan fans saw three guys come in for relief during the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth innings. First was freshman Jesse Heikkinen who set the Chippewas down in order with a strikeout.

He paved the way for senior Jake Lowery to take the mound in the seventh and eighth innings where he had one strikeout before giving up two runs (the Evan Kratt single). In the ninth inning Jake Boss brought in Zach Iverson. The freshman gave up a leadoff single before getting out of the inning with a double play and a fly out.

Here’s the top four Spartan pitchers up to this point:

• Mitchell Tyranski: ERA — 0.60, 1-1, 15.0 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 12 SO
• Mike Mokma: ERA — 0.68, 1-1, 13.1 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 13 SO
• Mason Erla: ERA — 2.15, 3-0, 29.1 IP, 16 H, 7 ER, 24 SO
• Ethan Landon: ERA — 3.16, 0-3, 31.1 IP, 31 H, 11 ER, 31 SO

Final Takeaways

• I really thought this was going to be an easy win for Michigan State. As it turns out I was completely wrong. The pitching was fantastic but you won’t win many games with 10 runners left on base.
• The Spartans are facing Michigan to begin conference play. It’s going to be a LONG weekend.
• A question for the fans: How do you guys think the rest of this season plays out?

Next Series

Michigan State kicks off conference play against Michigan in a three game series starting Friday at 4 p.m.