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Well last week we were hoping that the MSU baseball squad was about to turn the corner and keep their winning ways going. Alas that was not the case. The Spartans had a rough weekend out in New Jersey before coming home to face Eastern Michigan.
Recap
Jake Boss and company are still in search of their first Big Ten win after being swept at Rutgers last weekend. It was a pretty discouraging series for a team that seemed to be playing better of late, and was facing a team that had not played well all season.
MSU dropped the opener 4-2 last Friday, with Mason Erla taking a tough loss after pitching decently. Zach Iverson was 2-3 with an RBI and Zaid Walker went 2-4 with a run scored.
On Saturday the Spartans fell 6-3 after the Scarlet Knights jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning thanks to some poor defense by MSU. Mitchell Tyranski took the loss allowing six runs, but only two of them earned, over seven innings. He also struck out 10 and walked only two. Tyranski has struck out 48 batters over 40.2 innings this year but has yet to record a win.
Bryce Kelley went 4-5 in the loss, and Iverson was 2-3 with a run scored. Zaid Walker had an RBI double in the sixth for his lone knock of the game.
Sunday it was all Rutgers in an 8-0 win to secure the three game sweep. The Spartans managed just one hit against four Scarlet Knight pitchers and struck out 11 times.
After the sweep, MSU was able to salvage a win on Wednesday night against local foe Eastern Michigan. The Spartans won 5-3 on a rainy night in East Lansing. Jesse Heikkinen got his first win of the season tossing four innings of shutout ball in relief. Walker was 1-4 with a two-run double and Iverson was 2-4 with a double and a run scored.
Up Next
The Spartans welcome Indiana to East Lansing this weekend for a three game series starting Friday night. The Hoosiers are 25-12 overall and 7-2 in Big Ten play. They have won eight games in a row coming into this weekend. The Spartans on the other hand are the last team without a win in conference play.
After the weekend series against the Hoosiers, the Spartans will play two mid-week games at home. Tuesday night they take on Oakland, and Wednesday night they will host Toledo. Both games are 6:35 starts under the new lights at McLane Baseball Stadium at Kobs Field.