EAST LANSING- Michigan State baseball defeated the Oakland Golden Grizzlies 8-5 on Wednesday. Coming off a series loss in Iowa, the Spartans bounced back and were able to get back in the win column.
Sophomore Tate Farquhar got the starting nod for the Spartans, while senior Ethan Glassman was on the mound for Oakland.
Farquhar escaped a jam in the first, stranding a runner on third base after a throwing error by graduate catcher Caleb Berry on a stolen base attempt.
In the bottom of the first, the Spartans bats jumped on Glassman, scoring three runs. After two singles to start the game and a sacrifice bunt, senior infielder Sam Busch got MSU on the board with a sacrifice fly.
With senior designated hitter Will Shannon at the plate, a wild pitch brought home another run. Just a few pitches later, Will Shannon would drive one over the wall in left field for his first home run as a Spartan.
Farquhar escaped another jam in the second, inducing a double play with two runners on base. In the bottom of the third, Berry drove a run home with a double into the left center gap, giving the Spartans a 4-0 lead. After a stolen base, Shannon hit an RBI groundout to make it a 5-0 lead.
Oakland would get on the board in the top of the 4th. After three innings without a hit, the Golden Grizzlies’ bats would come alive. Sophomore outfielder Taylor Tomlin got Oakland on the board with an RBI single but the Spartans would quickly respond. Junior infielder Randy Seymour hit his third home run of the season to lead off the bottom of the 4th. Sophomore infielder Ryan McKay made it 7-1 Spartans with an RBI single off of sophomore Blake Sehlke.
Oakland would draw closer in the 6th inning, scoring two runs off of freshman Aidan Donovan with back-to-back doubles and a single. Sophomore Garrett Brewer entered the game in relief and got out of the inning quickly.
Neither team would score again until the 8th inning, when the Spartans defensive struggles cost them runs. After a throwing error at third base and a walk, sophomore Boston Halloran hit an RBI single off senior Dominic Pianto to close the gap to three. The next at bat, a slow chopper was thrown into right field by Pianto, scoring another run and bringing the Golden Grizzlies within two. The Spartans made five errors on the day, four of them throwing.
“We’ve just gotta execute. Some strange errors today…two behind the plate for the catcher…he hasn’t thrown two balls into centerfield all year, just happened to do it today,” MSU manager Jake Boss Jr. said. “The one at third was a little disappointing, the one off the pitcher was a little disappointing, but those are gonna happen. It’s hard to win a game when you make five errors, but we were able to do it, make some big pitches when we needed to.”
In the bottom of the 8th, McKay would score on a wild pitch to make it 8-5. McKay finished the day with four hits, a walk, two stolen bases, three runs and an RBI.
“Coming into the game, everybody had a plan of doing their job and what they do, and what I do personally is I spread the ball around the field,” McKay said. “I find holes anywhere in the infield and that’s what I did today, and it worked so I’m just gonna try and keep going off that into Penn State.”
“I thought his approach was really good at the plate today…He kind of did it all for us…I thought the biggest play in the game was him scoring on the wild pitch in the first inning,” Boss Jr. said. “The ball didn’t travel more than 10 feet, but it was a great read, his timing was right. He took advantage of it and scored, and it’s a huge momentum play for us. Ryan’s a really good player and I’m glad he’s on our team.”
Graduate Tyler Horvath entered the game in the ninth, looking to shut the door. Horvath made short work of the Golden Grizzlies, facing just three batters and sending them down in order to seal the 8-5 win for the Spartans. Boss praised Horvath’s composure and ability to close games.
Farquhar got the win for the Spartans, while Glassman got the loss for Oakland. Horvath picked up his third save of the season. The Spartans travel to Happy valley this weekend for a three-game series against Penn State.
