EAST LANSING — Michigan State baseball hit three home runs and six doubles in a victorious 11-4 effort against the Ohio State Buckeyes on Friday.
“We knew we would have a hard time being successful if we chase the ball down,” MSU Head Coach Jake Boss Jr. said. “I think for the most part, you know we pretty much did that. And so, yeah… good day.”
Starting on the hill for the Spartans was right-handed redshirt sophomore Tate Farquhar. This marked his second start of the season. He entered start number two with a 5.63 ERA and a 2-0 record.
For the Buckeyes, sophomore right-handed pitcher Drew Erdmann made his sixth start of the season. With a 12.58 ERA, he has yet to claim a win on the season, holding a 0-4 record.
The game started with a loud out from Ohio State leadoff hitter, senior Trey Lipsey, who crushed a ball to deep center field, but fellow leadoff hitter and senior JT Sokolove was there to get the first out of the ballgame. Sophomore second baseman Ryan McKay got the offense started for MSU with a one-out double off the right field wall. He was driven in right after with a single right up the middle from senior catcher Caleb Berry, giving the Spartans a 1-0 lead. That was the only offense for the Green and White as they headed into the second with a slim advantage.
Farquhar’s day ended after four innings when he was replaced by senior left-handed pitcher George Viebrock III. Farquhar’s final line after four innings was one hit, two walks and five strikeouts.
McKay got his second double of the game again to right field, Busch also got his second hit of the game, this a two-run blast over the right field wall, giving MSU a 5-0 advantage with homerun No.10 of the season. In the bottom of the sixth, sophomore right fielder Parker Picot made the lead six with his sixth homerun of the season, blasting it right off the scoreboard in left field. Making his 15th appearance of the season in the top half of the seventh was Horvath. s. Ohio State pounced on senior right-handed pitcher Tyler Horvath early with a leadoff double, which turned into the Buckeyes’ first run of the game after junior catcher Matthew Graveline scored via wild pitch.
MSU quickly got that run right back with its third home run of the game. Berry crushed the first pitch he saw, hitting his sixth home run of the season and pushing the score to 8-1. Butler got back on track quickly, striking out one Spartan as he limited the damage to one run.
The MSU lead was cut down to 8-4 after Graveline sent one over the right-center field wall for his eighth homerun of the season. Horvath retired the next batter via strikeout to leave the Spartan advantage at four.
Freshman third baseman Dayton Murphy added to the hit party, with a double driving in Bright. McKay got his third hit of the game as the score moved to 11-4, matching the three-spot put up by the Buckeyes in the top half of the frame.
Horvath remained on the mound for the Spartans in the top of the ninth. A pop-up, a strikeout and a groundout secured the victory for MSU. Horvath was credited with the save, his sixth of the season.
Vieborck III was credited with the win for MSU. His record starts perfect at 1-0. Erdmann was handed the loss as he remains winless at 0-5. After an impressive 4-4 performance from Seymour, Boss Jr. had a lot of praise for his shortstop and the bottom of his order.
“It’s huge, you know, when the bottom of the lineup is good, you usually put up a big number,” Boss Jr. said. “Randy [Seymour] had four hits today, came up in some big spots, and that’s what we need those guys to do.”
The Green and White now will look to make it five wins in a row as they continue the series against Ohio State on Saturday, April 19 at 3:32 p.m.