Michigan State Baseball takes series against Evansville

Michigan State baseball took an early-season series over Evansville this past weekend. The Spartans are generating momentum.

For the first time this season, Michigan State baseball has won a series. This series win came after winning game one, losing a lead late in game two, and then winning a close matchup in game three. Games two and three were very similar at the end but Michigan State was good at was getting out to an early lead, which is exactly what happened in the win on Sunday. 

This team loves to get off to fast starts and it did that with a two-run first inning off of a double from Ryan McKay. This two-run double was possible because of the patient at-bat that Nick Williams gave. He faced over 10 pitches and ended up drawing a walk. When asked about this at-bat, Jake Boss said, “He is a mature hitter. He is about as talented as a guy as there is. Really mature at bat from him.”

This wasn’t the only time that patience was important in this game. When Evansville had a three-run inning off of a solo homerun and another two-run shot, Michigan State never panicked. It took until the bottom of the eighth for that patience to show up again. This is what allowed Michigan State to win the game.

Going into this game, Boss talked to the team about being patient and not looking for too much especially when they have someone in scoring position. This is the approach that Mckay and the other batters like Williams and Noah Bright took when they were down 5-4. The inning led with a double from Williams, putting him in scoring position. This was coming off of a dominant performance from the Evansville bullpen up to this point until Williams and McKay stepped up to the plate.

McKay knew the importance of this at-bat and he talked about his approach after the game. He said, “I was really trying to be selective because last at-bat against him, I went down three pitches and grounded out on my third pitch, but I went down 0-2 again, and I just took myself to protect the zone as well as I can. He threw a little curveball on the outside and I just slapped it out there and something good just happened.”

This approach proved to really benefit McKay as he ended up having three RBIs with two extra-base hits.

Patience wasn’t the only factor that helped lead this team to a win, it was also the start by Nick Ferazzi that gave the Spartans a chance. In his first start, Ferazzi went five innings, had four strikeouts, and allowed one earned run. That pitching performance was followed by 2.1 great innings from Dominic Pianto and then Tommy Szczepanski shut the door in the ninth. These three pitchers all had great performances that kept Michigan State in the game — a game that it really needed.

Great pitching and patience helped but this team also faced adversity throughout the game. There were multiple times that it was delayed because of visibility (snow). The first time, the Michigan State centerfielder could not see the ball and it ended with a double by Evansville. There was also one more stoppage headlining into the ninth inning as well. This is the type of weather you can get playing in March in Michigan but it made for a more interesting baseball game. While they did face adversity especially after giving up a double because of weather, the Spartans got the win.

This was an important win especially after a rough start to the year for Michigan State baseball. Through injury, some of these younger players like McKay have gotten an opportunity and took advantage of it. This series win could help the team carry the momentum going forward as some of these younger players get more at bats and the team starts to get healthier. This team has a mix of youth and experience and if they continue to get good pitching performances and great at-bats, they could be a fun team to watch and one that could string together some series wins.