MSU baseball erases 5-run deficit to beat Wolverines

EAST LANSING - It was alumni day at McLane stadium, as the Michigan State Spartans (28-11, 8-5) hosted the Michigan Wolverines (29-10, 9-3). With Michigan coming into the day just a half game behind the first place Minnesota Golden Gophers and MSU two games back, tensions were higher than usual for the in-state rivals.

Despite being down 5-0 for most of the game, MSU came out victorious after a huge eighth inning, winning 7-6

The starting pitcher for the Spartans, Ethan Landon, was subject to a Wolverine offense that likes to strike early, scoring seven runs total in the first two innings over their last three games, three of those coming in Saturday’s first inning. From there, Landon would dial in after making adjustments to his mechanics, only allowing three more runs over the course of 8.2 innings pitched.

“Early in the game I wasn’t getting my pitches down, I was leaving balls up,” said Landon. “Then as I got more comfortable I was getting the ball down, and after I got the ball down I was making pitches where they didn’t have a chance.”

Landon’s opposition, Oliver Jaskie, cruised through the MSU lineup allowing just four hits and one earned run in his first seven innings of work. But MSU, like so many other times this year, exploded for one huge inning, scoring six runs in the eighth inning and forcing three different Wolverine pitching changes.

“When you see someone get a hit or make a big play, it fuels the team,” said left fielder Marty Bechina, commenting on the hit parade in the eighth. “Two hits leads to three and the team starts going strong. It’s nice to see the guys come together like that.”

The rally all started with redshirt freshman Dan Chmielewski recording just his second collegiate hit. MSU, hoping to get anything going, had Royce Ando bunt but it was misplayed, leaving him safe at first. From there the bats caught fire. Brandon Hughes, Bechina, Matt Byars (who homered in the seventh), and Zack McGuire all led the way with RBI in the inning. The Michigan pitching staff could not figure out how to stop the MSU bats that came alive out of nowhere.

“There was some frustration in there (the dugout) for sure, but guys just kept plugging away. We were just looking for some kind of spark to get us going, and that was definitely Chmielewski’s lead off single in the eighth,” said manager Jake Boss Jr.

The series concludes at 1 p.m. Sunday in Ann Arbor.