'Details were missed' as MSU drops 2 of 3 to Nebraska
EAST LANSING – Little things proved costly Monday, and Michigan State finds itself falling into the crowded middle of a pack.
Nebraska picked up a 7-4 victory at McLane Stadium, pulling the Cornhuskers into a fourth-place tie with the Spartans in the Big Ten standings with two regular-season weekend series left.
“We didn’t execute well. At all,” MSU coach Jake Boss said. “We didn’t execute on the mound, we didn’t execute offensively. A lot of the details were missed today. When you play a good ballclub and that happens, you’re not going to win.”
MSU sits 31-13 overall and 11-7 in conference play but fell out of the Baseball America Top 25 on Monday following a 6-3 loss Saturday and a 4-2 win Sunday against Nebraska (30-17, 11-7).
The top eight teams make the Big Ten Tournament, which begins May 25 in Omaha, Nebraska. Nine teams are currently .500 or better.
The Spartans, in the middle of a 12-games-in-15-days stretch, don’t get any time rest. They play a pair of nonconference games this week against in-state foes, at 3 p.m. Tuesday at Western Michigan and at 6:35 p.m. Wednesday against Eastern Michigan at Comerica Park in Detroit.
Then MSU heads to Iowa for three games next weekend, travels to Central Michigan on May 17 and hosts Maryland to wrap up the Big Ten slate starting May 19.
“The only issue with us in playing so many games in such a short amount of time is the bullpen and keeping the arms healthy and fresh and ready to go,” Boss said. “But we’re in a pretty good spot right now. You want to go out, and you don’t want to sit on a loss like this.”
MSU first baseman Jordan Zimmerman hit his eighth homer of the season Monday, a two-run shot in eighth inning. Dan Chmielewski and Justin Hovis added a pair of singles.
Cam Vieaux, the Spartans’ ace and normal series-opening pitcher, had his start pushed back to Monday’s finale due to stiffness in his throwing shoulder. The junior left-hander allowed six runs, five earned, while battling through 4 1/3 innings. He struck out three and allowed seven hits without a walk.
Vieaux is now 6-3 on the season, and his ERA jumped from 1.69 to 2.20.
“I thought Cam competed. Probably not as sharp as he wanted to be,” Boss said. “But at the same time, that’s to be expected after (the injury). Overall, I thought the way he pitched, I was fairly happy with it. I was disappointed in some of the other things that don’t involve throwing the ball over the plate.”
Nebraska got two runs in the third thanks to a pair of infield dribblers and a fielding play Boss said MSU's pitchers have struggled to execute consistently all season.
The first allowed Jake Meyers to get on to open the inning when he beat out the toss from Zimmerman to a late-breaking Vieaux covering first base. Ben Miller followed with an RBI double, then scored when Taylor Fish’s hit another slow-roller to Zimmerman, and Vieaux dropped the toss for an error.
Nebraska’s Meyers kept MSU off balance on the mound, tossing eight innings and allowing three runs on seven hits. He also went 3 for 4 at the plate.