MSU 2 wins away from Big Ten baseball title, NCAA berth
Two up, two down. Two more to go.
Michigan State’s Big Ten Tournament surge continued Friday morning, and the Spartans need two more wins to capture a championship and extend their season.
Starter Ethan Landon provided another strong pitching performance, and Jordan Zimmerman homered and drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning as MSU defeated Maryland 4-3 on Friday morning in Omaha, Nebraska.
“All year, I’ve felt like we were the best team in the Big Ten,” said Zimmerman, who extended his hitting streak to 15 games with his sixth-inning homer. “The last couple weeks, we didn’t play our best ball. But I knew coming into the tournament if we’d get hot at the right time, our pitching is obviously going to be there like it has all year.
“It’s just a momentum thing. If we get our bats going, I feel like we can beat any team we face.”
The seventh-seeded Spartans (36-18), instead of having to play a double-header following Thursday’s rainout, now advance in the winners’ bracket and need one more win to get into Sunday’s championship game of the double-elimination tournament. They next play at 6 p.m. Saturday against either Michigan or Ohio State.
MSU had lost five of its final six games in the regular season and entered the conference tournament knowing it likely needs to win the title to get an automatic berth into the 64-team NCAA tournament field.
Two more victories, and the Spartans can reserve their spot.
“We’re in a pretty good place,” MSU coach Jake Boss said, “You know, 2-0 after two games, there’s no better position to be in.”
The Wolverines and Buckeyes began playing Friday evening, but it was delayed in the second inning and play will resume at 2 p.m. Saturday. The sixth-seeded Terrapins (29-26) remained alive by eliminating No. 3 seed Indiana on Friday evening, 3-0, and they will play Iowa at 10 a.m. Saturday.
The Spartans have used just four different pitchers in two games, a huge boost in a five-day tourney. Right-hander Landon (8-3) threw seven innings, allowed four hits and two runs while striking out three and walking two. He threw 102 pitches for a second straight deep start by an MSU starter, following Cam Vieaux’s 8 2/3 innings in Wednesday’s opening-day win over Nebraska.
The Spartans improved to 33-1 when leading after eight innings this season.
“We just try to go as deep as we can every single time,” said Landon, who had a number of family members make the three-hour drive from Sioux Falls, South Dakota to TD Ameritrade Park. “When we turn the ball over to our bullpen late in the game, it’s game over.”
A highlight-reel catch by MSU’s Dan Chmielewski helped keep the game tied 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh. Maryland pinch hitter Madison Nickens’ tailing fly ball was headed into the corner when the Spartans’ freshman right fielder made a long run, dove head-first and snagged the ball just before it dropped inside the foul line.
“That was amazing, a big turning point for us,” Zimmerman said. “If that ball drops, that guy gets to second base, possibly third. It was huge. Hopefully we can all watch that on SportsCenter tonight and give him a slap on the back.”
MSU manufactured a pair of runs in the top of the eighth to take the lead for good. Kory Young led off with an infield single, then came around to score two batters later on Zimmerman’s liner into right-center.
Maryland committed its fourth error of the day on Dan Durkin’s grounder, then Matt Byars beat out a potential double play to score Zimmerman, making it 4-2.
Reliever Joe Mockbee allowed a two-out, solo homer to Maryland’s Nick Cieri in the eighth that made it a one-run game.
Spartans closer Dakota Mekkes got a strikeout to end that inning, then got out of a jam in the ninth to earn up his second save of the tournament and seventh of the season. Mekkes induced a line-out double play to second baseman Durkin to preserve the win.
“I’ll take Dakota Mekkes on the mound in that situation 100 times out of 100,” Boss said. “He’s been our guy, and he made a good pitch when we needed him to. Fortunately, we made a play for him.”
Anthony Papio’s one-out homer in the bottom of the fifth gave Maryland a brief 2-1 lead. However, MSU’s Zimmerman ripped a hanging change-up with a 2-2 count high over the wall in left to tie it again a half-inning later.
“It got momentum back on our side, or at least away from (the Terrapins),” Boss said. “It was a huge point in the game for us. It gave us a chance to sit back and say, ‘OK, we’re still in this thing – let’s get it done.’”
Contact Chris Solari at (517) 377-1070 or csolari@lsj.com.
BIG TEN TOURNAMENT
No. 7 MSU vs. TBD
When: 6 p.m. Saturday
Where: TD Ameritrade Park, Omaha, Nebraska
TV: Big Ten Network
Online: SpartanSportsNetwork.com
Up next: MSU (2-0) will face the winner of the Michigan-Ohio State elimination game. which was delayed by rain late Friday night and will continue at 2 p.m. Saturday.