It was a typical MSU-Central Michigan baseball contest coming down the stretch.
The teams were neck and neck, and whenever one seemed to gain the momentum, the other would charge back to even the score.
But Wednesday, it was the Spartans who stole and kept the momentum in the late innings, downing the Chippewas at Kobs Field, 9-4.
"They always play us tough," MSU manager Ted Mahan said. "We finally broke it open in the eighth inning."
The Spartans (19-15) actually began their march to victory in the latter half of the seventh. Central Michigan (18-18) just had evened the score with a two-run homer by left fielder Bryan Mitzel.
MSU junior designated hitter Erik Morris led off the inning with a single, his second hit on the afternoon. He stole second, advancing to third on an overthrow by the catcher on the same play before scoring on a base hit by senior third baseman James Moreno.
With two outs in the eighth inning, the Spartans put together the game's one big rally, scoring four runs to put the game away.
"I knew it was just a matter of time," said Moreno, who led the Spartans' offense on the day with a 4-for-5 performance and three RBI.
Moreno had the hit of the day, a solo shot that skinned the bark off a tree in center field in the second inning. Morris also had a solid day at the plate, finishing 2-for-4 with two RBI and three runs.
Sophomore second baseman Oliver Wolcott and freshman left fielder Ryan Basham also had two hits for the Spartans.
The Chippewas didn't have the offensive day their coach had hoped, tallying just five hits and striking out eight times.
"We were in the game until the eighth inning," Central Michigan manager Steve Jaksa said.
"We didn't get as many hits as I'd wished and the guys had been swinging the bats better. We were in position to rally on a couple of occasions, but it didn't happen.
"It's a game of ups and down and you have to sustain it. Today, we didn't sustain it."
The Spartans got on the scoreboard first when Moreno hit a tree in center field for his seventh home run this season.
Central evened the score in the third and took a 2-1 lead in the fifth on an unearned run. A routine throw from short to first bounced out of the glove of freshman first baseman Sean Walker, and that runner later scored.
Walker made up for his miscue the next inning by sending a hanging 2-1 curve ball over the left-center fence to tie the game at two.
Just trying to play small ball and move the runners a long, a sacrifice bunt attempt by Basham turned into a two-run error as the catcher rifled the ball over the first baseman's head.
Senior southpaw Ryan Kurtz picked up the victory, striking out three batters in 1.2 innings of work.
"I just try to do what I'm supposed to do - go out and close the door," said Kurtz, who admitted even though he wasn't feeling his best on the mound, the cushion his team gave him helped.
"It always helps because you do have some room to screw up."
The Spartans' next game is this Friday, when they travel to West Lafayette, Ind., to take on Purdue (16-17 overall, 6-6 Big Ten).
