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Spartans’ hot hitting leads to Indiana series win, 2-1

April 15, 2012

Looking to keep pace in the Big Ten race, the MSU baseball team took both games of a doubleheader Sunday against Indiana 6-0 and 20-10, in Bloomington, Ind.

Although head coach Jake Boss Jr. was pleased with the Spartans for registering a big day at the plate with 26 combined runs and 38 hits, he was most excited his team won two of three games in its first series spent entirely away from East Lansing.

“It’s a good series win,” Boss said. “It’s always tough to win a series on the road because that’s when teams are at their best. It’s also tough to win a doubleheader, especially on the road, so today was a good day.”

After Indiana won the opening game of the series 3-2 on a walk-off wild pitch Friday, Saturday’s game was postponed because of weather.

That set up Sunday’s doubleheader, in which the MSU bats came alive.

The game one scoring started in the fourth inning when junior left fielder John Martinez fouled off one pitch before hitting a two-run homer to center field. Junior second baseman Ryan Jones later crossed the plate on a wild pitch to give the Spartans an early 3-0 lead.

In the eighth inning, MSU plated three more runs on four straight singles, starting with freshman first baseman Ryan Krill and ending with junior shortstop Justin Scanlon’s two-RBI base hit.

The Spartans collected 13 hits in the 6-0 win, but junior right-hander Andrew Waszak was the story of game one. Waszak allowed just three hits and struck out five in seven scoreless innings, logging a performance made even more impressive by the fact the wind was blowing out of the park and favoring batters, Boss said.

Waszak said he took a simple approach Sunday, and he was fortunate enough to have some help.

“We kind of pounded the zone with fastballs, going in and out,” Waszak said. “The defense played good out there, and guys just made plays.”

Sophomore pitcher David Garner earned the win in game two, and Boss said he also threw well. However, the MSU offense, which scored 20 runs on 25 hits, took center stage.

The Spartans scored four runs in the first, five in the second and three in the third to take a 12-0 advantage and never looked back. Jones led the charge, going 5-for-7 from the plate, as nine MSU batters registered multi-hit performances.

Junior designated hitter Jared Hook went 3-for-5, including a home run, with three RBI’s in the game. After the Spartans’ big day, he echoed the thoughts of his coach and said he was most excited with the series win.

But at the same time, he was happy to do so with such an explosive day on offense.

“When everybody’s hitting the ball it’s a lot of fun,” Hook said. “It’s not laid-back, we still have a job to do, but hitting is contagious. And when everybody gets going, it’s fun to see stuff like that and the smiles on everybody’s faces.”

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