In front of a crowd of 3,458 on a warm summer evening in Detroit, VanVossen gave up two runs in seven innings of work en route to MSU’s 5-2 victory over Central Michigan in the second-annual Clash at Comerica.

“I got the jitters out in the first inning and just really got a flow going,” VanVossen said. “The game went by well. It was easy to pitch behind five runs that our team scored early and it just played out well.”

Following last season’s 3-1 MSU victory on a chilly April night in the first-ever college baseball game at Comerica Park, the picturesque weather and a strong outing by VanVossen made the night successful both for the players and the program, head coach Jake Boss Jr. said.

The Spartans (34-17 overall, 12-9 Big Ten) now have swept CMU in the three-game season series and pick up a memorable victory with just one Big Ten matchup left to play — a three-game series with Penn State, starting at 3:05 p.m. Thursday at McLane Baseball Stadium at Old College Field.

“It’s a thrill for us to be a part of the Clash at Comerica and neat for our players to experience it,” Boss said. “As far as the game is concerned, it’s tough to beat a team three times in a year and we were fortunate to do that. … Overall, a good day for Spartan baseball.”

Despite a strong overall outing, VanVossen struggled early, allowing the Chippewas to go ahead in the bottom of the first inning. After allowing a walk to the lead off hitter Tyler Hall — who advanced to second and later to third on a wild pitch and a ground out, respectfully — left fielder William Arnold singled to left to put CMU ahead, 1-0.

But the Chippewa lead wouldn’t last long, as sophomore catcher Joel Fisher hit a two-run home run in the top of the second, scoring both himself and freshman first baseman Ryan Krill, to put the Spartans on top by a run.

The home run — which marked the first home run of the Farmington Hills, Mich. native Fisher’s collegiate career — gave the Spartans the momentum they needed early on in the game.

“Having watched the Tigers all my life, I just came up to the plate just looking for a good pitch to drive and I got it,” Fisher said. “It was kind of cool and it happened to be at Comerica.”

The Spartans added another pair of runs in the top of the third inning, starting with a leadoff triple by senior shortstop Justin Scanlon. Scanlon drilled a ball deep down the left field line that was dove for and missed by Arnold, allowing Scanlon to motor around to third, where he would later score on a throwing error by the CMU pitcher Rick Dodridge.

Following a walk by junior third baseman Torsten Boss — where he later moved to Dodridge’s throwing error and a wild pitch — junior right fielder John Martinez singled through the left side to score Boss and increase the lead to 4-1.

Scanlon had one of his best showings at the plate this season for the Spartans, getting three hits and walking twice to lead the offense on an otherwise underwhelming day at the plate, Boss said.

“When we recruited (Scanlon) a couple years ago — he was a junior college kid — all we were asking him to do was play good defense and we thought he would do that and kind of stabilize the middle of our infield,” Boss said. “What he’s given us at the plate recently is just been huge and is kind of similar to a year ago when he struggled early and started to get hot at the end of the year.”

Freshman center fielder Anthony Cheky generated the fifth and final MSU run in the fifth inning, starting with a leadoff walk. With the next batter junior second baseman Ryan Jones at the plate, Cheky stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error, where he would score on a Scanlon single.

Perhaps the best scoring opportunity of the night for the Chippewas came in the sixth inning following a two-out walk to first baseman Nate Theunissen. The next batter right fielder Sam Russell doubled deep to left field, which set up a play at the plate with Theunissen making the turn for home. However, Scanlon fired a laser to Fisher to gun down Theunissen and keep CMU off the board.

The Chippewas struck back with a solo home run by third baseman Eric Wrozek in the seventh inning, but it wasn’t enough to spark a rally against MSU.

With the win, VanVossen’s season mark improves to 4-0, while junior closer Tony Wieber secured his eighth save of the season by shutting down CMU in the ninth to send the Spartans home happy. And for seniors such as Scanlon, performing well at Comerica Park leaves a sweet taste in their mouths headed into the final Big Ten series with the Nittany Lions and the Big Ten Tournament.

“This kind of tops off my senior year, going out and playing at Comerica like this in front of that crowd and in front of the fans,” Scanlon said. “Just getting a win tonight was awesome.”