A trip to the Golden State last weekend ended with a sweep of Santa Clara for the MSU baseball team.
The Spartans (9-7) built a four-run lead on Friday in game one before cruising to a 6-1 victory. Senior pitcher Andrew Waszak picked up the win, tallying five strikeouts against three hits, while sophomore catcher Blaise Salter and freshman third baseman Justin Hovis led MSU with two hits apiece.
Freshman pitcher Justin Alleman allowed Santa Clara’s only run in the bottom of the eighth inning before senior Trey Popp pitched the final two outs.
In the first game of Friday’s doubleheader, MSU took an early lead and withstood a late comeback to win 7-5 behind a season-high 19 hits.
Salter got it going for the Spartans with a two-run home run in a second inning that saw MSU bring in four runs. Santa Clara cut the lead to one, though, by scoring runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings.
The Spartans put up three more runs in the final two innings to pull away, while Santa Clara managed just two. Freshman designated hitter Cam Gibson, sophomore first baseman Ryan Krill and Salter all recorded four-hit games for MSU, including three RBIs for Salter.
In game two on Saturday, MSU out-hit Santa Clara in a 9-1 blowout win by a margin of 16-3.
Again, an early homer propelled the Spartans, this time from senior catcher Joel Fisher, scoring three runs for MSU in the top of the second inning. The Spartans added three more in the third and another three over the last three innings.
Santa Clara scored its lone run in the bottom of the sixth on a groundout that scored a runner. Fisher finished his day 3-for-4 at the plate with four RBIs, while Krill, senior left fielder Jordan Keur and sophomore right fielder Jimmy Pickens also collected three hits.
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