Freshman pitcher Alex Troop pitches to freshman catcher Chad Roskelly with Central infielder/outfielder Alex Borglin at bat March 24, 2015, at McLane Baseball Stadium at Kobs Field. It was the Spartans first home game of the season and they defeated the Chippewas, 8-3. Allyson Telgenhof/The State News.
—Through two games of the Big Ten Baseball Tournament, the Spartans are 1-1 with their toughest game looming.
MSU opened the tournament with a 2-1 loss to Maryland on Wednesday. Sophomore pitcher Cam Vieaux gave the Spartans a quality start, going 6.1 innings and giving up two runs and just one earned run all while throwing five strikeouts.
However, the offense couldn't give Vieaux the run support he needed. The Spartans took a 1-0 lead when senior infielder Mark Weist hit a two-out double to score junior outfielder Cam Gibson in the third.
Maryland would tie things up in the next inning as the Terrapins freshman infielder Kevin Smith scored on a RBI groundout by junior infielder Jose Cuas after Smith reached on an error by Weist.
Maryland took their first and final lead in the fifth off of a two-out single from Smith sent home sophomore catcher and infielder Nick Cieri.
After a close pitching battle in the opening game, game two was an offensive slugfest that saw the Spartans rally for a 9-7 win over Nebraska.
Trailing 7-3 heading into the eighth it seemed as if the Spartans would be in store for a very quick tournament exit. MSU wouldn't quit, however, and a six run eighth gave MSU the lead and the eventual win.
The rally began with a walk from junior outfielder Brandon Hughes, the Spartans loaded the bases with consecutive hits from freshman catcher and infielder Chad Roskelly and senior outfielder Anthony Cheky.
Back-to-back bases loaded walks from sophomore infielder Dan Durkin and Gibson brought MSU to within two. Down two with the bases loaded the Spartans best and most consistent player all season long, senior first baseman Ryan Krill came to the plate and crushed the first pitch he saw for a grand slam.
Here it is, @statebaseball fans: Ryan Krill absolutely demolishes ball for go-ahead grand slam. http://t.co/WGoYznRRa8
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) May 21, 2015
The grand slam gave the team its first and final lead of the game as the Cornhuskers couldn't find a rally of their own in the ninth.
With Maryland upsetting the No. 1-seed Illinois 2-1 yesterday, the Spartans will take on the Illini with both teams facing elimination.
The Illini were dominant in conference play in the regular season this year going 21-1 in the Big Ten. However, the teams only loss in conference play did come at the hands of MSU when the Spartans took game two of a three game set 5-2 on March 29.
Until yesterday, the Illini hadn't lost since their March. 29 loss to MSU, winning 27 straight before falling to the Terrapins. The game will begin at 8:30 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.
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