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MSU drops weekday game to Oakland, 3-1.

March 29, 2016

On Tuesday afternoon, the Spartans hosted the Golden Grizzlies of Oakland University for a weekday match up, in which the Grizzlies picked up their 11th win of the season and improved to 11-11 on the year after defeating the Spartans by a final score of 3-1.

The first three innings of the game on Tuesday started off as a pitching duel. In his first start of the season, redshirt senior right-hander Chris Van Dyke cruised through four innings of work, only giving up two hits, while striking out one.

The first run of the game didn’t come until the top of the fourth inning, when Oakland would take a 1-0 lead. Catcher Ian Yetsko would start the scoring effort with a double to left center and a single to right hit by Connor Fannon would score Yetsko, putting MSU in the one-run deficit.

MSU would respond in the bottom half of the fifth inning thanks to the heart of the Spartan’s lineup. Jordan Zimmerman led off the fifth inning with a single, extending his hitting streak to 15 games. Two batters later sophomore DH Zack McGuire would double to deep center field, allowing Zimmerman to score and for the Spartans to tie the game.

Oakland would retake the lead in the sixth, with left fielder Zach Sterry doubling off the left field wall to lead off the inning. Three batters later, Yetsko would single to right and make the game 2-0.

Despite giving up two runs, MSU starter Andrew Gonzalez gave up five hits and lasted 5.1 innings while striking a career-high six batters out, while walking none in the contest.

Oakland would tack on one more in the eighth inning for insurance to make the score 3-1.  Center fielder Ryan Fitzgerald led the inning off with a single and would steal second to get himself into scoring position.  After tagging up and reaching third, right fielder Tyler Pagano singled to score the run and put the final nail in MSU's coffin.

Oakland finished the job pitching by committee, using five relief pitchers to finish the contest.

Following the loss to Oakland, the Spartans now fall to 18-4 on the season.  


The Spartans will take a few days off before they begin a three game weekend series with Oregon starting on Friday. First pitch for the game on Friday is set for 3:05 p.m. Follow us on Twitter @thesnews_sports for live updates.

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