On Tuesday night, Michigan State University baseball earned its first win over the Lansing Lugnuts in 11 years, walking away with a 1-0 victory in the Crosstown Showdown.
The Crosstown Showdown has become more than just an exhibition between two teams that share a city — it’s a full community event. Sparty, the MSU Band, Zeke the Wonderdog and the MSU Spirit Squad all made the short trip to Jackson Field to support the Spartans. New MSU volleyball head coach Kristen Kelsey threw out the first pitch as her players cheered her on from the stands.
“As cliche as it is, It's a family in our department, we all support each other,” MSU baseball head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. “It's great to have Kristen (Kelsey) out here, and Zeke is a staple here, so it's just a testament to our department for sure.”
The Lugnuts — the High-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics — use the game against MSU as a final tune-up before their season begins. Their regular season kicks off Friday, April 4, against the Fort Wayne TinCaps.
Tuesday’s game wasn’t a typical ballgame — several exhibition rules were in place. MSU pitchers did not take the mound; instead, Lugnuts pitchers threw for both teams. The Lugnuts also used their catchers for both sides, and pitch limits were enforced, which sometimes led to innings ending before three outs were recorded.
Despite the oddities, MSU was able to scrape their way past the Lugnuts with just two hits on the night, one from Lugnuts Catcher Cole Conn and the other coming from the bat of East Lansing Native Sam Busch. In the top of the first, with Conn at third, Caleb Berry reached on a throwing error, scoring the lone run of the evening.
Busch has been swinging a hot bat. In Saturday’s finale against Illinois, he went 4-for-5 with a double and currently leads the team in OPS at 1.123. The Spartans’ first baseman said he’s attended the Crosstown Showdown since he was a kid and cherishes playing in it now.
“Playing for Michigan State is obviously a dream come true, and I never take it for granted,” Busch said.
The Spartans sit at 17-10 overall and 4-5 in Big Ten play. To qualify for the Big Ten Tournament, they must finish in the top 12 — currently, MSU holds the 11th spot in the standings.
Consistency has plagued the Spartans to this point in the season as a majority of their losses have been due to one or two bad innings. MSU is 0-8 when opponents score four or more runs in an inning.
