LANSING - A game under the lights at Oldsmobile Park couldn’t brighten the play of the MSU baseball team as if lost its second consecutive game to Central Michigan 15-6 on Wednesday night.
MSU is now 20-22 overall heading into tonight’s 7 p.m. game with Grand Valley State at Oldsmobile Park.
After losing 5-4 to the Chippewas in Mt. Pleasant on Tuesday, the Spartans were pierced by a barrage of hits of CMU bats, as Spartan pitchers allowed 19 hits.
”We didn’t do very much of anything. We didn’t pitch, catch the ball and we didn’t hit it. We got what we deserved,” MSU head coach Ted Mahan said.
The carnage started right out of the gate in the first when CMU scored two runs on three hits, highlighted by a towering solo home run to right center by Central's Mike Gates.
MSU rallied for four runs in the second inning to take a 4-2 lead and in the process, drove CMU starting pitcher Nick Latra from the game.
After loading the bases with one hit and two walks, the Spartans scored their first run of the inning and the game when sophomore Charlie Braun walked with the bases loaded to bring home freshman James Moreno.
Junior outfielder Chris McQuiston then stepped in and cleared the bases with a three run double, a rope down the leftfield line to put MSU up two runs.
“Well, the guys didn’t hit at the right pitches and swung at the wrong ones,” McQuiston said.
The lead lasted until the fourth inning, when the Chippewas scored three runs and drove MSU junior starting pitcher Kyle Geswein out of the game.
The bullpen proved to be of little help in relief of Geswein, as the Chippewas opened the floodgates with six runs in the fifth inning.
The big blow came of the bat of Central's Jason Helps, who hit a three run double of MSU junior pitcher Nick Bates with the bases loaded to put Central up 9-4.
The Spartans had trouble getting Helps out all night, as the Chippewa shortstop went 3-5 with three runs and four RBI.
After scoring twice more in the fifth, Central scored single runs in each of the remaining innings.
MSU retaliated with runs in the eighth and ninth, but the comeback just wasn’t enough.
