The MSU baseball team kicked off its season by winning two of three games during their weekend trip to Las Vegas.

The Spartans (2-1) defeated UC Santa Barbara 19-14 on Friday in the UNLV Tournament.

Twelve of the team’s runs came in the last three innings, seven coming in the last inning.

Senior Nick Bates struck out six of the first seven batters he faced on Saturday to help give the Spartans an 8-3 victory over host UNLV.

Bates tied his career-high with nine strikeouts in seven innings.

On Sunday the Spartans finished the tournament with a 22-15 loss to Creighton.