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Sluggers rally for victory

April 3, 2003
Freshman infielder Alan Cattrysse bunts Wednesday afternoon at Kobs Field. MSU beat Indiana Purdue-Fort Wayne 10-4. —

The MSU baseball team said playing at home for the first time this season could be the medicine for its losing ways.

And as it turns out, Kobs Field provided a perfect remedy Wednesday afternoon as the Spartans used a late offensive surge to defeat Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne 10-4.

"It was a good win," MSU manager Ted Mahan. "But we haven't won many, so they're all good wins."

The Spartans (6-17, 0-4 Big Ten) had fought to a 4-4 tie entering the eighth inning. The first three Spartans reached base to start the inning even though not one of them got a hit.

With the bases loaded, senior center fielder Brett Wattles laced a 3-1 fastball over the left fielder's head to score the go-ahead run.

After MSU scored a pair of runs to go up 7-4, senior pinch hitter Charlie Braun came up with two outs.

Braun roped a bases-clearing double over the left fielder's head because he said he didn't feel a three-run lead was sufficient enough. The double gave MSU a 10-4 lead.

"I haven't been hitting real well this season so it felt really good to get up there and drive one," Braun said. "I guess you could say those were insurance runs."

Sophomore second baseman Travis Gulick paced the Spartan offense with a 4-for-5 performance. Gulick also drove in a pair of runs and scored three times. Wattles, junior third baseman James Moreno and freshman shortstop Alan Cattrysse recorded two hits apiece.

Senior right-hander Ryan Golem (2-0) picked up the win, pitching an inning and a third and striking out two of the four batters he faced.

The Spartans got on the scoreboard first with an RBI single by Gulick in the bottom of the first, but the Mastodons answered back in the top of the second with three runs of their own.

MSU used one run in each of the third, fourth and fifth innings to finally regain a 4-3 lead.

"We had a lot of opportunities, and we kept pecking away," Mahan said.

"I told the team, 'this is sign of things to come.'"

IPFW (7-13-1) knotted up the score in the top of the seventh before the Spartans sealed the game with a six-run eighth.

"It's good to get this home win heading into a Big Ten weekend," Braun said. "Hopefully, this win will give us some momentum."

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