It's safe to say the MSU baseball team has turned its season around, for now.
The Spartans (9-10) won their fifth straight game, stomping Siena Heights, 13-1, at Kobs Field on Tuesday. The five wins have come on the heels of a six-game losing streak.
"We made a goal to try and win at least eight of the 10 home games that we play in a row," MSU head coach Ted Mahan said. "I guess we're headed in the right direction, since we've won the first five."
The Spartans got off to a slow start, with the game tied 1-1 after two and half innings. In the bottom of the third inning, however, MSU broke through with five runs.
MSU took advantage of poor Siena Heights' (1-12) pitching and fielding. Saints reliever Ryan Swierlik walked in a run, then senior third baseman James Moreno singled home two more runs. Swierlik then hit freshman catcher Sean Walker to score a run and Moreno scored on a sacrifice fly to close out the scoring for the inning.
The Spartans scored one run in each of the sixth and seventh innings and put up a five-spot in the eighth, holding Siena Heights scoreless for the rest of the game.
"We didn't come with the intensity that we needed to come with," Moreno said. "We've been playing good baseball lately, and things worked out good in the end."
The Spartans had four players with two RBIs: Moreno, Walker, freshman outfielder Adam Tripp and freshman shortstop Troy Krider. Krider led the way, going 3-for-4 with three runs scored and a walk.
"(Troy's) done a real good job recently," Mahan said. "The first two weeks, just like all freshmen, the game was going at a faster pacer than he was used to. The important thing with freshmen is to get them up to that pace, and he's done a good job adjusting at shortstop and offensively at the plate."
Pitching also was key for the Spartans, as they sent five players to the mound. Freshman right-hander Craig Brookes threw four innings, giving up one run on four hits. It was freshman reliever Spencer Hahn, however, who picked up the win. Hahn (1-1) threw the fifth inning, striking out two batters.
