It was a game of season highs for the MSU baseball team, as the Spartans successfully swung the bat for a season-high 26 hits and scored a season-high 20 runs in a 20-9 win over Saginaw Valley State on Tuesday at Kobs Field.
"I think we're confident now," MSU head coach Ted Mahan said. "We still have to work on getting better, but again - it was a good win."
The Spartans (11-13 overall, 2-2 Big Ten) started the game in fine fashion, scoring five runs on seven hits in the first inning of play to take an early 5-0 lead.
Sophomore short stop Troy Krider slugged in an RBI to get the scoring started, and sophomore catcher Sean Walker and junior third baseman Alan Cattrysse recorded two-out hits to score more runs.
"We needed a game like this," Cattrysse said. "Our bats have been cold pretty much for the last couple of weeks. It was a nice day here, a good hitting day, and we played a complete game.
After giving up two runs in the bottom of the second inning, Walker came through swinging the bat and drove a two-out RBI single to put MSU up 6-2.
The Spartans added to their lead when Cattrysse jacked a two-run shot to give him his first home run of the year, but after surrendering four runs in the top of the fifth, the Spartans' lead was cut, 10-6.
MSU got the bats going again after its lead was cut to four, when sophomore outfielder Ryan Basham jacked a team-leading sixth home run to score two.
Two innings later, freshman outfielder Ryan Sontag hit the first home run of his career with two outs to bring three more across home plate. Sontag finished the game with 5 RBIs and three hits.
Sontag said the game was a step in the right direction.
"Two weeks ago, I was struggling, but the last three games, I've been seeing the ball well," he said. "Hitting is all about confidence, and when you have confidence at the plate, it's just amazing how much better that I can do."
In the bottom of the eighth, junior outfielder Jamey Embree hit a solo shot to record his first home run of the season, and the Spartans cruised on into the ninth.
Late hitting from Saginaw Valley was enough to make it a 20-9 final, but Mahan said the team should be happy with the way it swung the bat, outhitting its opponent, 26-8.
"It was good to see at home, swinging the bats better going into the weekend," he said. "From that standpoint, it was really good."
The Spartans will return to conference action in a four-game series starting 3 p.m. Friday when Illinois invades Kob's Field.
