Friday, March 29, 2024

MSU splits doubleheader

April 10, 2007
Junior shortstop Brandon Doherty reacts after making an out at second base during the first game of Monday's doubleheader at Kobs Field. The Spartans lost the opener, 1-0, but won the second, 3-0. —

Two runs. That's all that separates the MSU baseball team from a perfect start to conference play.

The Spartans dropped the opener of Monday's doubleheader against Purdue, 1-0 — their second one-run loss in the conference — then blanked the Boilermakers, 3-0, in the back end to take the series at Kobs Field and improve to 13-10 overall, 5-2 in the Big Ten.

Only once in the last decade have the Spartans gotten off to a better conference start — 2004, when they won their first six games.

"The crazy thing is we're that close to being undefeated in the Big Ten," head coach David Grewe said, holding his fingers an inch apart. "It's unbelievable. That kind of shows you where we're at and where our program's at."

They did it despite the elements.

It was slightly warmer on Monday than it was for Sunday's arctic showdown, but temperatures still hovered in the 30s and there were snow flurries for much of the afternoon.

"In order to play in these conditions, you've got to be very, very good at doing all the little things," Grewe said. "In the first game, we didn't do that. In the second game, we did. That was the difference."

Junior Jon Kibler carried MSU in the opener, escaping a bases-loaded jam with no out in the second and scattering six hits in six innings. But he surrendered an RBI triple to Nick Overmyer in the fourth that proved to be the difference.

The Spartans put two men on in the fourth and fifth innings but left all four stranded.

"We didn't hit in the clutch, we didn't get our bunts down, we did a lot of things that don't contribute to wins — and that's what happens," Grewe said.

In an effort to shake things up, Grewe unveiled a completely different lineup for the second game.

It worked.

The Spartans tagged starter Dan Sattler for runs in the second, third and fourth innings, then watched as senior starter John Dwan continued his dominance of the Boilermakers.

Dwan, who threw a one-hit shutout against Purdue last season, scattered five hits and struck out six Monday to earn the win on Monday.

"Dwan was just awesome," Grewe said. "He's been that way all year."

With his pitch count already at 100 heading into the seventh inning, Dwan petitioned Grewe to let him stay in and finish the game.

Grewe gave him 10 pitches to do it. It only took nine.

A 1-2-3 inning gave Dwan his first complete game of the season and improved his record to 3-2.

It was the culmination of a masterful weekend for MSU's pitchers, who allowed just two earned runs and left 26 Purdue base runners stranded in the series.

"Usually, we're going to put up more runs than we did this weekend," Dwan said. "But when that doesn't happen, you've got to pitch well, and we did that this weekend."

The Spartans' next game was supposed to be in Grand Rapids on Wednesday against Western Michigan, but weather moved it to 4:30 p.m. today at Oldsmobile Park.

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