Lansing — Chants of "Let's get some hits" filled the air at Oldsmobile Park on Sunday as MSU battled Northwestern in the final game of a weekend series.
Going into the ninth inning with the game tied at three, freshman outfielder Chris Roberts stepped up to the plate and did just that.
Roberts laced a single up the middle to give MSU a 4-3 victory and a series sweep over the Wildcats.
"All year, Coach has been preaching how key two-out hits are, and I figured it's going to have to be up to somebody to get a big hit — might as well be me," Roberts said. "I saw a pitch I liked and got a chance to drive it in the gap. It felt awesome."
The Spartans got off to a hot start, taking a 2-0 lead after the first inning. Senior second baseman Steve Gerstenberger, who leads the Spartans with a .353 batting average, started the game off with a single up the middle and later scored on a ground ball by Roberts, giving MSU a 1-0 lead.
The second run came when junior third baseman Justin Potes singled to right, scoring senior designated hitter Sean Walker.
Northwestern's offense came to life in the third, chalking up three runs to take a 3-2 lead. That score remained for much of the game, as the Spartans were blanked for five consecutive innings. The five-inning drought brought the cheers out, and then the MSU bats came to life.
Senior outfielder E.J. Daws and Gerstenberger started the seventh-inning rally with back-to-back singles. With one out, junior shortstop Brandon Doherty ripped a single to left, which scored Daws and tied the game at three.
"I kept preaching to the guys that it is one game at a time, one pitch at a time and one inning at a time," MSU head coach David Grewe said. "We had some real key hits late in the game which helped us get this win."
Junior Mike Monterey (2-2) picked up the win for MSU after relieving junior Chris Cullen, who pitched two innings of scoreless baseball.
Freshman Kyle Corcoran started the game for MSU, allowing three runs and striking out three in six innings of work. The pitching was strong throughout the game, but it was the late-inning hits that proved to be the difference.
No hit, however, was more important than Roberts' game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth to score Daws.
It was the perfect ending for Daws, as he was honored before the game for MSU's Senior Day.
"It's always a great thing to win on a walk-off hit like that and especially to do it on senior day," Roberts said. "Anything I can do to help him out on a day like this is awesome."
The win improves the Green and White's record to 23-24, and kept the Spartans' hopes alive of playing in next week's Big Ten Tournament.
"This sweep really kept our chances alive and put us right back into the mix of things," Grewe said.
"There are a lot of teams right in the middle of the Big Ten race right now, and we just have to take care of ourselves and play our style of baseball."
MSU will travel to Ypsilanti on Tuesday to take on Eastern Michigan in a nonconference game before concluding the Big Ten regular season with a four-game series against Illinois in Champaign, Ill.
The series could decide which team will earn a final spot in the conference tournament.
"It was a great weekend for us," Grewe said. "We are doing exactly what we need to do and I know this team can do it.
"(Sunday) was a great way to honor the seniors and finish with a win in such an exciting end to the game."
