MSU’s bad day started as soon as the first Eagles batter stepped into the batter’s box. Eagles Kyle Rhoad and Zack Leonard each led off the game with a single, and Eastern exploded from there — scoring five runs in the opening inning — to knock starting pitcher A.J. Dunn out of the game after recording only one out.

The Spartans began to fight back right away in the bottom of the inning, starting their half of it in the same fashion as the Eagles.

Senior third baseman Steve Gerstenberger led off with a base hit, and after junior catcher Kyle Day walked, senior designated hitter Justin Potes knocked in Gerstenberger with an RBI single. Sophomore outfielder Chris Roberts followed Potes with an RBI single of his own to score Day, and inch the score to 5-2.

Senior first baseman Evan Friedland led off the bottom of the second with a solo home run over the right-field fence to tack on another MSU run, but that was all the runs MSU could muster.

While the Spartans’ bats cooled, the Eagles’ bats stayed warm, and after adding an insurance run in the third inning, they had another big inning in the fifth.

After back-to-back singles by Mike Boyd and Jim Gulliver, freshman pitcher Tyler Newsome walked Rhoad to load the bases. Leonard ripped a three-run double to left field, moving the score to 9-3, and Steve Bradshaw drove in Leonard with a single up the middle.

“They came out, they played, they hit, they got the lead and we gave them momentum,” Grewe said. “When you give a team momentum, you give them confidence and you see what happens. If you just looked at it, their dugout was so different from our dugout — our dugout was scared to play today and their dugout was, ‘Hey, we have a chance to win.’”

A trio of MSU pitchers held Eastern scoreless in the sixth inning on, but it was too little, too late for the Spartans as they dropped the home opener.

Grewe wasn’t the only person visibly upset after the loss, as Day said the Spartans have a lot of growing up to do as a team.

“This is not acceptable, we are a way better ball club,” Day said. “We’re still learning and maturing and this team’s going to get better from this loss. It’s disappointing, but we’re going to move forward and all we can do is keep our heads up and realize this is unacceptable.”

Eight Spartans pitchers appeared in the game, which was something Grewe said he planned on doing coming in. Despite attaining that goal, Grewe said the chance to work a lot of pitchers was the only thing he got out of the game, noting he’s not a fan of the idea that losing creates a hungry mentality.

“It never helps to lose, it’s a bad feeling,” said Grewe, who said winning helps create momentum, while losing creates adversity. “In an ideal world you don’t want to be faced with adversity, but we have it and it’s just unacceptable today from the coaching staff on down, and I have to change that.”

The Spartans (7-9 overall) will have a chance to get the sour taste out of their mouth in this weekend’s Big Ten opener against Illinois. The first of a four-game series begins at 3:05 p.m. Friday, and is followed by a double-header on Saturday and the finale at 1:05 p.m. Sunday. All games are at Oldsmobile Park.