Junior outfielder Eli Boike, right, celebrates with his teammates after running home to score the winning point of Wednesday’s doubleheader against Eastern Michigan at McLane Baseball Stadium. Sophomore first baseman Jeff Holm hit the ball to bring him home. The Spartans defeated the Eagles in an extra inning, 6-5.
Slugglish starts stymied the MSU baseball team in both games of its Wednesday doubleheader against Eastern Michigan, but only once did they prove costly.
The Spartans erased a three-run deficit to win 6-5 in the first game, but they ran out of magic in the second game, losing 6-1 to give MSU manager Jake Boss Jr. a de-facto no-decision in his first game managing against the team he coached last season.
MSU senior right-handed pitcher Max Miller pitched 2.1 strong innings of relief to pick up the win in the first game, bailing out a shaky start by junior left-handed pitcher Kyle Corcoran, who allowed four earned runs and eight hits in 5.2 innings.
Trailing 1-0 in the fourth inning, catcher Andrew Marshall and left fielder Aaron Powell hit back-to-back home runs to give Eastern Michigan a 2-1 lead.
An inning later, catcher Matt Skirving gave the Eagles two more runs with a deep-fly to left-center that put the Spartans in a 4-1 hole.
MSU (18-24 overall, 8-7 Big Ten) responded with two runs in the fifth and one in the sixth when senior designated hitter Johnny Lee snuck a fly ball past the outstretched glove of
the EMU outfielder for a home run that knotted the
game 4-4.
Later in the inning, sophomore catcher Seth Williams’ doubled with a runner on first and almost gave MSU the lead, but left fielder Bo Felt got gunned down at the plate to keep the game tied.
EMU took advantage of MSU’s inability to capitalize in the seventh, going up 5-4 on shortstop Jim Gulliver’s sacrifice.
However, MSU prevented further damage in the inning, which proved important.
After junior right fielder Eli Boike walked to open the inning, sophomore first baseman Jeff Holm advanced him to second with a sacrifice bunt.
After junior second baseman Chris Roberts grounded out and senior catcher Eric Roof walked, Lee smoked a two-out single through the right side of the infield to tie the game.
After MSU’s Miller mowed down EMU hitters one-two-three in the top of the eighth, MSU went on a two-out rally to clinch the win in the bottom of the inning.
Boike started the rally with a single and steal, and Holm drove him home with a single up the middle.
In the second game, EMU once again manufactured their offensive via the long ball. Skirving’s second two-run homer of the doubleheader gave the Eagles a 2-0 lead, and that’s all the offense they needed.
The Spartans couldn’t muster any offense against EMU starter Bobby Henderson, tallying just two hits in four
innings against him. The Eagles’ bullpen took care
of the rest.
MSU will resume Big Ten play this weekend with a three-game home-stand against Penn State (21-19, 5-10).
The game Friday is scheduled for 3:05 p.m., while the games Saturday and Sunday are each slated for 1:05 p.m. All games will be played at McLane Baseball Stadium.
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