Redshirt freshman second baseman Ryan Jones fields a grounder during the sixth inning of Sunday’s game against Ohio State. MSU beat Ohio State, 14-7.
When looking in the Red Cedar River, it’s commonplace to see ducks moseying along or some occasional sticks and leaves skimming the surface.
If you look in the Red Cedar River on Monday, you might find a couple white objects floating downstream. Look closely and you will realize those bobbing objects are baseballs.
Senior right fielder Eli Boike and junior first baseman Jeff Holm are responsible.
Boike and Holm both crushed long home runs over the fence and near the banks of the river in right field Sunday to help propel MSU to a 14-7 victory over Ohio State.
Boike’s blast brought home two runs and Holm’s bomb brought in three.
The victory snaps a four-game MSU losing streak — the Spartans’ longest of the season — and prevented the first-place Buckeyes from earning the weekend sweep. Prior to the team’s loss at Minnesota on April 10, MSU had won 16 of 17 games.
“This was a big win for us today,” MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. “It was much needed. It had been almost a week since we won our last ballgame. It was a quality win and very important not to get swept at home. After losing both Friday and Saturday, I think our guys came out with a little more a chip on their shoulder today and were ready to play.”
In the previous two losses on the weekend against the Buckeyes, the Spartans combined for four runs. That lack of offense made Sunday’s outburst even sweeter for the team.
“You can’t get swept at home,” Holm said. “On Friday we got beat pretty bad. Then on Saturday it was a tough loss. (Sunday) it was really good to get out here and get a lot of runs and have everybody have great games.”
MSU sophomore starting pitcher Tony Bucciferro stayed in the game until the seventh inning, allowing five earned runs. Bucciferro (5-3) threw 113 pitches and earned the win for the Spartans.
“I came out a little wild,” Bucciferro said. “But when we got the lead, instead of making pitches perfect, I tried to just throw strikes. I wanted to make them work for it. They hit it and our defense was great, like always.”
Through the first four innings, MSU allowed the Buckeyes’ leadoff man to reach base to start every inning. The Spartans were able avoid danger through the first three, giving up only one run.
But the leadoff woes took their toll on the Spartans in the fourth inning. Ohio State tallied four runs, all of which came with two outs.
Luckily for the Spartans, they built up a four-run lead through the first four innings.
That lead expanded when Boike stepped up to the plate with the game tied at five. His two-run home run put the momentum back in the Spartans’ corner.
“I think that’s probably one of the furthest of my career that I’ve hit,” Boike said. “And it was at a big point in the game.”
The Spartans added a run each in the fourth and fifth innings before Holm sent the ball whizzing over the right-field fence to make the score 12-5.
Holm had five RBIs on the day.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Holm said of his first home run of the season. “It’s been like over a 100 at bats. Everyone was giving me stuff for it, but I guess they can finally leave me alone about it now.”
MSU tacked on two more runs in the seventh inning to put the game out of reach.
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Although the weekend didn’t go quite as planned, the Spartans (23-9 overall, 5-4 Big Ten) were happy at least to salvage one victory against the defending Big Ten Champions.
“We dropped the first two and we had to do a little bit of damage control,” Boike said. “You can’t get swept in the Big Ten if you expect to be at the top at the end of the year.”
