Redshirt freshman infielder Ryan Jones rounds second base around Central Michigan shortstop Jordan Dean during their game Wednesday at Cooley Law School Stadium in Lansing. The Spartans defeated the Chippewas 13-10.
Lansing — Although the MSU baseball team’s nation-best fielding percentage has been the story for the Spartans this season, it was their bats that put on a show Wednesday.
The bats of MSU and Central Michigan were the story of the game, as the Spartans defeated the Chippewas, 13-10, in a midweek slugfest at Cooley Law School Stadium in Lansing.
Thanks to a gusty wind blowing toward the outfield, the two teams combined for 31 hits and 23 runs.
“It was a good day to hit,” MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said.
“Offensively, we are in a pretty good place right now. We are finding a nice rhythm, and we are really putting pressure on teams to make plays defensively.”
The victory extends MSU’s winning streak to 11 games and improves the Spartans’ record to 17-4.
“A streak like this hasn’t happened in awhile at MSU,” said redshirt freshman second baseman Ryan Jones, who went 4-for-5 from the plate. “We are finally coming on the map right now, and we are liking it.”
In his first collegiate start, freshman Tony Wieber (1-0) earned the victory for MSU, allowing six runs on eight hits in six innings.
“In midweek games, you aren’t throwing your top three guys, and it’s a good opportunity for a lot of young pitchers to get some playing time,” Boss said.
“A lot of times, that can equal some big numbers, unfortunately. But I thought Tony did a nice job. He made a couple bad pitches that cost us a couple runs, but all in all, I think it was a good start for him.”
For the sixth straight game, the Spartans got on the board in the first inning. Jones brought in two runs when he drilled a pitch to deep center field. If the ball would have been a foot higher, it would have cleared the fence for a home run. Instead, Jones settled for a double.
Central Michigan responded in the top of the second inning with a two-run home run from left fielder Sam Russell to tie the score at two and a sacrifice fly gave the Chippewas the 3-2 lead in the top of the third.
Then the MSU bats came to life. The Spartans recorded seven hits in the bottom of the third — two of which again hit the top of the fence, robbing two Spartans of home runs — to bust the game open with a six-run inning.
Despite not hitting the ball out of the yard in the third inning, MSU batted through the order and recorded seven runs to claim a dominating 9-3 lead.
Junior shortstop Jonathan Roof and senior designated hitter Chris Roberts each tallied two RBIs in the inning.
But if there’s anything MSU has learned about Central Michigan from past meetings, it’s that the Chippewas weren’t about to roll over and call it a day.
“We didn’t want it to be like last year where they came back in the ninth (inning) two times,” said Roof, who tallied three RBIs. “With them, we just had to keep fighting and keep putting them away and keep pushing runs across the plate.”
The two teams exchanged blows in the later portions of the game, with one team tallying a run here and the other tallying a run there, but the Spartans never let the Chippewas get closer than three runs.
“We are swinging the bats well,” Roof said. “Even though they put a lot of numbers up there, we put even more, and it’s a good feeling knowing we can do that.”
The Spartans will open the Big Ten season this weekend with a three-game home series against Iowa, the first of which is at 3:05 p.m. Friday at McLane Baseball Stadium.
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“It’s a big weekend coming up,” Boss said. “But we are in a good place and very confident.”
