Hitting came easy for the Spartans on Tuesday, as they would scatter an astounding 26 hits on the day to overpower the Notre Dame pitching staff.

“We stayed aggressive a lot and got a lot of good pitches to hit early in the count – we took advantage of it,” MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. “Hitting is contagious so it seemed like once the ball started rolling, things just kind of snowballed there. It was a fun night offensively for us, that’s for sure.”

Senior outfielder Brandon Eckerle would get hit by a pitch to lead the game off for MSU. After advancing to third on a single by sophomore second baseman Ryan Jones, Eckerle would come around to score on a sacrifice fly by sophomore third baseman Torsten Boss to give the Spartans an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning.

The Fighting Irish answered right back in the bottom of the first inning with a two-run home run to right field from left fielder Eric Jagielo. Notre Dame would add another run off an RBI double from pitcher Adam Norton to lead the Spartans, 3-1, in the bottom of the first.

After a scoreless second, the Spartan bats would come alive in the top of the third when redshirt junior catcher Andy Johnson led the inning off with a single. Johnson would score on an RBI single from senior first baseman Jeff Holm. The Spartans would load the bases in the inning and tacked on three more runs to lead Notre Dame, 5-3.

The scoring continued in the top of the fourth inning after Johnson added another hit to start the inning. After hits from Eckerle and Jones, Holm singled to center field, scoring two runs to extend MSU’s lead. Another single in the inning, this time from Boss would score Holm and Jones to give MSU the 9-3 lead.

“It’s not everyday you see a baseball game like that,” Eckerle said. “I think all day overall we had a pretty good approach. We were pretty aggressive. … When you have your entire lineup hitting one through nine, good things are going to happen.”

MSU wasn’t done, as the Spartans would stretch the lead even further in the top of the fifth. Johnson and Eckerle continued their big days as they each added hits to lead off the inning. After Jones walked, Holm doubled to right-center field to clear the bases. The next batter Boss doubled down the left field line to score Holm. The inning continued after a single from sophomore designated hitter Jared Hook scored Boss.

The Spartans would tack on another run in the inning to lead Notre Dame 15-3.

MSU kept the foot on the throttle against the Irish and would add another two runs in the top of the sixth when Scanlon singled up the middle to score Boss and Eckerle, who reached base on a single and a walk, respectively.

Junior catcher Seth Williams pinch hit in the top of the eighth and hit a three-run homer to cap a strong day at the plate for the Spartan lineup.

Holm and Scanlon lead the way for the Spartans with four hits each and nine combined RBIs on the day.

“Everyone just contributed – everyone got hits at the right time and stayed with the right approach,” Scanlon said. “It was a fun day.”

Redshirt freshman pitcher Chase Rihtarchik got the start for the Spartans. Rihtarchik threw two innings, surrendering three runs and three hits and picked up the win for MSU before being replaced by freshman Zak Wilkerson.

With the win today, Jake Boss Jr. extends his career record at MSU to 5-0 against Notre Dame.

“The team has done a really good job with separating each day and each game,” Boss said. “It was good to come out and put a big number up and get a lot of guys in the ballgame. … We just came out and played good baseball and that was the goal coming in.”

The Spartans return to East Lansing for their last home stand of the year, a three-game series against Northwestern. Game one of the series is at 3:05 p.m. on Thursday at McLane Baseball Stadium at Kobs Field.