The Spartans (27-13 overall, 10-5 Big Ten) rallied behind clutch hitting performances and solid defense to down the Nittany Lions during the weekend.

“We didn’t play perfectly but you know, I thought our guys showed a lot of character,” MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said.

The Nittany Lions quickly opened up the scoring in the first inning Sunday, when centerfielder Sean Deegan homered on the first pitch of the game. They would score two more to go into the bottom of the first ahead, 3-0.

MSU would claw its way back into the game in the bottom of the first after a double from sophomore outfielder Tony Wieber scored senior outfielder Brandon Eckerle and sophomore third baseman Torsten Boss, to pull the game to 3-2 in favor of Penn State.

The Spartans tied the game in the bottom of the third on an Eckerle sacrifice fly, scoring freshman catcher Joel Fisher. In the bottom of the third, Torsten Boss singled, stole second base and later came around to score to put the Spartans ahead.

Penn State would strike back in the top of the fourth and hold the 5-4 lead before the Spartans broke open the game in the bottom of the seventh inning.

With a throwing error by Nittany Lions pitcher Mike Franklin, which allowed Scanlon to score, a sacrifice fly from Holm and a sacrifice bunt from Wieber, MSU took the lead and never looked back.

“Bunting is a big part of the game, especially with the change in the bat rules this year,” Wieber said. “We work on it everyday, and sometimes it’s a factor and sometimes it’s not.”

On Friday, MSU received an extra-inning gift from Penn State shortstop Michael Glanz, as he bobbled a ground ball from junior shortstop Justin Scanlon and allowed freshman outfielder Grant Newsome to score the winning run.

In Saturday’s win, sophomore outfielder Tony Wieber hit a sacrifice fly, which allowed senior first baseman Jeff Holm to score the winning run in bottom of the ninth inning.

“That’s a good ballclub in that dugout,” Boss said. “Two one-run games and then they had a lead today too – they’re going to beat a lot of people. I feel very fortunate to get a sweep.”

With the wins this weekend, the Spartans move ahead of Penn State into a tie with Purdue for first place in the Big Ten.

The Spartans will take on the Western Michigan Broncos on Wednesday before hosting the Boilermakers for a weekend series.

Wieber said hopefully the wins this weekend translate into success in the upcoming series.

“We were pretty lucky to win those first two (games), but to come out and put out 10 runs showed a lot of character,” Wieber said. “ It shows a lot of confidence going into next weekend.”

Keeping the Streak Alive
Sophomore second baseman Ryan Jones added three hits for the Spartans on Sunday and had a hit in each of the weekend’s games, extending his hitting streak to 29 games.

Jones said he’s just trying to look for base hits and hasn’t spent a lot of time thinking about the streak.

“I haven’t been thinking about it too much, but 29 is kind of a lot,” Jones said. “I’m just happy where I’m at.”