In his second career start, Logan Pikur tossed two scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out one. Pikur has seen mostly bullpen innings to this point, tossing 12 1/3 innings. Primarily a bullpen arm, the sophomore right-hander has logged 12 1/3 innings this season. Known for inducing groundballs and weak contact, Pikur has allowed just seven hits while posting a 6.5 K/9.

Leading 4-3 after four innings, MSU appeared in control. But in the fifth, sophomore left-hander Gunner Grundman walked the first two batters before being pulled. His replacement, sophomore right-hander Tate Farquhar, surrendered four consecutive scoring plays.

With just one out, Michigan had already plated four runs. Farquhar’s rough outing ended after a walk, an RBI single, and a hit batter, totaling 26 pitches in just 1/3 of an inning.

Graduate transfer George Viebrock III took over with the bases loaded. He walked his first batter, pushing the score to 8-3, before striking out the next.

Before escaping the inning, Michigan’s Mitch Voit roped a line drive to left. MSU’s Jake Dresselhouse misjudged the ball, allowing it to roll to the fence and clear the bases for three more runs.

“That's been kind of the theme in our losses. It's been one bad inning,” said head coach Jake Boss. “You're just not gonna win when that happens. We walked four guys in the inning and hit one. If you give up nine runs in an inning you’re not going to win.”

Despite the pitching woes, MSU was able to obtain a collective .481 on-base percentage with seven hits and six walks. 

With one out and two on, junior shortstop Randy Seymour roped a double to center, driving in both runners. Seymour has made significant strides after leading MSU in errors last season while hitting .257. Entering the game, Seymour ranked fourth on the team with a .271 average and a .780 OPS. Later in the second, transfer senior JT Sokolove added an RBI single through the right side.

MSU tacked on four more runs in the fifth, capitalizing on a pair of uncharacteristic Michigan errors.

Offense stalled late, but MSU’s Garrett Brewer provided much-needed relief. The sophomore left-hander tossed four scoreless innings, striking out three and walking two.

“He's a guy that's certainly very talented, but he's had some consistency issues. So, it's good to see him go out there and throw four scoreless and get out of a couple of jams,” said Boss. “Now he's a guy that when he gets the ball again, he has to repeat it. So being consistent at this level is going to be really important.”

MSU travels to Iowa City this weekend for a three-game series against the Hawkeyes, who are coming off a 2-1 series win at Rutgers. Iowa enters at 8-7. Spartan ace Joseph Dzierwa is expected to start Friday at 5 p.m.