In his last 11 plate appearances, sophomore second baseman Ryan McKay is 9-for-9 with two walks. McKay went 5-for-5 on the day with two doubles, two singles, two runs scored, an RBI and a stolen base. Following Friday’s performance, McKay leads the team in batting average (.387), on-base percentage, hits and walks.

Joseph Dzierva took the bump for game one, pitching five innings allowing no runs, two hits and two walks while striking out five. As of today, Dzierva leads the Big Ten in Strikeouts at 51 and is eighth in the country.  Dzierva surpassed 200 career strikeouts in his start today, becoming just the sixth pitcher to do so in MSU history.

Dzierva worked a quick first inning and ran into some trouble in the second. The 6-foot-8 lefty issued a leadoff walk before allowing a single to right by Penn State’s Cohl Mercado. Then, facing Nate Voss, Dzierva threw a wild pitch putting runners on second and third. However, the Spartan’s ace worked out of the jam, ringing up Voss to end the inning.

Dzierva most likely would have pitched longer if it weren’t for him tweaking his ankle in the fifth. After a pitch delivery, Dzierva rolled back on his ankle and was in noticeable discomfort. Boss came to check on him and was quickly ready to go again. Dzierva finished the inning and was relieved by Dominic Pianto in the sixth. 

Pianto, in 3 2/3 innings on Friday, held the Nittany Lions to one hit and struck out four. 

Pianto has been a steady presence out of the bullpen, posting a 3.60 ERA over 10 innings this season. Pianto, in 2024 for MSU, held a 10.13 ERA only finding the mound for eight innings as a junior. Now a senior, Pianto has held opponents to a .250 batting average.

The MSU bats got on the board first in the third. McKay led off the inning knocking a single to center. Quickly after, catcher Caleb Berry was hit by pitch and Sam Busch forced a walk to load the bases. Junior Randy Seymour lifted an infield fly to shallow right, allowing McKay to score. Designated hitter Will Shannon followed that up with a sacrifice fly to right field bringing Berry home. 

The Spartans added more in the later innings to seal the game. In the seventh, McKay doubled to lead off and Berry followed with an RBI double of his own. In the next frame, Mckay singled to right scoring Jake Dresselhouse to make the score 4-0.

Coming into today, Penn State was 4-2 in Big Ten games. Like Michigan State, the Nittany Lions continue to receive votes in the NCBWA poll. In the Feb. 24 NCBWA poll, MSU was ranked No. 23, its first time being ranked in a national poll since 2016. 

MSU will face Penn State twice more this weekend before traveling to Notre Dame next Wednesday, March 26. First pitch for game two is scheduled for 2 p.m.