The Spartans recorded 17 hits, the most since March 14th against Iowa. Sam Busch, Parker Picot and Caleb Berry all sent balls over the fence, with Busch’s traveling 443 feet into the Red Cedar River. 

With the win, MSU moves to 21-15 and 7-9 in the Big Ten, still holding the eleventh spot in the conference, qualifying for the Big Ten Tournament. 

"All in all, a good night for us," MSU baseball head coach Jake Boss Jr. said after his team’s offensive onslaught Friday.

"We wanted to try and see the ball up in the strike zone, because we knew we would have a hard time being successful if we had to chase the ball down, for the most part, we did that," Boss said. "We got the ball in the air, we got some guys with some juice at the plate, so it worked out for us today, and I think the guys executed the plan for the most part all day long."

Sophomore right-hander Tate Farquhar made his third start of the season and silenced Buckeye bats with ease. The Highland, Michigan, native allowed just one hit and two walks while striking out five across four scoreless innings — his longest outing since a four-inning start against Monmouth in February.

All starters logged a hit on the day except for center fielder JT Sokolove, who is batting just .174 in his past 23 at-bats dating back to April 6. 

Sophomore second baseman Ryan McKay continues to lead by example, finding ways to reach base in nearly every appearance. On Friday, he went 3-for-4 with two doubles and a hit-by-pitch. Now past the halfway mark of the season, McKay leads MSU in nearly every major offensive category — batting average (.353), hits (47), OPS (1.028), walks (31) and on-base percentage (.479). He’s 9-for-21 at the plate over the past week.

"We haven't had one of those days for a while now, maybe a month it feels like, where everyone is hitting nonstop, and that was really refreshing to see," McKay said. "We did what we were supposed to against Ohio State, and we have a really good starter tomorrow in Joe (Joseph Dzierwa), so we did what we were supposed to do in a win."

MSU closer Tyler Horvath came in for the final three innings, making a rare three-inning save. The graduate student RHP allowed all four Ohio State runs on four hits. In the eighth, up 8-1, OSU catcher Matthew Graveline launched a three-run shot to right center.

The Spartans added insurance in the bottom half, extending their lead to 11-8. Randy Seymour led off with his second triple of the year, followed by an RBI single from Noah Bright. Dayton Murphy kept the rally going with a double that brought Bright home. MSU tacked on one final run in its last offensive frame with a Ryan McKay single to center.

Game two on Saturday is set for 3:30 p.m., with Spartan ace Joseph Dzierva taking the mound. The 6-foot-8 left-hander leads the Big Ten with a 1.65 ERA and ranks second in strikeouts (67) and WHIP (0.95). All games this weekend will be streamed live on Big Ten Plus, with Sunday’s series finale scheduled for 1 p.m.