Spartans held an early lead, but a catastrophic fourth inning saw No. 14 Clemson explode for seven runs, crushing Michigan State 12-1.
The Spartans dropped another ugly one tonight.
Michigan State faced its third ranked opponent of the early season, and this one got away from MSU in a hurry, falling to No. 14 Clemson 12-1.
The Spartans recorded four of the first five hits of the game and were able to strike first on the scoreboard, but ultimately were overwhelmed by a strong Clemson squad. With the loss, Michigan State has now dropped eight of its last nine games after starting the season 2-0.
Their record falls to 3-8 on the year.
Today, it looked bright to start.
In the second inning, the scoring got underway. The Spartans recorded the first hit of the game when Adam Broski doubled down the first-base line. With one out and Broski standing on second, Nick Williams singled past the first baseman, pushing Broski over to third and giving Michigan State runners on the corners.
Designated hitter Khamaree Thomas then lifted a sacrifice fly to score Broski and give the Spartans a 1-0 lead.
However, in the bottom half of the inning, a small mistake turned into a massive response from Clemson.
On the first pitch of the bottom of the second, Brady Chambers left a heater over the plate, and Clemson’s Luke Gaffney uncorked a swing that sent the ball towering over the left-center field wall, tying the game at 1-1 in an instant.
Gannon Grundman relieved Chambers in the third inning and looked dominant in his first frame of work. The game remained tied until the bottom of the fourth, when Clemson finally broke through.
Tryston McCladdie led off the inning with a double. After a putout by second baseman Ryan McKay — playing on the shortstop side in a defensive shift — McCladdie advanced to third with one out. Gaffney stepped up again and, though he didn’t send his second at-bat over the fence, he drove the ball deep enough for a sacrifice fly, giving Clemson a 2-1 lead.
But that was only the beginning.
The inning — and effectively the game — unraveled from there.
It started with a two-out walk (and as baseball wisdom goes, all bad things start with a two-out walk). That free pass was followed by a single to keep the inning alive. Jack Crighton then shot a ball between first and second to score another run. Ty Dalley followed with a single to the third-base side, beating the shift and extending the lead to 4-1.
The two-out rally continued. Jay Dillard ripped a rocket down the left-field line for a two-RBI double, pushing the score to 6-1 and chasing Grundman from the game.
Josh Klug entered as Michigan State’s third pitcher of the night and immediately allowed a hit that turned into an error, enabling Dillard to score from second and extend the lead to 7-1. After a stolen base and a walk, Nate Savoie added a single to left to plate yet another run.
In a matter of minutes, the Spartans went from tied 1-1 with the No. 14 team in the nation to staring at an 8-1 deficit.
Clemson scored seven runs on seven hits in the fourth inning alone — six of those runs coming with two outs.
Klug returned in the fifth and induced a hard flyout to start the inning, but Jacob Jarrell followed by launching a moonshot to left-center that clipped the top of the wall and sailed over for a solo home run, pushing Clemson’s lead to 9-1.
The Tigers weren’t done.
In the sixth inning, McCladdie crushed Clemson’s third home run of the night — a no-doubt solo blast that would have left any ballpark. That swing pushed the Tigers into double digits and left Michigan State searching for answers.
The bats that started hot grew ice cold. The energy drained. Once again, the Spartans looked flat.
To cap off the night, Dillard blasted a two-run homer that might still be traveling through the solar system, putting an emphatic stamp on Clemson’s 12-1 victory.
Michigan State used six pitchers in the game. One small positive: every pitcher recorded at least one strikeout. But that was about the only bright spot on the mound.
The Spartans were held to just five hits and struck out ten times, including a stretch of seven strikeouts late in the game.
It was a rough one — no other way to put it.
Now, the focus shifts to conference play.
The Spartans will open Big Ten action this weekend against Nebraska in a three-game series at Haymarket Park in Lincoln, Nebraska. Michigan State will look to steady itself and salvage momentum before the season slips too far, too fast.
Because while it’s still early, the margin for error is quickly disappearing.