Parker Picot’s third consecutive home run ignited a sixth-inning surge, while a resilient pitching staff stifled Eastern Michigan to secure the Spartans’ 20th victory of the season.
Over the past week, Parker Picot has been absolutely crushing the baseball.
In a midweek matchup against the Eagles of Eastern Michigan, Picot continued his power surge by going yard for the third straight game, launching his 11th home run of the season. The blast moves him within four home runs of team leader Randy Seymour and ties him for the 22nd-most home runs in the Big Ten this season.
While Michigan State’s offense eventually found its rhythm, it was a combination of Picot’s timely hitting and a dominant effort from the Spartans’ pitching staff that carried MSU to a 5-2 victory.
Eastern Michigan managed to collect nine hits on the afternoon, but the Eagles could only scratch across two runs thanks to a strong all-around performance from Michigan State’s pitching staff and defense.
With the win, the Spartans earned their 20th victory of the season, improving to 20-30 overall.
Michigan State turned to Kyle Rudolph to get the start, and the right-hander delivered three strong innings to begin the game. Rudolph allowed just two hits while striking out a pair of hitters, keeping the Eagles off balance early. As the Spartans’ offense worked to settle in, Rudolph did exactly what MSU needed him to do by keeping a firm grip on the game.
Logan Pikur took over in the fourth inning, and that’s when Eastern Michigan finally broke through. Pikur allowed one run on two hits and a walk in his lone inning of work as the Eagles grabbed a 1-0 lead.
From there, however, the Spartans’ bullpen took complete control.
Ben Kochany, Brady Chambers and Gannon Grundman combined to shut down Eastern Michigan over the next four innings, allowing just two hits during that stretch while consistently attacking the strike zone.
Eastern Michigan threatened once again in the ninth inning when Grundman surrendered a leadoff double and single, allowing the Eagles to plate their second run of the afternoon.
Tommy Szczepanski then entered to close things out. Although he allowed a single and a walk that made things a bit tense late, the Spartans ultimately slammed the door shut to secure the victory.
The turning point of the game came in the sixth inning.
Trailing 1-0, Michigan State got a huge spark when Picot launched a game-tying solo home run that seemed to energize the entire dugout.
Shortly after, Ryan McKay laid down a squeeze bunt that brought home another run, and Adam Broski followed with an RBI single to extend the Spartans’ lead to 3-1. With momentum fully on their side and the pitching staff dealing, Michigan State never looked back.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Nick Williams — another Spartan swinging a hot bat lately — delivered a triple that drove in two insurance runs, pushing the lead to 5-1 at the time.
Offensively, Michigan State finished with four players recording multi-hit performances. Isaac Sturgess, Nick Williams, Randy Seymour and Ryan McKay each tallied two hits on the day.
Eight of the Spartans’ nine starters recorded at least one hit, with Dayton Murphy being the lone MSU starter unable to reach base.
On the mound, Brady Chambers earned the win for Michigan State, improving to 3-3 on the season, while Szczepanski picked up his second save of the year.
The Spartans will now prepare for their final regular-season series this weekend when they host Illinois State in East Lansing.