Late-inning pitching falters, allowing Northwestern to snatch a walk-off victory and impact Big Ten Tournament seeding.
On the verge of taking Game 2, Michigan State let a three-run lead evaporate, watching Northwestern walk it off in the bottom of the ninth to take the game 10-9 and split the series.
The Spartans entered Saturday on the heels of a ‘pitch’-perfect 5-1 win that saw ace Aidan Donovan deliver a lights-out performance, tossing eight innings of one-run baseball.
But Game 2 told a much different story.
After getting the pitching they needed in the opener, Michigan State could not find the right pitch late to preserve a crucial lead. With the win, Northwestern leapfrogged MSU in the Big Ten standings. The Wildcats moved up to 12th, while the Spartans dropped to 13th.
And with only the top 12 teams in the conference making the Big Ten Tournament, every game is growing more important by the week.
As the season turns to the second half, the Spartans are in increasing need of every win they can find. That made Saturday’s collapse especially painful. Losing a game to a team you are directly battling for a postseason spot against is the kind of result that can sting long after the final out.
Michigan State sent Carter Monke to the mound in Game 2, hoping to keep some of that pitching momentum rolling.
Monke had allowed just eight runs over his first 27 innings in his first five starts, posting a 3-2 record. But over his last two outings entering Saturday, he had given up eight runs in 10 innings, including five earned runs (seven total) against Purdue in his last start. He needed a bounce-back performance, but unfortunately, he didn’t have his best stuff.
To Monke’s credit, Michigan State gave him plenty of early support.
The Spartans jumped out to a 4-0 lead, something that has become somewhat synonymous with this offense. Randy Seymour continued his red-hot surge by opening the scoring with a solo home run in the second inning. Seymour then came around to score again in the third, crossing the plate for Michigan State’s fourth run.
Monke held his own early, but the third inning quickly brought trouble.
Northwestern plated four runs in the bottom half of the frame, including a three-run homer that erased the Spartans’ lead and knotted the game at 4-4.
Michigan State responded in the fourth.
Ryan McKay, who had already scored the Spartans’ second run earlier in the game on an Adam Broski single, pushed MSU back in front with an RBI single to left field that scored Isaac Sturgess.
The Spartans added two more runs in the fifth inning. With the bases loaded, Dayton Murphy was hit by a pitch to force in a run, and Isaac Sturgess followed with a sacrifice fly to extend Michigan State’s lead to 7-4 midway through the game.
As the bottom of the fifth began, the Spartans turned to Nolan Higgins out of the bullpen.
Higgins had appeared to rediscover himself after a shaky start to the season. Following an outing in which he allowed an earned run in one of his first six appearances, Higgins had been lights out, allowing zero runs in four of his previous five outings. However, in the one appearance where he did allow damage, Rutgers tagged him for four runs in just 1.1 innings.
So which version of Higgins was Michigan State going to get?
Unfortunately for the Spartans, it was the wrong one.
Higgins allowed two runs in the bottom of the fifth, helping Northwestern claw back within one.
To Michigan State’s credit, the offense answered again.
MSU added two more runs on a blast from CJ Deckinga, who drove in both himself and McKay to push the Spartans’ lead back to three at 9-6.
But once again, the pitching could not hold.
After tossing three innings, Higgins ran into more trouble in the bottom of the eighth. Before he could even record an out in the inning, he hit the leadoff batter and then made a costly mistake that Northwestern turned into a two-run home run. Suddenly, the Wildcats were right back within one at 9-8.
Just like that, it became a one-swing game before Michigan State had even recorded the first out of the inning.
That marked the end of Higgins’ day, as Tommy Szczepanski came on in an attempt to preserve the lead.
But after recording the first out, the feeling shifted quickly.
Northwestern launched its second home run of the inning, tying the game at 9-9 for the first time since the opening frame.
The Spartans had lost all momentum.
Michigan State threatened in the top of the ninth, putting runners on the corners with two outs, but could not deliver the go-ahead run.
Northwestern then returned the favor in the bottom half by putting runners on first and second with two outs. This time, though, the Wildcats came through.
Szczepanski couldn’t close the door and force extras, as Northwestern ripped a single up the middle to walk it off in front of the home crowd, tie the series, and move ahead of Michigan State in the Big Ten standings.
Now, what looked like a chance to grab a massive conference road win has turned into a must-win rubber match.
The Spartans and Wildcats will face off in the series finale Sunday at 2 p.m. EST on ESPN+.