Power bats ignite Spartans' early lead. They withstand Washington's late surge to secure a crucial Game One victory.
Michigan State has become synonymous with dropping games where they take the early lead. However, in the first game of a three-game West Coast trip in the state of Washington against the Huskies, the Spartans flipped that script. They jumped out early and, for the first time in what feels like forever, held onto the lead to secure a Game One victory.
The Spartans wasted no time, building a 4-0 lead early. Catcher Adam Broski sacrificed home freshman CJ Deckinga to kick off the game’s scoring. As seen in almost every game leading up to this one, Michigan State grabbed the early lead—that was never in doubt. The real question was whether the Spartans could do enough to defend it.
Luckily, that small 1-0 lead didn’t stay small for long. In the third inning, Noah Bright homered with Parker Picot on base to give MSU a quick 3-0 advantage. It was Bright’s fourth home run of the season, and it came at a crucial time. Even though it was only the third inning, you could already tell this game wasn’t going to turn into a football score—both pitching staffs were bringing their A-game.
Still in the third frame, Khamaree Thomas ripped a ball to bring in Isaac Sturgess for the Spartans’ fourth run of the game. Thomas was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double, but the damage was already done. Sturgess crossed the plate, and MSU carried a 4-0 lead into the bottom half of the inning.
In the fifth inning, Parker Picot struck again—this time doing it all on his own. Picot launched his fourth home run of the season over the left-field wall, extending the Spartans’ lead to 5-0. At that point, Michigan State seemed to have a firm grip on the game, though Spartan fans likely still felt a sense of caution given how previous games have played out.
As the evening turned into the next day for those in the Eastern Time Zone, the Spartans and Huskies continued to battle.
Then it was Washington’s turn to respond.
J.D. Greeley got the start for MSU, going 3.1 innings while allowing just three hits. Andrew Siler came on in relief and threw 1.1 innings before the Huskies finally broke through, homering for their first run and cutting the lead to 5-1.
Logan Pikur was next out of the bullpen, and that’s when things started to get dicey for Michigan State.
With the score sitting at 5-2 and the bases loaded, Pikur struggled to find control and ended up loading the bases further before being pulled. Gannon Grundman entered in a high-pressure situation and initially delivered, striking out the first batter he faced to bring the count to one out with the bases still loaded. However, Grundman then had trouble locating the strike zone, issuing back-to-back walks. Washington capitalized, scraping across two runs and cutting the Spartans’ lead to just one, 5-4, in the seventh inning.
At that point, Michigan State turned to Nolan Higgins, who has been somewhat of a roller coaster this season. On this night, though, Higgins was trending upward. He entered with the bases loaded and only a one-run lead, managing to close out the seventh inning and then finish the game strong. Higgins went 2.1 innings, allowing just one hit while striking out five to shut the door on the Huskies.
The Spartans were able to add a key insurance run in the top of the ninth inning. Parker Picot delivered again, singling in Dayton Murphy to push the lead to 6-4 and give MSU some much-needed breathing room.
That would hold as the final score, with Michigan State securing a 6-4 win on the road to open the series against Washington.
With the victory, the Spartans improve to 13-22 overall and 7-12 in Big Ten play, keeping them in 11th place in the conference. Washington drops to 7-9 in conference play and remains in ninth.
The two teams will face off again tonight in what will be a late start for Michiganders, with first pitch scheduled for 10:02 PM EST.