Shaking off a slow start, Michigan State unleashed a balanced offensive attack and dominant bullpen performance to overwhelm the Broncos and continue their high-scoring midweek surge.
Michigan State has now put together back-to-back midweek wins, following up Tuesday’s 12-4 victory over Bowling Green with an impressive 8-3 win over in-state foe Western Michigan on Wednesday night in East Lansing.
This was originally supposed to be the second meeting of the season between the two programs, but their earlier matchup at Western Michigan was canceled due to rain. When the teams finally linked up Wednesday night, the Spartans looked like a team still fueled by frustration after dropping last weekend’s series against the nation’s No. 1 team, UCLA.
Despite the Broncos striking first, Michigan State quickly settled in, regained control, and slowly pulled away throughout the night.
Western Michigan opened the scoring in the top of the second inning after a double and single — both with one out — plated the game’s first run and gave the Broncos a 1-0 lead. That advantage did not last long.
The Spartans answered in the bottom half of the second when Randy Seymour delivered an RBI single to even the game at 1-1. An inning later, Noah Bright brought home another run on an RBI groundout before Parker Picot launched a solo home run — his eighth of the season — to extend the lead to 3-1.
Michigan State never looked back from there.
The Spartans added three more runs in the fourth inning, all coming with two outs. Dayton Murphy stole second base and was initially called out, but after an MSU challenge, the call was overturned and the inning stayed alive.
Moments later, Nick Williams doubled home Murphy to make it 4-1. Bright followed with a single, and thanks to a Western Michigan error, Williams came around to score. Another Broncos miscue allowed Khamaree Thomas to reach base while Bright crossed the plate, pushing the Spartans’ lead to 6-1 through four innings.
Michigan State added two more runs in the fifth inning. Seymour collected his second RBI of the night on his second hit of the game, and Adam Broski added an RBI groundout to stretch the lead to 8-1.
Western Michigan managed to tack on two late runs, but the Spartans comfortably closed things out to secure the 8-3 victory.
The pitching staff once again delivered a strong performance, continuing what has been a very solid stretch over the past month.
Brady Chambers got the start and tossed 3.1 innings, allowing six hits and just one earned run. After Chambers exited, Andrew Siler came out of the bullpen, worked out of a jam, and threw 1.2 innings of one-hit baseball.
Logan Pikur followed with 2.2 innings, allowing just one run on three hits. Tommy Szczepanski handled two-thirds of an inning in the ninth, surrendering a hit and an unearned run before Gannon Grundman recorded the final two outs.
Through the bullpen shuffle, it was Siler who earned the win — his first victory of the season — improving to 1-0 on the year.
Offensively, the Spartans’ bats have come alive over the last two games, scoring 20 total runs during that stretch.
CJ Deckinga finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored, while Seymour went 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Williams added a strong night of his own, finishing 2-for-3 with two walks, two runs scored, and an RBI. Picot’s lone hit was his towering third-inning home run as Michigan State handled business both at the plate and on the mound.
The Spartans now improve to 18-28 overall, but the most important series of the season still lies ahead.
Michigan State will travel to Columbus, Ohio, for its final Big Ten series of the regular season against Ohio State.
Currently sitting 13th in the Big Ten standings, the Spartans remain just outside the top 12 teams that qualify for the Big Ten Tournament. With little room for error remaining, Michigan State will most likely need a sweep against Ohio State to keep its postseason hopes alive.