Spartans clinch historic series win, but a late offensive surge falls short of a sweep in a hard-fought Seattle contest.
The Spartans are officially the first Big Ten team to beat Washington in a series in Seattle. Michigan State dominated the first two games and came into Sunday with the brooms out, ready to sweep the Huskies on their home field.
However, the Huskies had different plans.
Washington defeated the Spartans 8-5 in the third contest of the weekend, stifling the sweep and salvaging some dignity in front of their home crowd.
After securing two wins, the Spartans sent out Carter Monke for Game Three. Monke dominated the first frame and allowed a triple to start the second, but the runner was stranded at third after he forced two infield outs and recorded a strikeout. The third inning, however, is where everything unraveled—like an EF5 tornado ripping through Seattle.
The Huskies got their first two runners on base, and after a Monke balk, Washington took full advantage, singling in the first two runs of the game. A walk, wild pitch, and sacrifice fly pushed the lead to 3-0 with one on and two outs. That’s when Washington’s Mic Paul stepped to the plate and launched a towering home run over the fence, giving the Huskies a 5-0 lead before Michigan State had even recorded a hit.
Monke’s day ended after three innings. He allowed five earned runs on four hits, along with one walk, one balk, and one wild pitch, finishing with just two strikeouts. He took the loss and fell to 3-4 on the season.
Despite the early deficit, Michigan State weathered the storm well.
The Spartans answered back with four runs of their own in the following frame—all with two outs. Randy Seymour started the rally with a single, marking MSU’s first hit of the game. Khamaree Thomas followed with a walk, and Dayton Murphy drove in Seymour with a single up the middle to get the Spartans on the board. CJ Deckinga kept things rolling with an RBI single of his own, and Parker Picot then cleared the bases with a two-run double.
Picot was cut down trying to stretch it into a triple to end the inning, but the damage was done. Michigan State had pulled within one, 5-4.
In the bottom of the fourth, Washington’s designated hitter Casen Taggart hit a solo home run—his team’s second of the day—this one coming off Brady Chambers, pushing the Huskies’ lead to 6-4.
Once again, the Spartans responded.
In the top of the fifth, Isaac Sturgess hit a sacrifice fly to score Ryan McKay, who had doubled to lead off the inning. As McKay crossed the plate, MSU trimmed the deficit back to one, 6-5.
But that would be the last offensive push from Michigan State until the ninth inning.
Washington added two more runs through small ball, stretching the lead to 8-5 heading into the final frame. Still, the Spartans had one more chance.
Parker Picot led off the inning with a walk, followed by a sharp single from Ryan McKay and another from Nick Williams. Just like that, Michigan State had the bases loaded with no outs, trailing by three.
That brought up one of the Spartans’ hottest hitters as of late, Noah Bright.
But Bright grounded into a double play, with Nick Williams being called out for interference on the back end of the play. Williams was ejected, and the momentum vanished. Sturgess then flew out to left field, ending the Spartans’ hopes of a late comeback.
Michigan State drops to 14-23 overall and 8-13 in Big Ten play, currently sitting 12th out of 18 teams. It’s worth noting that the top 12 teams qualify for the Big Ten Tournament, keeping the Spartans right on the edge.
Next up, MSU returns home to face Notre Dame (17-18) on Wednesday night at 6 PM EST. The Fighting Irish sit last in the ACC and are the only team in the conference without a winning overall record.
Following that, the Spartans will remain in East Lansing for a series against Maryland (19-21, 5-13), who sit 14th in the Big Ten but have won four of their last six games.