Looking to punch its ticket to the Big Ten Tournament, the Michigan State baseball squad faced off against Nebraska for the Spartans' final home series at McLane Stadium in the 2024 season.

The Spartans lost two out of three games in the series and came up short in qualifying for the tournament in Omaha.

The Spartans fell to the Cornhuskers 2-1 in a defensive battle in the first matchup on Thursday.

Michigan State opened the scoring in the first inning with a fly-out to center by senior outfielder Greg Ziegler, allowing senior outfielder Jack Frank to score to make it 1-0 in favor of the Spartans.

Nebraska tied the game at 1 in the third inning as a double down the left field line by junior third baseman Joshua Overbeek brought in junior second baseman Rhett Stokes. The Cornhuskers scored the game-winning run an inning later courtesy of senior first baseman Ben Columbus’ single to right.

Nebraska senior right-handed pitcher Brett Sears was impressive in the win, recording four strikeouts, while allowing six hits and a run scored. Sears earned his eighth win of the season.

“They [Nebraska] made good pitches when they needed to," MSU head coach Jake Boss said. "I thought we hit some balls hard — when you get limited opportunities you have to cash in."

Senior right-handed pitcher Harrison Cook and sophomore right-handed pitcher Nolan Higgins were impressive on the mound for the Spartans despite the loss. Cook recorded four strikeouts, allowing five hits in six innings pitched. Meanwhile, Higgins recorded one strikeout, allowing three hits in three innings pitched.

“Harrison Cook was as good as he’s been all year, Nolan Higgins was lights out tonight as well, we went up against the guy who could be the Pitcher of the Year in our conference,” Boss said.

The Cornhuskers dominated in the second matchup, winning 11-3 and again had great pitching performances. Nebraska jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first two innings, courtesy of junior catcher Josh Caron’s two-run home run.

The Spartans cut the deficit to 5-3 in the sixth inning with hits by junior outfielder Nick Williams and senior third baseman Dillon Kark.

Nebraska scored four more runs in the eighth inning and two more in the ninth with a home run by sophomore shortstop Dylan Carey to win impressively.

The Cornhuskers' sophomore right-handed pitcher, Mason McConnaughey, shined in the win with five strikeouts and five hits in 5.2 innings pitched.

“They [Nebraska] throw a lot of strikes, they command the strike zone well,” Boss said. “It’s a blueprint for how to pitch, they force you out of your comfort zone, it's why they're toward the top of the league.”

In the loss, sophomore left-handed pitcher Joseph Dzierwa recorded a career-high 11 strikeouts in seven innings pitched.

The Spartans avoided the sweep and sent their seniors out with an 11-6 win in the final game of their season.

MSU jumped out to a 6-0 lead through four innings of play, with Ziegler, Kark and sophomore first baseman Jacob Anderson driving in runs with hits.

Nebraska responded with a four-run sixth inning as Carey came through again for the Cornhuskers with a double down the third base line.

Michigan State responded to the punch from Nebraska and scored two more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning as Frank singled and Ziegler recorded another RBI to extend the Spartans' lead to 8-4.

In the seventh inning, freshman right fielder Case Sanderson’s single up the middle and a flyout by junior first baseman Tyler Stone cut the Spartans' lead to 8-6.

MSU then put the game away with a three-run bottom of the seventh inning, with doubles by sophomore shortstop Randy Seymour and Frank.

The Spartans finish their 2024 season with a 24-27 overall record and finish tied ninth in the Big Ten with an 11-13 conference record, just missing the cut line for the Big Ten Tournament.

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