The Michigan State baseball team closed out a three-game weekend series with the Northwestern Wildcats at McLane Stadium. The Spartans were looking to ride the momentum of an impressive 10-0 victory in game two of the series. MSU defeated Northwestern 3-1 to win the weekend series, taking two out of three games in the series.

“Really proud of our guys, I think after playing as poorly as we did on Friday for them to come back and win the series I think speaks a lot to their character,” said MSU head coach Jake Boss. “We didn’t have much to show for it early, but we kept grinding out at-bats and finally turned it together.”

It was a pitching duel between MSU junior right-handed pitcher Nolan Higgins and Northwestern’s Matthew Kouser. Both pitchers allowed zero runs through five innings. After losing the first game of the series 11-10 to Northwestern, the Spartans gave up a total of one run in the final two games of the series.

“It’s what those guys are capable of, I thought we played well defensively behind them too," said Boss. "We made a couple of errors but we picked each other up after that."

The Wildcats broke the scoring drought in the top of the sixth inning, as Owen McElfatrick scored on a fielding error. Errors plagued the Spartans in their recent loss to Central Michigan on Wednesday, but this time, they were able to rally.

The Spartans responded in the bottom of the sixth with three runs. Sophomore infielder Ryan McKay began the rally with a double to right center. Senior infielder Sam Busch’s double and sophomore outfielder Parker Picot’s single gave the Spartans a 3-1 lead and was the difference in securing the series win.

“We were putting swings into the ball early in the game and just hitting it right at people," said Busch. "We knew if we kept sticking to that approach it would eventually fall and luckily it did."

With the win, MSU improves to 19-15 on the season with a 6-9 record in Big Ten play. Higgins earned the pitching win for the Spartans, his second of the season. Higgins recorded two strikeouts and allowed four hits and one run in six innings pitched.

Sophomore left-handed pitcher Garrett Brewer recorded the save for MSU collecting one strikeout and allowing two hits in three innings pitched.

The Spartans will face the Western Michigan Broncos on Tuesday before another home series against the Ohio State Buckeyes during Easter weekend.

Don't miss out on any of our exclusive football, basketball, hockey, and recruiting coverage, not to mention our non-revenue sports coverage and subscriber exclusive forum. Sign up with Spartans Illustrated now!

Don't miss out on any of our exclusive football, basketball, hockey, and recruiting coverage, not to mention our non-revenue sports coverage and subscriber exclusive forum. Sign up with Spartans Illustrated now!