Michigan State rallies late in 9th inning to hit a walk-off homerun against Cincinnati
Mitch Jebb supplied the power for the Spartans last night as the sophomore shortstop and leadoff hitter started the game with a solo homerun to put the Spartans up 1-0 and ended the game with a walk-off homerun to give the Spartans a 10-8 victory over the Bearcats of Cincinnati.
The Spartans started off hot as they took a 4-1 lead after the second inning, but the Bearcats fought back as they cut the lead to 4-3 after the fourth and then took the lead 7-4 after the fifth inning.
As the ninth inning came, the Spartans were down 8-5 with three outs remaining and the magic started.
Down 8-5 in the ninth, junior first baseman Peter Ahn came to the plate with the bases loaded and uncorked a shot to deep left-center field to clear the bases. After a strikeout for the second out of the inning, Cincinnati made a pitching change and sophomore shortstop Jebb rudely welcomed reliever Ryan Stackline to the game. He smacked Stackline’s first offering over the wall in right center field, sparking a Spartan celebration at the plate, as the team met and mobbed him at home plate.
“We just kept chopping, we were down by four runs at one point and then three runs in the ninth, but it didn’t matter what inning we were in, we were just going to keep grinding away and keep chopping and it says for itself, we came back and kept chopping,” Jebb said.
Jebb finished the day 3-for-4 with four RBI and two runs scored, leading MSU’s bats to 12 hits. Ahn ended 2-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored.
“I was really happy for Peter, he more than did his part and that’s all you really can ask for is your teammates to do their part, and when we when we all do that and come together, we can do some really great things,” Jebb said.
The winning pitcher for the Spartans was Brian Martin, who came on in the eighth inning to earn the victory. Freshman Erik Stern made his debut for the Spartans in the sixth inning and earned his first collegiate strikeout against the first batter he faced.
“I’m really proud of our guys today. On the mound, I know we probably didn’t have our best stuff early, but a couple of really big holds, especially from Brian Martin, and Erik Stern did a heck of a job,” MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said.
The win improved the Spartans record to .500 sitting at 6-6 early on in the season. The loss for the Bearcats dropped them to the same record at 6-6.
MSU continues First Pitch Invite action on Saturday, March 12, taking on Western Carolina in a 2 p.m. first pitch, preceding Kansas vs. Cincinnati at 6 p.m. The Spartans wrap up the weekend on Sunday, March 13 against Kansas in a 1 p.m. start time, with Western Carolina and Cincinnati to follow at 2 p.m.