Spartans' baseball upsets 12th ranked Notre Dame at Comerica Park
Michigan State traveled to Detroit to take on Notre Dame at Comerica Park home of the Detroit Tigers for the first time ever on Tuesday night and came out victorious over the 12th ranked Fighting Irish.
Michigan State took the lead early scoring two runs in the bottom of the first off of an error by the Notre Dame third basemen. The Spartans two-run lead only lasted a half inning though, as Notre Dame scratched across a run to pull within one run.
It remained 2-1 until the sixth inning when Notre Dame tied the game at 2-2 before Michigan State made a pitching change and got the final out of the sixth inning. The Spartans wasted no time as in the bottom of the sixth they erupted for a three-run inning regaining a 5-2 lead.
The Spartans added another run in the seventh inning to give them a 6-2 lead and held on for the final six outs and earned a 6-2 victory under the Comerica Park lights.
Michigan State sophomore pitcher Harrison Cook went 5.2 IP with four Ks, scattering five hits, while yielding two runs, before turning the game over to the Spartan bullpen. Junior Wyatt Rush got out of a bases-loaded jam with one out, ringing up a strikeout and popup to leave them loaded. Classmate Andrew Carson pitched the eighth and ninth, striking out the side in the eighth and then after yielding a two-out double in the ninth, chalked up his fourth strikeout in two innings to end the game and spark the Spartan celebration.
The win gave the Spartans their highest ranked win since 2014 when they knocked off then #1 Oregon State.
The Spartans record now stands at 17-21 (3-9) and they return home to McLane Stadium at Kobs Field tonight in East Lansing to take on Purdue Fort Wayne. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.