Spartans Fall to Maryland in Big Ten Tournament Opener, 2-1

Spartans Fall to Maryland in Big Ten Tournament Opener, 2-1 MINNEAPOLIS - The Michigan State baseball team fell to Maryland, 2-1, in the opening round of the

Spartans Fall to Maryland in Big Ten Tournament Opener, 2-1

MINNEAPOLIS -

The Michigan State baseball team fell to Maryland, 2-1, in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament on Wednesday night at Target Field in Minneapolis. The Spartans (33-22) took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third, but the Terps scored solo runs in each of the next two frames and held MSU to two hits over the final four innings to get the win.

Michigan State will next take on eighth-seeded Nebraska on Thursday at 2 p.m. ET in a tournament elimination game.

“It was a good ballgame,” MSU head coach Jake Boss said. “I thought we had some opportunities and we weren’t able to capitalize - give Maryland credit.

“I liked a lot about what we did tonight. I thought Cam (Vieaux) was lights-out. We had some chances and squared-up a few balls and didn’t execute on a couple opportunities that we had and that was the difference in the ballgame.”

The Spartans got what proved to be their lone run of the game in the top of the third inning courtesy of a two-out double by Mark Weist. Cam Gibson set the table with a one-out single to center field and then stole second to get into scoring position. Weist took advantage with his second double of the game, turning on a pitch from Mike Shawaryn and ripping it down the left field line to easily score Gibson.

MSU starter Cam Vieaux retired the first seven hitters of the game but got into trouble for the first time in the bottom of the fourth. Kevin Smith reached on an error by Weist to start the inning and later scored the tying run on an RBI groundout by Jose Cuas.

The Terps (37-20) got the leadoff runner on base for the second straight inning in the fifth, again leading to a run. Nick Cieri started the inning with a single through the right side and two batters later, Kevin Biondic hit a base knock to left. Vieaux retired the next batter for the second out, but couldn’t get out inning unscathed as Smith singled through the middle to score Cieri, giving Maryland a 2-1 lead.

Vieaux (4-7) struck out five, walked one and yielded one earned run in 6.1 innings of work.

“I definitely felt that having the bigger ballpark, I could get away with more,” Vieaux said. “I was trusting my defense and letting them put the ball in play and letting our guys make plays.”

After the Spartans got their run in the third, Shawaryn allowed just two more hits the rest of the way before giving way to Kevin Mooney to start the eighth. Mooney never let the Spartans gain any momentum as he allowed one hit and struck out two over the final two innings for the save.

Gibson and Weist both finished the game with a pair of hits to lead the Spartans.

“We’ve got a pretty resilient group and we’ll be ready to go on Thursday,” Boss said.