Spartans Sweep Doubleheader at Indiana

Spartans Sweep Doubleheader at Indiana

Spartans take two of three games from the Hoosiers on the weekend.

BLOOMINGTON, Indiana - The Michigan State baseball team swept a doubleheader from Indiana on Sunday afternoon at Kaufman Field in Bloomington, winning game one 7-0 and then game two 3-2. With the wins, MSU improved to 25-17 overall and 9-6 in the Big Ten.

The Spartans won both games behind a pair of solid starting pitching performances. Mick VanVossen’s best outing of the year lead the Spartans to a 7-0 win in game one. The senior right-hander held IU to one hit in tossing a complete-game shutout. In game two, senior Jeff Kinley won his first-career start in holding the Hoosiers to three hits in 6.1 innings.

The Spartans took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning of game one when Dan Durkin drove home Brandon Hughes with a two-out base knock into center field.

VanVossen allowed just one hit through four innings and retired IU hitters in order in the fourth after stranding Hoosiers on base in each of the first three innings.

Another two-out RBI base hit upped MSU’s lead to 2-0 in the top of the sixth as Chad Roskelly drove in Hughes with a single to left field.

The Spartans broke the game open in the seventh, scoring five runs to extend their lead to 7-0. Ryan Krill belted a two-RBI double down the left field line and then Ryan Richardson’s ground-rule double later scored Krill. Roskelly’s two-out, two-RBI double capped the five-run inning.

After an error gave the Hoosiers a base runner with two outs in the fifth, VanVossen retired the next 13 hitters to close the game. He finished with a season-high eight strikeouts and three walks in improving to 3-4.

IU (23-17, 6-10) starter Jake Kelzer took the loss in game one, allowing two runs on five hits in 5.2 innings.

The Spartans gave Kinley some early support in game two with a pair of runs in the top of the second inning. A two-out walk to Roskelly followed by a single to right field by Anthony Cheky put Kory Young in position to drive in the first runs of the game and the freshman took advantage with a double to left field on a full count, plating both runners.

Kinely faced just one over the minimum through four innings and Cam Gibson upped the Spartan lead to 3-0 with a leadoff solo shot in the fifth.

Indiana got its first run of the game by answering the Spartans in the bottom half of the fifth inning as Will Nolden’s two-out RBI single made the score 3-1.

Kinley got Scott Donley to ground out to begin the bottom of the seventh inning and then gave way to reliever Walter Borkovich. Borkovich struck out consecutive IU hitters to end the seventh inning and stranded a runner on base in the eighth before being pulled in replace of Joe Mockbee with one out and a runner on third in the ninth.

Mockbee gave up an RBI groundout on the first pitch to Scott Donley as IU pulled within a run, 3-2. With two outs, Mockbe then struck out Logan Sowers to end the game and get his first save of the season.