Michigan State baseball doomed by sloppy play against Bowling Green
EAST LANSING, Mich. (BVM) — Errors were quite costly for the Spartans on Tuesday afternoon.
Michigan State (11-10) hosted the Bowling Green Falcons (4-16) and lost 12-3 in what was a disappointing performance for MSU.
Michigan State couldn’t seem to get out of its own way in this one, as the Spartans committed three errors only four batters into the game. Of the 12 runs scored by the Falcons, only five were earned runs.
The first inning was disastrous for MSU. BGSU’s first four batters reached base safely, and the Spartans quickly found themselves in a 4-0 hole after the top half of the first. Adam Furnas, the Falcons’ first-baseman, led the way with three hits and three RBIs in the game. His first inning single that led to a throwing error set the tone for the contest.
“We talked about the importance of a fast start,” MSU head coach Jake Boss said. “The importance of going out and trying to put them away early. We make three errors in the first inning and give up four runs and it’s really the opposite of what we talked about. I thought we had a good game plan going in but we need to execute and ultimately that’s on me.”
A shootout looked to be in the works as the Spartans had their first three batters reach base safely. However, Falcons’ pitcher Peyton Wilson was able to shut down the threat relatively unscathed, allowing just one run to score.
Wilson was able to figure out the Spartans’ lineup, but MSU starter Ryan Szczepaniak (2-1) struggled with allowing hard contact to BGSU, giving him his first loss of the year. He was only able to pitch 1.1 innings which gave a tough task for the bullpen to clean up. By the end of the second inning, it was 6-2 and MSU was already using a bullpen arm in Jack Brockhaus.
A positive takeaway for Michigan State was its ability to limit walks. Only three free passes were issued by the Spartans, and that’s something they can try to build off moving forward.
“Location is not enough at this level,” Boss said. “You need to be able to locate within the strike zone in order to get guys out. I don’t care what the numbers say, hitters at this level are here for a reason. They’re good hitters. If you don’t locate within the strike zone then you’re not going to get anyone out. That’s what happened today, we didn’t walk many guys but we gave up 16 hits.”
Bowling Green was able to add three more runs in the fourth thanks to another error by MSU and a big double from Furnas. In the fifth, Jack Krause was able to get Ryan Johnston across the plate to make it 10-2.
Wilson was relieved to start the bottom half of the sixth inning but he pitched very well. He didn’t allow a hit after the first inning, and only gave up two runs. Jeremy Spezia came in to finish the rest of the game for the Falcons and it was more of the same.
Michigan State would go on to add one more run when Trent Farquhar hit a home run to right field. Farquhar transferred from the Falcons when they announced that their baseball program would be cut due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thankfully, Bowling Green was able to reinstate its baseball program, but Farquhar ultimately decided to stick with the decision to transfer to MSU.
Brian Martin pitched three solid innings of relief for the Spartans, but it was too little too late. In the ninth, the defense committed its fifth error to give Martin two unearned runs. Dominic Hann would come in to pitch the rest of the frame and he came out of it unscathed. Still, Bowling Green added two more runs to its lead and won by a score of 12-3.
The Spartans will head back to McLane Field Wednesday to take on Youngstown State (9-14) and look to get back on track. Bowling Green will return to conference play on Friday to take on Akron (7-15).
“The opposite of today,” Boss said in regards to what he is looking for on MSU’s upcoming schedule. “To be very blunt and to break it down to its simplest form, everything that we did today we need to do the opposite tomorrow.”
Limiting errors and hard contact will be key for the Spartans to rebound from their tough loss on Tuesday.
