EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Nick Williams' walk-off sacrifice fly drove in Randy Seymour with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning to lead Michigan State baseball to a 3-2 Victory for MSU over Michigan Friday night at a spirited McLane Stadium at Kobs Field.
Seymour sparked the rally with a one-out single, and senior outfielder Jack Frank followed with a single to right and Seymour scampered around to third. Senior infielder Dillon Kark was intentionally walked to bring N.Williams to the plate and he lofted a fly ball to the right-center gap and Seymour scooted home to ignite the Victory for MSU celebration, as the team swarmed N.Williams, dousing him with water near second base.
— Michigan State Baseball (@MSUBaseball) May 4, 2024WALK-OFF VICTORY FOR MSU!!!!!!!
Nick Williams with the walk-off RBI sac fly to plate Randy Seymour in the bottom of the 10th!!
Final score from McLane Stadium at Kobs Field:
Michigan State 3, Michigan 2High fives, handshakes and hugs alllllllll around!!!!#VictoryForMSU pic.twitter.com/nWctqYWbv7
"I feel like I don't have any words for it, it's just kind of always a blur, but it was definitely a lot of fun," N.Williams said of the first walk-off of his career. "I've been on the receiving end of a lot of walk-offs over my career so far. So it's good to finally get to be the one walking off somebody."
It was MSU's second walk-off win of the season, joining a 3-2 Victory for MSU over Rutgers on March 31, 2024 in the bottom of the ninth.
"Walk-off wins are a lot of fun," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. "I thought it was a really good character win for our guys tonight. We played really well, pitched it great, played clean defense, and if you do those things, you give yourselves a chance."
While the Spartan players jumped around in jubilation, Boss and his coaching staff were shaking hands with the Michigan staff.
"It's fun to watch those guys celebrate," Boss said. "I've got a lot of respect for (Michigan head coach) Tracy Smith over there. We've known each other for a really long time, we coached against each other in the MAC, and he was at Indiana and did a great job there, so you go over there and shake their hand and then you get ready to go for tomorrow."
— Michigan State Baseball (@MSUBaseball) May 4, 2024A walk-off victory is sweet!
An extra-inning walk-off victory is pretty sweeeeet!!
An extra-inning walk-off Victory For MSU over your rival is SUPER SWEEEEEEET!!!!
Final score:
MSU 3, UM 2 (10 inn.)#VictoryForMSU pic.twitter.com/AqP9msdybf
MSU beat UM for the second time this season and in different fashion after the Spartans walloped the Wolverines, 16-6, on March 26 in a non-conference game.
Friday's Spartan win cooled off the Wolverines, who rolled into East Lansing having won five in a row and eight of their last 10.
The Spartans are now 20-22 overall and 8-8 in B1G action, while the Wolverines are 24-22 overall and 10-6 in conference competition.
Both teams scored a run in the first inning, and neither team scored until the fifth frame, when Kark cracked a solo home run off the scoreboard beyond the left-field wall for a 2-1 lead. UM scored in the top of the eighth to tie it up, setting up the 10th-inning dramatics.
Spartan sophom*ore southpaw Joseph Dzierwa went a career-long 8.0 IP, ringing up nine Ks to tie a career-high for the fourth time this season. Dzierwa only yielded three hits, two runs and one walk, with the two runs coming on balk calls with Wolverine runners on third in both the first and eighth innings. He matched his jersey number by retiring 16-straight UM batters from the first inning until the sixth stanza.
"Joseph was really good tonight," Boss said. "I give him a lot of credit too, because a year ago at this time he was starting to get tired and couldn't get deep into games last year as a freshman, but he really worked hard in the offseason and really did a great job in the weight room and he's deeper into games later in the year and you saw it tonight, he was lights out."
Dzierwa was relieved by senior Aaron Mishoulam to open the ninth and Mishoulam chalked up four Ks in 2.0 IP without a hit or run, earning the win to improve to 3-1 on the year.
"I thought Aaron Mishoulam was lights out out of the bullpen," Boss said.
Sophom*ore shortstop Seymour was the lone Spartan with multiple hits going 2-for-4 with the winning run scored. Junior outfielder N.Williams had the game-winning RBI and scored the Spartans' opening run in the first inning after drawing a two-out walk.
Frank and Kark, along with senior outfielder Greg Ziegler and freshman infielder Ryan McKay were all 1-for-4, while junior infielder Sam Busch was 1-for-3.
Both teams scored in their first at bats, with Michigan plating a run in the top of the opening inning, before the Spartans countered in the home half. N.Williams drew a two-out walk, Ziegler knocked a single to move N.Williams to third and came home on McKay's RBI single to level the score at a run apiece.
— Michigan State Baseball (@MSUBaseball) May 3, 2024The Spartans got on the board in the 1st inning on Ryan McKay's RBI single, driving in Nick Williams!!
UM 1
MSU 1#GoGreen | @Ryanmckay51 | @NicklasWilliam1 pic.twitter.com/HsLN0eFxDT
Kark broke the 1-1 tie with his solo homer off the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth.
— Michigan State Baseball (@MSUBaseball) May 3, 2024Dillon Kark with a solo shot off the scoreboard!!!
Kark cracks his 4th HR of the season and 14th of his career, including his 2nd career homer vs Michigan... which came in last year's season-opener, also on a Friday night!!
UM 1
MSU 2
5th#GoGreen | @KarkDillon pic.twitter.com/AXf8KmnG8k
It was Kark's 14th career home run, including the second of his career against Michigan, also homering against the Wolverines in last year's season-opener in Phoenix, which was also on a Friday night.
UM tied it up in the eighth after a leadoff double and the runner later scored to even the game at 2-2, setting up the late-inning heroics.
Dzierwa had a streak of retiring 16-straight Wolverines after the one-out double in the first, until yielding a hit in the sixth. Five of his nine strikeouts were of the inning-ending variety, including three KLs.
— Michigan State Baseball (@MSUBaseball) May 3, 2024Dzierwa with another inning-ending strikeout!!
He's now up to 6 Ks through 5 IP and retired 14 in a row since 1-out double in 1st!!
Mid 5th |
UM 1
MSU 1Seymour to start off B5th.#GoGreen | @DzierwaJoseph pic.twitter.com/opc9cJcxQb
Mishoulam followed suite, ending the top the ninth with a strikeout looking and then back-to-back swinging strikeouts to end the 10th.
— Michigan State Baseball (@MSUBaseball) May 4, 2024Mishoulam with another K!!!!
Mid 10th
UM 2
MSU 2Aaron Mishoulam rings up his 4th K in 2.0 IP to end T10th!!
Busch-Seymour-Frank due up in B10th!!#GoGreen | @aaronmish1 pic.twitter.com/FLRK5XY45R
Earlier in the top of the 10th, N.Williams made a dramatic catch that would have been his most exciting play of the night, only to be outdone later in the frame,cuing up the walk-off dramatics in the bottom of the 10th.
— Michigan State Baseball (@MSUBaseball) May 4, 2024See Nick run... see Nick dive...see Nick make an AWESOME catch!!!
Nick Williams making a worthy #SCTop10 catch for @ESPNAssignDesk!!! #GoGreen | @NicklasWilliam1 pic.twitter.com/lDe189k7dU
MSU and UM return to the diamond at McLane Stadium at Kobs Field for game two of the series on Saturday at 3:35 p.m., before the Spartans and Wolverines series wraps up on Sunday at 2:05 p.m.
— Michigan State Baseball (@MSUBaseball) May 4, 2024More WALK-OFF VICTORY FOR MSU video??
More WALK-OFF VICTORY FOR MSU video ✅✅✅
If you're happy and you know it... fist pump like Coach Stone!!!#VictoryForMSU pic.twitter.com/HO5k7yydiV
Michigan State then hosts Bowling Green on Tuesday, May 7 at 6:05 p.m. in another non-conference match-up.
Fans can follow the action with "Tickets," "Watch Live," "Listen Live" and "Live Stats" links at MSUSpartans.com.
Michigan State's schedule is subject to change, stay tuned to MSUSpartans.com and @MSUBaseball on Twitter for schedule updates.
Individual game tickets are also on sale through the Spartan Ticket Office, or online athttps://sprtns.co/MSUBSBTix.
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