Michigan State Baseball Routs Illinois 14-4 to Salvage Weekend Series

Michigan State jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first inning, mirroring their start from Friday's first game. However, Illinois fought back, plating two runs in the third and two more in the fourth to take a brief 4-3 lead.

The Spartans didn't flinch. In the bottom of the fifth, MSU broke the game open with a four-run rally, sparked by consecutive singles from JT Sokolove and Ryan McKay. Sam Busch drove in a run, Randy Seymour hit a sacrifice fly, and Parker Picot delivered a key two-run single to put MSU back on top 7-4.

MSU continued to pour it on, adding a run in the sixth, two in the seventh (highlighted by Busch's two-run homer into the Red Cedar River), and four more in the eighth to clinch the run-rule victory. Busch capped his stellar day with the walk-off RBI single in the eighth.

"Today's a bounce-back day for us, so I'm proud of our guys for their approach really all day long," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. "I thought when they took the lead, we stayed calm, we kept our composure and kept grinding and it ended up being a good day."

Busch added, "I was just seeing the ball well today... just try to be aggressive early in counts and get them in."

On the mound, sophomore Gannon Grundman started, giving up four runs in 3.1 innings. Redshirt-sophomore Tate Farquhar (2-0) earned the win with 2.2 effective relief innings, and graduate George Viebrock III finished with 2.0 scoreless innings.

The Spartans now look ahead to the annual Crosstown Showdown exhibition game against the Lansing Lugnuts on Tuesday, followed by a home game against Bowling Green on Wednesday, before traveling to face Indiana in a crucial Big Ten road series next weekend.

Michigan State won 14-4 via the run rule in 8 innings. The victory salvaged the final game of their weekend Big Ten series against Illinois after losing the first two.

Senior Sam Busch was the star, recording 4 hits, a career-high 5 RBIs, and a home run. JT Sokolove, Ryan McKay, Will Shannon, and Parker Picot also had strong offensive performances with multiple hits each.

Following the win, Michigan State's overall record improved to 17-10, with a 4-5 record in Big Ten Conference play.

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