MSU baseball built an early lead, but late-game miscues proved costly in a 5-4 loss to Nebraska.
Clinging to a one-run lead in the bottom of the ninth, MSU was one out away from victory with a runner on second. Nebraska’s Joshua Overbeek lined a pitch to right field, straight at sophomore Parker Picot.
A routine line drive hit right at Picot quickly entered his mitt and exited just as fast as MSU’s hopes of a Big Ten Tournament run.
"You're going to win games in that way, and unfortunately, you're going to lose some in that way," MSU baseball head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. "But, to watch our kids hurt like that, it's tough. I'm proud of them. They left it all out there tonight, and it was just unfortunate. As far as the character of our group, it is outstanding. It was one of the more enjoyable years of my career."
Under the new tournament format, the higher seed advances in the event of a tie in pool play. As the tournament’s 12th and lowest seed, MSU needed to beat both Nebraska and No. 4 Oregon to reach the semifinals.
The new bracket system, which incentivises regular-season success, effectively ended MSU’s season Tuesday night.
MSU battled to maintain its lead behind Big Ten Pitcher of the Year Joseph Dzierwa. Dzierwa tossed six innings, allowing seven hits, three runs (two earned) and a walk while striking out six.
Dzierwa finished his day with six innings pitched, seven hits, three runs–two earned and a lone walk while ringing up six strikeouts. His 104 strikeouts rank fourth in MSU single-season history. With six tonight, he passes Nick Bates in 2002 (100).
"It was one of the best decisions I ever made to come back here," Dzierwa said. "It’s been unreal."
MSU got on the board early, starting in the first inning. All Big Ten Second Team, Ryan McKay led off with a single to right. After moving to second on a Randy Seymour groundout, Sam Busch launched a double to score McKay for the first run of the game.
After Nebraska tied it in the bottom of the first, MSU responded with three straight walks to plate two more runs. The Spartans led 3-1 after two innings and extended their lead to 4-1 after five. MSU is 25-8 when scoring first, but this time the early edge didn’t last.
In Dzierwa’s final frame, Cayden Brumbaugh and Gabe Swanson roped back-to-back singles, putting two on with one out. Dzierwa caught the next batter looking on strikes, but first baseman Case Sanderson followed it with a single, scoring both runners.
Sanderson was a force on both sides of the ball, finishing 3-for-5 at the plate and flashing the leather with multiple standout plays at first base, including diving stops and leaping catches.
MSU reliever Garrett Brewer took over for Dzierwa and kept Nebraska in check. In 2 2/3 innings of work, Nebraska found three hits and an unearned run against the southpaw.
The nightmare ninth inning started strong before it ultimately fell apart. Brewer forced an 0-2 count on the lead-off batter Dylan Carey. Defying expectations, Carey laid down a two-strike bunt and beat the throw to reach safely.
Brewer retired the next two hitters, but Picot’s miscue in right tied the game at four.
Despite the final misfortune for Picot, he made skillful plays all night at the position, including a diving grab to end the eighth inning.
"He's such a good kid, he works so hard," Boss said. "He's gonna come out on the other side of this, I think, just fine."
In extras, the Spartans went down in order. Nebraska didn’t go down the same way, though.
In the home half of the tenth, Carey singled through the left side and reached second on a steal. Carey has just four stolen bases on the season and has been thrown out three times, but his speed played a crucial role in the Cornhuskers' win.
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It was a fitting end for MSU, which has struggled with errors all season. Owning the second-worst fielding percentage in the conference (95.6%), the Spartans are now 9-13 in games where they commit two or more errors.
Though MSU had cleaned things up in recent weeks, defensive lapses resurfaced when it mattered most.
MSU will close out its season Thursday at 6:00 p.m. against No. 4 Oregon. As the No. 1 seed, Oregon can go 1-1 and advance to this weekend's semifinals.
MSU will give it one last shot in what will be at least 11 Spartans’ final game.
"I’m proud of our guys, proud of the way they competed and proud of the way they represented Michigan State," Boss said. "We got one more left on Thursday, and we'll be ready to go for that one, but this was a tough one to lose tonight."
While the loss to Nebraska stings, Michigan State’s gritty showing in its Big Ten Tournament opener reflected the team’s resilience all season. With another on the horizon against top-seeded Oregon, the Spartans will look to finish the year with pride, sending off their seniors and setting the tone for a program that showed flashes of promise — and a foundation to build on.
