Sports – Page 447 – St. Joseph Post Archive

Royals/White Sox postponed; Moustakas placed on DL with torn ACL

Posted on May 26, 2016

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — While the Chicago White Sox game at Kansas City was postponed because of rain Thursday night, the Royals are looking on how to fill the gap of possibly losing All-Star third baseman Mike Moustakas for the season to a knee injury.

No makeup date was announced, but it will not be rescheduled as part of this series.

It was the second rainout this season for the Royals.

White Sox right-hander Miguel Gonzalez and Royals left-hander Danny Duffy, the scheduled starters Thursday, will pitch Friday.

Moustakas has a torn right anterior cruciate ligament. He injured his knee Sunday in a collision with teammate Alex Gordon in Chicago. Moustakas was originally diagnosed with a bruised knee, but an MRI on Wednesday night detected the tear. Gordon is out a month with a broken right wrist. The Royals will likely be looking to acquire help via a trade.

“We feel we are prepared to win with this current group, regardless of the injuries.” Royals general manager Dayton Moore said. “But it is no different than any other year. We know we have to massage our roster, make changes to our roster. I have no idea what opportunities will present themselves to us as we move forward into this season.

“This game changes, as we all know, minute to minute, day to day. This time last year we weren’t certain that Ben Zobrist or Johnny Cueto were going to be available.”

The Royals acquired both in late July trades and they helped them win their first World Series since 1985.

White Sox shortstop Jimmy Rollins has hit .231 in 33 games with only a .289 on-base percentage, but manager Robin Ventura is expecting more from the veteran.

“I think with where he’s at, you can’t just run him out there 14 days in a row,” Ventura said. “I don’t think you’re going to get as an effective guy if you’re doing that. So, I think part of it is to be able to get him some rest and making sure he’s fresh when he goes out there.”

Rollins has batted in the second slot 31 times, but was slated to hit seventh with Melky Cabrera, who is hitting .322 in May, batting second before the rainout

“I think moving him around you get a little protection with him being a switch-hitter,” Ventura said. “You’re going for it a little with the righties at the top, and having Melky in there. Melky’s been swinging it really well. Melky gives a little protection in case they want to bring in a righty, that you have somebody there. And then Jimmy right behind that other group there in the middle.”

The revised rotation will have White Sox left-hander Carlos Rodon and Royals right-hander Yordano Ventura starting Saturday, and White Sox right-hander Mat Latos and Royals right-hander Edinson Volquez will be the probable pitchers for Sunday.

The White Sox are in first place in the AL Central, holding a two-game lead over the Royals and a half-game advantage over the Cleveland Indians.

White Sox ace Chris Sale was scheduled to start Sunday, but will be moved back to Monday against the New York Mets. It will be the second straight series the Royals have dodged Sale.

— Associated Press —

Missouri Western’s Glaude earns NCBW All-America honor

Posted on May 26, 2016

ST. JOSEPH – The National Collegiate Baseball Writers have named Missouri Western infielder David Glaude a second team All-American.

Glaude became the first All-American for the program since Ryan Degner in 2014 by batting .403 with team-highs in hits (91), doubles (22), triples (6) and RBIs (74). His 10 home runs were also tied for second on the team and his 62 runs scored were second behind Orencio Fisher. The junior started all 58 games for the Griffons, primarily playing second base, but showing versatility as a third baseman as well. In the field, Glaude committed just seven errors all season with 116 putouts and 147 assists.

The Canadian (Quebec City) helped Missouri Western to its third ever appearance in the NCAA Central Regional and the second most wins (38) in program history. The team also broke single-season records for several of Glaudes team leading offensive categories: hits, runs, home runs and RBIs. In addition to this honor, Gluade was also named first team All-MIAA, first team NCBWA All-Central Region, first team ABCA/Rawlings All-Central Region and second team D2CCA All-Central Region.

— MWSU Athletics —

Cardinals drop series opener at Washington 2-1

Posted on May 26, 2016May 26, 2016

WASHINGTON (AP) — Even when he’s struggling at the plate, Bryce Harper knows how to put a good swing on a bad pitch.

Harper hit a slump-busting home run, Danny Espinosa also went deep and the Washington Nationals got seven strong innings from right-hander Joe Ross in a 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday night.

Washington trailed 1-0 in the sixth inning before Harper ended a 4-for-33 skid with a no-doubt-about-it shot into the upper deck, far beyond the wall in right field. It was his 12th homer of the season, the first since May 13.

“It felt good to get one,” Harper said. “It was the kind of pitch I could handle and do some damage.”

The light-hitting Espinosa snapped the tie in the seventh with a drive to right. Batting eighth, Espinosa came in with a .199 batting average and three home runs.

Both homers came off Mike Leake (3-4), who won his previous three starts while allowing only two runs over 21 innings.

“Hanging changeup and a hanging slider, right where hitters want the ball,” Leake said. “If you take those back, it’s a zero-run ballgame.”

The first-place Nationals have been winning in spite of Harper’s recent dry spell, but he was delighted to contribute to this one.

“It was good to get the `W,” he said.

Harper, the reigning NL MVP, is batting .245 after a 1-for-4 performance.

“I feel good. Swing feels great, hands feel good,” he said.

Ross (4-4) gave up one run and six hits over seven innings. He had lost four straight decisions since beating the Cardinals in St. Louis on April 30.

“I was hoping for him to get the win,” manager Dusty Baker said. “He had been trying so long.”

Felipe Rivero worked the eighth and Jonathan Papelbon got three straight outs for his 13th save.

Aledmys Diaz homered for St. Louis, 0-4 against Washington this season.

The Cardinals were without their top run producer, Matt Carpenter, who was placed on the paternity list earlier Thursday. He leads St. Louis with nine homers and 32 RBI.

“A couple solo home runs shouldn’t be enough to do that to us,” manager Mike Matheny said after the loss, “but we just had trouble doing anything offensively.”

Washington, in turn, went through the game with torrid-hitting Daniel Murphy on the bench. He was given the day off by Baker, who said, “One of their big bats is out of the lineup, so they offset. It worked out perfectly.”

The Nationals got runners on second and third with two outs in the second before Espinosa grounded out.

Diaz led off the fourth with his seventh home run, a drive to left into the St. Louis bullpen.

I GOT IT

One play before Espinosa’s home run, Stephen Drew hit a popup that was converged upon by third baseman Greg Garcia and Diaz, the shortstop, both of whom had their gloves raised to make the catch. The players collided and the ball popped out of Garcia’s glove — right into the mitt of catcher Yadier Molina, who was trailing the play.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: 1B Matt Adams left in the fifth inning with mid-back stiffness. He will be re-examined Friday. … INF Jhonny Peralta will report to Double-A Springfield on Friday after going 3 for 13 in five rehab games at Single-A Peoria. Peralta was operated on in March to repair an injured ligament in his left thumb. Matheny says, “He’s one guy on the immediate radar to help us.”

Nationals: Reliever Matt Belisle (right calf strain) will make a rehab appearance Saturday with Class A Potomac. The 35-year-old tossed a scoreless inning in both his previous outings with Potomac.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: LHP Jaime Garcia (3-4, 3.59 ERA) enters Friday night’s game in bounce-back mode after giving up a total of eight runs and 15 hits in his last two starts.

Nationals: RHP Max Scherzer (5-3, 3.80) is 1-2 lifetime against St. Louis, but he threw seven shutout innings against the Cardinals on May 1.

— Associated Press —

Northwest’s Wichmann, Schluter hit personal records at NCAA Championships

Posted on May 26, 2016May 26, 2016

Northwest Missouri State University’s Derrick Schluter and Chloe Wichmann opened competition at the 2016 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field National Championships in Bradenton, Fla., on Thursday morning.

– Schluter is currently ninth after the first five events with 3,599 points in the Decathlon.

– Wichmann currently sits 13th in the women’s Heptathlon wiht 2,925 points.

– The championships are being held at the IMG Academy facilities.

Men’s Decathlon

– Schluter started the day by scoring 755 points in the 100 meter dash, running 11.49.

– After fouling on his first attempt in the long jump, he marked 22-7.25 in the long jump to score 788 points.

– In the shot put, he scored 546 points with a best throw of 36-1.25 on his final attempts.

– Schluter cleared 6-1.5 in the high jump to score 687 points.

– He ran a personal-best 49.82 in the day’s final event, the 400 meter dash, scoring 828 points, winning his heat. His pervious best was 49.84 set in 2015.

Women’s Heptathlon

– Wichmann began her day by scoring 755 points in the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 15.67.

– She cleared 5-4.5 in the high jump to score 783 points.

– After fouling on her first attempt in the shot put, Wichmann marked 33-10 on ther second attempt to score 550 points.

– In her final event of the day, she ran a personal record 25.55 in the 200 meter dash to score 837 points. Her previous best was 25.62 set back in 2015.

Up Next
– The Decathlon starts at 8:30 a.m. and the Heptathlon starts at 9:30 a.m. on Friday morning. Kevin Schultz will compete in the high jump at 4:05 p.m. All times are CST.

— Northwest Athletics —

Royals can’t complete sweep, lose at Minnesota 7-5

Posted on May 25, 2016

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — With one powerful swing, Miguel Sano put the Minnesota Twins in front of the Kansas City Royals and out of their frustration.

For once, this floundering team had reason to feel good at the ballpark.

Sano hit the go-ahead two-run home run in the fifth inning, and the Twins staved off another series sweep Wednesday by beating the Royals 7-5.

“It hasn’t been what everyone was hoping it would be, just being a guy who could come out and dominate in his second year and all the hype, but you know it’s a tough game and he’s kind of learned that,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said.

The major league leader with 67 strikeouts in 45 games, Sano bailed out Tyler Duffey (2-3) with his drive into the second deck above left field for a 6-5 lead on his eighth home run this season after Joe Mauer started with a single.

Sano, who is batting .221 after a strong debut in 2015, was in a 2-for-24 skid until that. He credited Mauer for some strategical hitting advice.

“I listened to him,” Sano said through an interpreter, “and I hit the ball out.”

Eduardo Nunez and Brian Dozier each homered, too, the first two batters to face Royals starter Dillon Gee (1-2) and just the fifth pair in Twins history to go deep in their first two plate appearances of the game.

Duffey gave away a 3-0 lead during a five-run fourth by the Royals, but the right-hander hung around long enough to become the first Twins starter this season to record his second victory. The rotation has totaled six wins. There were 11 pitchers in the major leagues with seven or more victories when the day began.

“When that kind of inning happens, that’s kind of the test,” Duffey said. “If you don’t go out and get it done after that, you kind of quit on your team and I wasn’t going to do that.”

Duffey displayed the swagger the Twins had in ample supply Wednesday and have been missing all year. He responded to a brief mound visit from Dozier after Sano had returned him the lead.

“I told him he’s got to bear down. The winning run is out there and that’s the way you have to act,” Dozier said.

The Twins (12-34) have trailed at some point in all but two of their games this year. They were in trouble after Eric Hosmer hit a two-run double to halt a 2-for-22 slide and the sizzling Salvador Perez tied the game with another double. Omar Infante added a two-out RBI triple and trotted home on Duffey’s wild pitch.

Duffey pitched into the seventh, and Trevor May struck out Lorenzo Cain with two runners on to end a threat. May gave up 10 runs, including four homers, over 3 1/3 innings in his previous five appearances. Cain is batting .356 (32 for 90) with 17 RBI in this month.

Kevin Jepsen pitched a scoreless ninth for his fourth save in seven attempts. Pinch hitter Jarrod Dyson hustled for a one-out double, but Jepsen struck out Whit Merrifield to end it and give the Royals (24-22) just their third loss in their last 10 games.

The Twins have been swept an astounding eight times already, but not this week. After allowing only two extra-base hits to right-handers all season before Wednesday, Gee gave up four of them in this one in four-plus innings. Nunez went 3 for 4 and is 6 for 8 in his career against Gee.

“It just seemed like when I made a mistake today they really did some damage,” Gee said.

Still, the Royals won their fourth straight series.

“It was a great road trip,” manager Ned Yost said.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Kansas City: Cheslor Cuthbert again played 3B for Mike Moustakas (bruised left knee). Yost said the plan all along was to re-evaluate him Thursday.

Minnesota: To make room for RHP Buddy Boshers on the 40-man roster, LHP Glen Perkins (strained left shoulder) was transferred to the 60-day disabled list. He’s now eligible to be activated June 10.

UP NEXT

Kansas City: The Royals return home for a four-game series beginning Thursday against Chicago, with LHP Danny Duffy (0-0, 2.13 ERA) on schedule to start for the third time. RHP Miguel Gonzalez (0-1, 4.57 ERA) will take the mound for the White Sox.

Minnesota: After a day off for travel, the Twins begin a three-game series Friday in Seattle. LHP Pat Dean (1-0, 3.86 ERA) will make his second major league start. The Mariners will send RHP Felix Hernandez (4-3, 2.21 ERA) to the mound.

— Associated Press —

Cardinals’ rally comes up short against Chicago

Posted on May 25, 2016

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jake Arrieta got some help from the Cubs’ offense to stay perfect.

Arrieta remained unbeaten on the season despite allowing as many as four runs for the first time in nearly a year and the Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 9-8 on Wednesday.

“I picked a good day to be (bad),” Arrieta said.

“I was aggressive but they had a good game plan coming in and it was a good thing our offense was able to be extremely productive today.”

Arrieta (9-0) joined the White Sox’s Chris Sale as the only nine-game winners in the majors.

Arrieta allowed four runs in a regular-season game for the first time since June 16, 2015.

“We grind whoever it is,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “We acknowledge the fact that he’s a good pitcher and has had a good start, but I think for us to give him too much credit and go up defeated it a bad route.”

Arrieta became the first Cub to win his first nine decisions since Kenny Holtzman in 1967 and it is the best start to a season for the franchise since Jim McCormick went 16-0 in 1886.

The Cubs have won Arrieta’s past 23 starts, a franchise record.

“There was not any good flow to his pitching today,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. “You look at the gun everything’s normal. The guy competes.”

Kris Bryant hit a three-run homer and Jason Heyward and Ben Zobrist each drove in two runs for the Cubs.

Bryant drove a 3-2 pitch from Seung Hwan Oh about 411 feet in the sixth inning, giving the Cubs a 9-4 lead. Bryant has homered in three of his past six games.

The Cubs sent 11 men to the plate in a six-run second, five of the runs scored with two outs. Heyward’s two-run double and Zobrist’s two-run single capped the scoring as Cardinals starter Carlos Martinez threw 38 pitches.

Hector Rondon earned his eighth save.

Stephen Piscotty, hitting .360 in May, had an RBI single in the first to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead. It was the first run Arrieta had given up in the first inning of a regular-season game since May 29, 2015.

Randal Grichuk’s solo homer in the second inning cut the Cubs’ lead to 6-2 and was the first homer Arrieta had given up in 51 regular-season innings, which was the longest active streak in the majors.

The Cardinals made it 6-4 in the fourth on RBI hits by Matt Adams and Grichuk and they loaded the bases again in the fifth, but Cubs third baseman Tommy La Stella bailed out Arrieta with a diving stop on Grichuk’s grounder and forced Yadier Molina at second.

“I think that was one of the turning moments in the game,” Bryant said. “The momentum could have completely changed. I think that was the play of the game.”

Matt Holliday snapped a 3-for-39 slump with a three-run homer in the sixth to make it 9-7. Adams hit his second homer of the series in the seventh to cut it to a one-run deficit.

“Grichuk I mean is really swinging the bat well,” Maddon said. “Adams got toasty at the wrong time and up and down their lineup Piscotty’s a good player, (Aledmys) Diaz does swing the bat that well, they don’t quit that’s why they win championships.”

Martinez (4-5) lost his career-high fifth straight start.

BUNDLE OF JOY

Cardinals’ Matt Carpenter, hitless in 16 at-bats against Arrieta, was out of the lineup Wednesday because he was with his wife, who went into labor before the game with their first child. Kolten Wong hit in Carpenter’s leadoff spot.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: Acquired OF Jose Martinez from the Kansas City Royals for cash considerations and assigned him to Triple-A Memphis. RHP Mitch Harris (elbow) was moved to the 60-day disabled list to make room for Martinez on the 40-man roster.

UP NEXT

Cubs: LHP Jon Lester (4-3, 2.60 ERA) will kick off a 10-game homestand Friday against the Philadelphia Phillies. Lester is 4-0 with a 1.76 ERA in six starts against the Phillies.

Cardinals: RHP Mike Leake (3-3, 4.07 ERA) will make his 10th start of the season, starting a seven-game road trip at the Washington Nationals. Leake is 3-0 with a 0.86 ERA in his past three starts.

— Associated Press —

Andrew White to return to Nebraska for senior season

Posted on May 25, 2016

Lincoln – Andrew White III announced Wednesday evening that he has withdrawn from the NBA Draft and will return for his senior season at the University of Nebraska.

“I felt good about the pre-draft process,” White said. “It was encouraging, and I gained as much ground as anyone throughout the process. I wanted one more year to fine tune my game and put myself in better position for the NBA next summer. I want to thank the teams who invited me their in-house workouts, and Nebraska for supporting me during this process. It has been very helpful in gathering information in preparation for my future Thank you to everyone who has been following my progress throughout the spring and being understanding and supportive, as I evaluated whether to turn pro or return for my senior year.”

White, a 6-foot-7, 216-pound guard, earned honorable-mention All-Big Ten honors in 2015-16, averaging 16.6 points and a team-high 5.9 rebounds per game. He ranked among the Big Ten leaders in scoring (sixth), rebounding (15th) and 3-point percentage (fourth) in his first season as a Husker.

White reached double figures in 28 contests, including a pair of 30-point efforts. He had a career-high 35 points, including six 3-pointers, against Penn State on Feb. 13. White also topped the Huskers with three double-doubles in his first season at Nebraska. White, who had nine 20-point games in 2015-16, closed the year with a 25-point performance against Maryland in the Big Ten quarterfinals. White’s 16.6 ppg is second among all Big Ten returnees in 2016-17.

“We are excited to have Andrew remain with our program,” Nebraska Coach Tim Miles said. “This has been a valuable time for him, as he has tested his skills against some of the best competition and received very important insight from key NBA personnel. We look forward to continuing to help Andrew’s development to improve his NBA profile even more than he already has done through this process. I believe next year could be our most complete team with a great opportunity for success in the Big Ten and NCAA tournament, I’m happy Andrew will be with us to go out and prove it.”

White’s return bolsters Nebraska’s lineup, as six of the Huskers’ top eight scorers return for 2016-17 as part of a group of seven returning letterwinners. In all, the group combined for nearly 69 percent of its scoring and 70 percent of the team’s rebounding last season.

White is one of four players who started at least 16 games last year. Fellow rising senior Tai Webster averaged 10.0 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game while Glynn Watson Jr. (8.6 apg; 2.4 apg) and sophomore forward Michael Jacobson (4.7 ppg; 4.3 rpg) both were starters as true freshmen in 2015-16.

NU also welcomes Louisville transfer Anton Gill, and a three-member freshman class (Jeriah Horne, Isaiah Roby, Jordy Tshimanga) which were all ranked in the top-150 seniors nationally by Rivals.com.

— NU Athletics —

Northwest Missouri State’s Baldwin named Academic All-American

Posted on May 25, 2016

AUSTIN, Texas – Northwest Missouri State University’s Sarah Baldwin has been named to the 2016 CoSIDA Academic All-America Division II Softball team. Baldwin earned third team honors after graduating from Northwest this spring with a 4.00 GPA in Biology/Psychology.

Baldwin becomes the second player in Bearcat softball history to earn Academic All-America honors, joining outfielder Kendra Smith in 2000. Baldwin was a first team all-district performer and became eligible for All-America honors.

During her senior season, Baldwin earned All-MIAA honorable mention accolades and was named an MIAA Scholar Athlete. She appeared in 24 games, making 21 starts. She tallied 100 strikeouts on the year in 125.2 innings pitched. She went 10-6 with a 2.40 ERA with one save. She had seven shutouts on the year including a
five-inning perfect game against Northeastern State on March 5, in which she struck out five.

— Northwest Athletics —

Kansas State falls to top-seeded Texas Tech in Oklahoma City

Posted on May 25, 2016

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – K-State jumped out to 5-1 lead after the top of the fourth inning, but top-seeded Texas Tech scored seven unanswered runs to come back and defeat the eighth-seeded Wildcats, 8-5, on Wednesday in the first round of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.

The Wildcats (26-30) used a pair of two-out, two-run doubles by Jake Scudder and Michael Smith to help build their four-run advantage, but 14 of Texas Tech’s 17 hits after the third frame fueled the come-from-behind victory. The Red Raiders (41-14) scored three runs in the fifth to tie it at 5-5 before two runs in the sixth and a run in the eighth put away the Wildcats.

“We got off to a really good start, obviously,” said K-State head coach Brad Hill. “Three runs in the first and I liked the way our kids got after it. There was a big two-out hit by Michael Smith (in the fourth). You feel like you’re off to a really good start, but then that’s why (Texas Tech is) the conference champion for a reason and just great composure (by the Red Raiders). They didn’t panic over there. They felt very comfortable and confident that they were going to comeback, just chip away at it like they did.”

The loss puts K-State in the elimination bracket, where it will face No. 5 seed Oklahoma on Thursday at 9 a.m. The Sooners fell to West Virginia earlier in the day, 6-0.

After K-State starting pitcher Corey Fischer scattered five hits, two runs and a walk in the first four innings, the Wildcat bullpen yielded the go-ahead runs. Jordan Floyd was summoned in the fifth after back-to-back singles off Fischer opened the frame, but the left-hander sandwiched an RBI single with his two strikeouts before surrendering a pair of run-producing singles followed by a walk to end his outing. The last of the pair of two-out singles, produced by Hunter Hargrove, evened the score.

In the sixth, freshman Mitch Zubradt, who ended the fifth with a groundout to the only batter he faced, allowed back-to-back singles to open the inning. Both runners, Stephen Smith and Tyler Floyd, came around to score on a single by Tyler Neslony and sacrifice fly by Eric Gutierrez.

Zubradt took the loss, his first of his career, after he was responsible for two runs on three hits and a walk over 1 1/3 innings.

While Texas Tech pulled away with the five runs over the sixth and seventh, the Red Raider bullpen quieted K-State’s offense. Led by Robert Dugger and Hayden Howard, who picked up the win and save, respectively, the Texas Tech relief corps limited the Wildcats to one hit and just three baserunners (one walk, one error) over the last five innings.

The Wildcats wasted little time in staging a threat against Texas Tech starting pitcher Ty Damron in the first as a leadoff single by Clayton Dalrymple, hit by pitch by Tyler Wolfe and walk drawn by Josh Rolette loaded the bases for Scudder. The Big 12 Newcomer of the Year fed a double down the left field line to drive in Dalrymple and Wolfe to make it 2-0 K-State. Tyler Moore followed up Scudder with a fielder’s choice to score Rolette and give the Wildcats a three-run lead.

“Damron got a little more aggressive after (the three runs in the first),” said Hill. “He really challenges with the fastball and got it elevated where we couldn’t catch up to it for a couple of innings. He kind of settled down for a little bit.”

Texas Tech answered the three K-State runs in the first when Cory Raley hit an RBI triple with two outs off Fischer to cut it to 3-1, but Smith followed up a single by Quintin Crandall and two-out walk by Josh Ethier in the fourth with a double to the wall in left field to make it 5-1 Wildcats.

Prior to the Red Raiders tying the game in the fifth, they cut the K-State advantage to three runs in the fourth when Neslony, who opened the frame with a double, scored on a sacrifice fly by Hargrove.

Of Texas Tech’s 17 hits, four were for extra-bases. K-State, meanwhile, had three hits for the extra-base variety of its six total.

Crandall had a double and single to lead the Wildcats with two hits. It was his 12th multi-hit game this year.

Six Red Raiders had multi-hit efforts, led by three apiece from Smith, Floyd and Neslony.

K-State will face Oklahoma in an elimination game for the second straight year. Left-hander Parker Rigler will get the start on the mound for K-State on Thursday and face righty Alec Hansen.

— K-State Athletics —

Huskers drop Big Ten Tournament opener to Michigan State

Posted on May 25, 2016

Omaha – A five-run sixth inning by the Michigan State Spartans (35-18) doomed the Nebraska baseball team (37-19) on Wednesday afternoon, as the No. 7 seed Spartans beat the No. 2 seed Huskers, 5-1, in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament. The Spartans scored all five of their runs in the sixth on five hits, while notching just three hits the rest of the game.

Michigan State’s Cam Vieaux hadn’t gone more than 4.1 innings in his last four starts, but the lefty turned in a dominant 8.2-inning performance on Wednesday. It’s Vieaux’s longest outing since he tossed a complete-game shutout at Purdue on April 15. Vieaux recorded just one strikeout on the day, but limited the Huskers to one run on three hits and two walks.

Junior Derek Burkamper tossed a shutout through the first five innings on just one hit, but couldn’t make it through the sixth. The Spartans tagged Burkamper for four runs in the sixth, the most he’s allowed this year since March 25 at Purdue when the Boilermakers scored five runs (four earned).

The Spartan offense battled at the plate all day, as NU’s pitchers couldn’t put them away. Six of MSU’s eight hits came with two strikes. NU’s three hits came from its No. 3 and 4 hitters, including two singles from Jake Meyers and a double from Ben Miller

After the Huskers left a runner in scoring position in the second, the Spartans got their first hit of the game with a two-out single from No. 9 hitter Kory Young in the top of the third, one of his three on the day. Young then stole second to get in scoring position, but Burkamper stranded him there with an inning-ending fly out.

Burkamper allowed just one hit in the first five innings, but then ran into trouble in the sixth when all nine Spartans came to the plate. Justin Hovis led off with a double, Young followed with a bunt single and on the play Burkamper sailed the throw to first, allowing Hovis to score the game’s first run. Brandon Hughes worked a four-pitch walk and Jordan Zimmerman followed with a RBI double that knocked Burkamper out of the game. Reece Eddins took over with two runners in scoring position and the first batter he faced reached on a fielding error by Jake Schleppenbach that also allowed MSU’s third run of the frame to score. MSU added two more runs on a sac fly and a pair singles to take a 5-0 lead.

Trailing 5-0 the Huskers were able to get on the board in the bottom of the sixth. Jake Placzek worked a one-out walk, the first allowed by Vieaux, and later scored when Miller doubled off the left-center field wall. Vieaux was able to limit the damage to just one run, getting Taylor Fish to fly out into shallow right field to end the inning.

Nebraska’s bullpen kept the Spartans at bay over the final three innings, but NU’s offense was also unable to solve Vieaux. Miller was NU’s lone base runner over the final three innings, working a one-out walk in the ninth.

The Huskers now fall into the loser’s bracket and face the Indiana Hoosiers in an elimination game tomorrow at 9:03 a.m. The game will be carried live on the Big Ten Network.

— NU Athletics —