EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State baseball plated runs in five of the eight innings at bat, including four runs in the fifth and eighth frames, to rout Illinois, 14-4 in an 8-inning run-rule Victory for MSU on Saturday afternoon at a damp Jeff Ishbia Field at McLane Stadium in the series finale of MSU’s Big Ten Conference home opening series.

Senior infielder Sam Busch blasted a two-run home run into the Red Cedar River in the seventh inning, part of his 4-for-5 outing with a career-high five RBI.

“I was just seeing the ball well today, when those guys get on ahead of me, I just try to be aggressive early in counts and get them in,” Busch said.

Busch was one of five Spartans with multiple hits on the day, as MSU’s 1-4 hitters and five of the top six in the line-up all had two or more knocks.

Inclement weather in the weekend forecast altered the schedule to playing three games in two days with a doubleheader on Friday and a single game on Saturday. Furthermore, Friday’s game time was delayed for an hour-and-a-half, starting game one of the doubleheader at 1:30 p.m., and there was nearly a 45-minute delay due to lightning in the area at the end of the seventh inning.

Saturday’s game started on time and did not have any pauses, but moisture fell from the sky off-and-on throughout most of the game, ranging from heavy mist, to drizzle, to rain, but not hard enough to stop the game.

Not only did the rain not stop the game, but it also didn’t slow down the Spartans’ bats, as they rapped out 16 hits, the second-most of the season behind the top-mark of 18 hits at Iowa (March 14). The 16 hits was MSU’s 10th game with double-digits in the hits column, including the second time in the three games this weekend and the fifth time in the last eight games.

MSU’s 14 runs was its sixth game with 10+ runs on the season, and the Spartans won the series finale after dropping the first two games of the weekend in Friday’s doubleheader.

“Obviously it a much better day today than it was yesterday,” MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. “Today’s a bounce-back day for us, so I’m proud of our guys for their approach really all day long. They jumped out early and had some good at bats early and kind of carried that sustained approach, I think all the way through. Nothing necessarily new, but I thought the focus was really good today. 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.”

The Spartans jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first frame on Saturday, before the Illini plated a pair of runs in the both the third and fourth innings to take a 4-3 advantage. MSU regained the lead with four runs in the fifth frame, adding a run in the sixth and two more in the seventh to make it a walkie-talkie friendly 10-4 score. The Green & White plated four runs in the eighth, capped by Busch’s “walk-off” RBI single to clinch the run-rule Victory for MSU and the 14-4 score.

The RBI was Busch’s fifth of the day for a new career-best, topping his previous career-high of four done twice before, vs. Purdue Fort Wayne on March 19, 2024 and earlier this season vs. Western Carolina on March 7, 2025.

“It was great to have the chance to end it in the eighth. With our propensity to give up big innings, it was good to end it there,” Boss said. “Sam’s the guy that’s been around for a long time now, and he knows the game, he can do an awful lot. He’s got power, he’s seen the ball really well right now and that’s why he’s in the middle of the order.”

Busch’s home run was his eighth of the season, as he now has a single-season career-high after blasting seven home runs in each of the 2023 and 2024 seasons.

Saturday’s win moves MSU to 17-10 on the season, including 4-5 in B1G play. Illinois is 14-11 overall and 4-5 in conference competition with the loss. Saturday’s win also snapped the Spartans’ six-game losing streak to the Illini. It was MSU’s first win over Illinois since March 27, 2022, that also came in the series finale, which was MSU’s home game played in Champaign due to inclement weather in East Lansing after the first two games of the series were played on the Spartans’ home field. Saturday’s win was MSU’s first over Illinois in East Lansing since May 17, 2019.

The top four hitters in the Spartan line-up as part of five of the first six batters rapped two or more hits. Leadoff hitter, senior outfielder JT Sokolove and number two hitter sophomore infielder Ryan McKay were both 3-for-5 with an RBI each, and McKay scored three runs, while Sokolove touched home twice. In the three hole, senior designated hitter Will Shannon was 2-for-4 with three runs and an RBI, batting in front of Busch. MSU’s number six hitter was sophomore outfielder Parker Picot and he went 2-for-4 with three RBI, with two of them on a two-run single in the fifth.

Junior infielder Jacob Anderson was 1-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored, while senior catcher Noah Bright was 1-for-4.

On the mound, sophomore southpaw starter Gannon Grundman went 3.1 IP, scattering four hits on four runs, with two walks and three strikeouts. Redshirt-sophomore Tate Farquhar came on in the fourth with the bases loaded and yielded a hit, but then was nearly lights out, going 2.2 IP with two hits, one walk and three strikeouts, earning the win to improve to 2-0 on the season. Graduate reliever George Viebrock III kept the Illini at bay with 2.0 IP of hitless, scoreless ball, ringing up one strikeout.

Just like Friday’s series and doubleheader opening game, the Spartans got on the board first, plating three runs in their first at bat. Sokolove led off by beating out an infield single to short. McKay followed with a single through the left side. Senior designated hitter Will Shannon flew out to right to move Sokolove up a base.

Busch came to bat and doubled down the right field line for his third double in two days, driving in Sokolove and moving McKay around to third. Two batters later, a wild pitch allowed McKay to scamper home with the second run of the inning. Picot then knocked a double to left center to drive in Busch and put the Spartans on top early, 3-0.

The three runs in the first matched Friday’s opening game output in the first inning. In addition to being the second time in as many days that the Spartans scored in their first at bat, it was also the 11th game of the season that MSU scored in the first inning.

It remained a 3-0 ballgame until the third inning when Illinois plated a pair of runs, adding two more in the fourth to take a 4-3 lead.

The Spartans regained the lead in the home half of the fifth frame, peppering center field. Again, Sokolove was the sparkplug, with a single up the middle, which McKay followed suit with a single of his own up the middle. Shannon then drew a walk to not only load the bases, but chase Illini starter Regan Hall.

Busch rudely welcomed reliever Luke Weber with another single to center to plate Sokolove. Seymour then flew out to center, driving in McKay with the sac fly. Picot then joined the “hit it to center” party and roped a single of his own to the middle outfield to bring Shannon and Busch in to score and give MSU a 7-4 advantage.

The Spartans added an insurance run in the sixth as N. Williams pinch hit and drew a walk to lead off the inning. After an Illinois pitching change, Anderson laid down a sac bunt to move N. Williams up. Sokolove then singled up the middle to drive in N. Williams to increase the Green & White’s lead to double up the Illini at 8-4.

A two-run Busch blast into the Red Cedar River in the eighth increased the Spartan advantage to 10-4. Shannon led off with a single up the middle and Busch followed with the blast over the wall in right field and into the river.

“I was just trying to get a pitch to hit early on the count, because he had a pretty good break, so I was just trying to be aggressive early. It just felt good off the bat. I didn’t think it was gonna get out, but luckily it kept going,” Busch said.

In the eighth, MSU put the game away with four runs on four hits, three of them doubles. N.Williams again led off with a walk. Anderson then roped a double to center to drive in N.Williams. A Sokolove groundout advanced Anderson to third. McKay then smacked a double of his own to drive in Anderson, Shannon then doubled off the wall in right center to plate McKay. Busch then came to bat and laced a single through the right side to drive Shannon in with the fourth run of the frame and the “walk-off” Victory for MSU.

“We have an off day tomorrow, and then we’ll practice light on Monday, and then a fun night on Tuesday with the Crosstown Showdown and then back at it with Bowling Green here Wednesday,” Boss said. “You just have to take it day-to-day as cliché as it is, but that’s how our game is. We’ll have a good practice on Monday, guys will be able to rest their bodies tomorrow, watch the (Spartan) basketball game, kind of take the day off, and then we’ll be ready to go for Tuesday night and fun experience, a good learning experience for our guys, and then it’s the next day, so nothing news, it’s that time of year.”

MSU meets the Lansing Lugnuts, High-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics, at Jackson® Field™ on Tuesday, April 1, 2025 in the Crosstown Showdown.

In collaboration with Michigan State Baseball and Southside Community Kitchen, the Lansing Lugnuts will be hosting a canned food drive at the 2025 Crosstown Showdown. Donations accepted include: Cash, Non-Expired Canned Fruit, Pudding, and Single Ingredient Canned Items. Fans that bring a donation item will receive a $5 ticket voucher for a future Lansing Lugnuts game.

MSU resumes regular-season action on Wednesday, April 2, hosting Bowling Green at Jeff Ishbia Field at McLane Stadium in a 6:02 p.m. first pitch.

Michigan State baseball tickets are available online at msuspartans.evenue.net , by contacting the Spartan Ticket Office at 517-355-1610 or by email at [email protected] for questions or more information.

The week schedule is subject to further change, fans can stay tuned to MSUSpartans.com and @MSUBaseball on Twitter for schedule updates, along with follow this weekend’s action with “Watch Live,” “Listen Live” and “Live Stats” links where available.

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