Sunday, April 13
East Lansing, Mich.
12:05 p.m. CT
Northwestern
16-17, 7-8
1
at
3
Michigan State
19-15, 6-9
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Northwestern
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
6
0
Michigan State
0
0
0
0
0
3
0
0
X
3
7
1
'Cats Drop Series Finale at Michigan State
4/13/2025 4:47:00 PM | Baseball
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Northwestern fell to Michigan State 3-1 in a pitchers' duel on Sunday, April 13 at Jeff Ishbia Field in the rubber match of the three-game weekend series.
Northwestern (16-17, 7-8 Big Ten) got on the board first in the top of the sixth. 3B Owen McElfatrick led off the inning with a double down the left-field line, advanced to third on a groundout to second base by 1B Trent Liolios, and came around to score on a groundout to second base by CF Jackson Freeman.
Michigan State (19-15, 6-9 Big Ten) responded immediately with three runs in the bottom half of the frame. CF JT Sokolove led off the frame with a double of his own and came around to even the score at one on an RBI double by 2B Ryan McKay. McKay advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a double down the right-field line by 1B Sam Busch to give the Spartans the lead. A single by RF Parker Picot scored Busch to extend the Spartans lead to 3-1 and cap off the scoring.
RHP Matthew Kouser (3-3) got the start for the Wildcats, allowing three runs on seven hits, walking two, fanning two, and hitting one batter. RHP Jack Grunkemeyer worked 2.2 scoreless innings, allowing no hits and recording eight outs in seven batters faced.
RHP Nolan Higgins (2-3) earned the win, allowing one run on four hits in 6.0 innings, walking two and striking out two. LHP Garrett Brewer closed out the game for the Spartans with 3.0 scoreless innings, allowing a pair of hits, walking one, and striking out en route to his first save of the season.
Game Notes
Northwestern (16-17, 7-8 Big Ten) got on the board first in the top of the sixth. 3B Owen McElfatrick led off the inning with a double down the left-field line, advanced to third on a groundout to second base by 1B Trent Liolios, and came around to score on a groundout to second base by CF Jackson Freeman.
Michigan State (19-15, 6-9 Big Ten) responded immediately with three runs in the bottom half of the frame. CF JT Sokolove led off the frame with a double of his own and came around to even the score at one on an RBI double by 2B Ryan McKay. McKay advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a double down the right-field line by 1B Sam Busch to give the Spartans the lead. A single by RF Parker Picot scored Busch to extend the Spartans lead to 3-1 and cap off the scoring.
RHP Matthew Kouser (3-3) got the start for the Wildcats, allowing three runs on seven hits, walking two, fanning two, and hitting one batter. RHP Jack Grunkemeyer worked 2.2 scoreless innings, allowing no hits and recording eight outs in seven batters faced.
RHP Nolan Higgins (2-3) earned the win, allowing one run on four hits in 6.0 innings, walking two and striking out two. LHP Garrett Brewer closed out the game for the Spartans with 3.0 scoreless innings, allowing a pair of hits, walking one, and striking out en route to his first save of the season.
Game Notes
- 3B Owen McElfatrick went 2-for-3 with a double, a walk and a run logged his second multi-hit game of the series, bringing his total on the season to 10.
- CF Jackson Freeman's RBI brought his season total to 31, second-most among Wildcats.
- Wildcat first-years pitched 56.3% (15.0/26.2) of Northwestern's innings this weekend.
- Northwestern first-years allowed nine earned runs on 14 hits and five walks in 15.0 innings pitched (5.40 earned-run average).
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Higgins,Nolan (2-3)
L: Kouser, Matthew (3-3)
S: Brewer,Garrett (1)
Batting:
2B: McElfatrick, Owen 1 ; Kucherak, Ryan 1
RBI: Freeman, Jackson 1
Base Running:
RUNS: McElfatrick, Owen 1
SB: McElfatrick, Owen 1
Batting:
2B: Sokolove,JT 1 ; McKay,Ryan 1 ; Busch,Sam 1
RBI: McKay,Ryan 1 ; Busch,Sam 1 ; Picot,Parker 1
SH: Murphy,Dayton 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Sokolove,JT 1 ; McKay,Ryan 1 ; Busch,Sam 1
CS: Busch,Sam 1
HBP: Seymour,Randy 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballINF
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