Spartans Fight Until the End but Fall Just Short Against No. 1 UCLA
Spartans battled No. 1 UCLA fiercely, scoring runs late but ultimately falling by a single run in a hard-fought contest.
In game one, the Spartans clung to a 1-0 lead until the eighth inning before letting the game slip away. In game two, the Spartans fell behind 4-0 early but worked relentlessly to claw back, notching a run in the second, fifth, and eighth innings. Yet, the early Bruin explosion proved just enough, as the Spartans fell one run short in a 4-3 loss.
The Spartans sent out ace Aidan Donovan to the mound for game two—something they’ve been doing as of late, and possibly a reason they entered this series riding a two-game win streak. Having Donovan in game two has allowed momentum to build into game three. Alas, Donovan was unable to smother the Bruins enough for MSU to come away victorious, and it all started with the very first batter of the game.
UCLA’s Dean West picked up one of his two hits with a leadoff double. Then Roch Cholowsky singled, and Mulivai Levu walked to load the bases with one out. That’s when Payton Brennan singled up the middle—just past a low, outstretched glove from Donovan and right between Ryan McKay and Dayton Murphy, like the worst possible pinball bounce splitting your two bumpers.
West and Cholowsky both crossed the plate, and the Spartans quickly trailed 2-0 with just one out. It didn’t end there. After Donovan recorded his second strikeout of the inning, UCLA still had runners on second and third.