Photo: Jeff Faughender ~ USA TODAY NETWORK
OMAHA, Neb. ~ Michigan State’s postseason push came to a halt Friday morning in Omaha as the Spartans were shut out by USC, 7-0, in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals. After entering as the No. 12 seed and making history with two wins earlier in the week, MSU ran into a Trojans team that controlled the game from the first inning. USC wasted no time applying pressure and never allowed the Spartans to find any offensive rhythm in a game defined by pitching dominance and early momentum.
USC set the tone immediately, scoring two runs in the opening inning and adding two more in the third to build a 4-0 lead. The knockout blow came in the fifth, when the Trojans plated three more runs to stretch the lead to 7-0. In total, USC finished with seven runs on nine hits, capitalizing on timely hitting and taking advantage of scattered opportunities throughout the game. Michigan State, meanwhile, managed just six hits and never advanced a runner home despite putting a few men on base in the middle innings.
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(CONTINUED) The story of the game was USC’s pitching, led by sophomore ace Mason Edwards, who lived up to his billing as one of the conference’s most dominant arms. Edwards and the Trojans’ staff kept Spartan hitters off balance all morning, consistently winning at-bats and limiting hard contact. MSU had a handful of chances, recording at least one hit in multiple innings, but couldn’t string anything together, leaving runners stranded and failing to produce a key extra-base hit when it mattered.
Defensively, Michigan State held its own for stretches but couldn’t overcome the early deficit or generate momentum offensively. The shutout underscores how difficult the matchup was against a top-seeded USC squad firing on all cylinders. Still, the Spartans’ run to the quarterfinals marked a significant achievement, as they became the first No. 12 seed to win multiple games in the tournament before bowing out against one of the Big Ten’s top teams.
