A first inning home run off the bat of Minnesota catcher Chase Stanke put the Golden Gophers ahead early, and an RBI single in the fourth inning threatened to bury the Mountaineers.

West Virginia's bats woke up in the fifth inning when McGwire Holbrook connected on a two-run homer, tying the score.

Easton Bertrand, Minnesota's top hitter, pushed the Golden Gophers back ahead with an inside the park home run in the sixth inning while, a few batters later, a runner would come across to score on a throwing error.

A strong seventh inning at the plate allowed the Mountaineers to bring the score even as a pair of RBI singles brought the score up to 4-4.

It wasn't until the top of the ninth that West Virginia would break through, with Kevin Dowdell driving in JJ Wetherholt to go ahead by one.

Head coach Randy Mazey turned to closer Jacob Watters in the bottom half, who promptly retired the three batters he faced.

Notables:

JJ Wetherholt, 3B (3-for-4; 2 runs and a walk)

McGwire Holbrook, DH (3-for-3; 2 RBIs and a walk)

To put it simply, the Mountaineers had little to no presence at the plate.

Illinois got on the board in the second inning, going ahead after a two-run homer.

Things stayed mostly consistent after that, with neither team scoring until Illinois added an insurance run in the seventh inning.

In the eighth inning, the Fighting Illini plated two more runs. The following inning, another runner came across to score.

West Virginia was only able to muster two runs in the bottom of the ninth when McGwire Holbrook and Victor Scott scored on an Illinois fielding error.

The Fighting Illini turned to reliever Ty Rybarczyk in the final frame, who retired the final two batters to cement the win.

Notables:

Ben Hampton, SP (6.0 IP, 5 hits, 1 walk, 2 earned runs, 9 strikeouts)

McGwire Holbrook, DH (2-for-3; 1 run and a walk)

A fourth-inning RBI single off the bat of WVU's Alex Khan had the Mountaineers poised to push ahead, but those efforts were quickly dashed by a three-run bottom half from the Spartans.

Michigan State was able to add another run in the fifth inning before West Virginia responded with an RBI single in the seventh.

Quickly, things went from bad to worse for WVU. The Spartans added two runs in the bottom of the seventh, growing their lead to four.

McGwire Holbrook did his best to trim the gap, homering to left-center field in the eighth.

Michigan State added two more runs in the eighth inning, solidifying the victory.

Notables:

Grant Hussey, 1B (2-for-4; a double and an RBI)

Nathan Blasick, PH (1-for-1; RBI)

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