OMAHA — A little crack in the defense led to a flood of Michigan State runs and a 5-1 Spartan victory over Nebraska in the Big Ten tournament opening round game Wednesday at TD Ameritrade Park.
Nebraska will face Indiana in a 9 a.m. elimination game Thursday. Indiana, which lost three in a row in Lincoln last weekend, fell 5-3 to Maryland in the tourney opener.
Michigan State, which had lost 12 of its last 21 games, including two of three to Nebraska, didn't make a dent into Nebraska starter Derek Burkamper until the sixth inning.
Justin Hovis, facing an 0-2 pitch, drove the ball to left for a double and Kory Young, the ninth hitter in the order, bunted to the left side.