Lugnuts Pitching Dominates in 1-0 Crosstown Showdown
April 1, 2025 - Midwest League (MWL)
Lansing Lugnuts News Release
LANSING, Mich. - The 17th edition of the Crosstown Showdown, presented by Delta Dental, was the lowest scoring in the game's history: a 1-0 Michigan State Spartans victory over the Lansing Lugnuts on a chilly Tuesday at Jackson® Field™
The result - in the earliest calendar game for the Lugnuts in team history - ended an 11-game Nuts winning streak in the series and came one year after the Nuts blew out the Spartans with a record-setting 18-0 victory. Lansing is now 14-3 against Michigan State all-time.
For the fans in attendance, the game may have looked surreal. For the first time in the event's history, dating back to 2007, the Lugnuts supplied all of the pitchers. Grant Judkins (three innings / five strikeouts), Tom Reisinger (two innings), Jake Pfennigs and Corey Avant pitched for Michigan State, blanking the Lugnuts' lineup on a combined five hits.
On the other side, Yunior Tur (three innings / four strikeouts), Kyle Robinson (two innings / four strikeouts), Henry Gómez (one inning) and Garrett Irvin (one inning) only allowed two hits to the Spartans, both in the first inning against Tur.
Even here, things are complicated. Lugnuts catcher Cole Conn, working in tandem with Judkins, et al, batted second in the Spartans' lineup. Conn lined a one-out double to right field in the first inning and scored the game's only run, unearned, on a dropped two-out Caleb Berry line drive to center fielder Rodney Green.
The Spartans batted their own nine players in addition to Conn, forming a ten-man lineup. Sam Busch collected MSU's only other hit, a two-out first inning single against Tur.
The seven-inning game was completed in one hour and 37 minutes, with a dramatic finish. With one out in the bottom of the seventh, Clark Elliott lined a single to left field off Avant and took second on a walk to Darlyn Montero. With the tying and game-winning runs aboard, Avant whiffed CJ Rodriguez and Sahid Valenzuela, prompting a celebration in the Michigan State bullpen.
The Lugnuts open their 29th season with a three-game series at Fort Wayne beginning Friday, April 4, before returning home for Opening Day at Jackson® Field™ against Great Lakes on Tuesday, April 8. Tickets are available at the stadium box office, via calling (517) 485-4500 or online at milb.com/lansing.
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