Box Score MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The No. 25-ranked West Virginia University baseball team fell to Michigan State, 9-3, on Sunday morning inside U.S. Bank Stadium.
 
In the Mountaineers' final game at the 2022 Cambria College Classic, the squad took an early lead and had chances to put together a comeback bid later on but couldn't capitalize. WVU scored a run in the fourth, seventh and eighth and totaled seven hits on the day.
 
Freshman right-handed pitcher Chris Sleeper took the loss, dropping his record to 1-1 on the year, while Michigan State's Ryan Szczepaniak earned the win.
 
"We play on the road a lot, so we have to learn how to win on the road," WVU coach Randy Mazey said. "This is a pretty disappointing way to end the weekend after winning the first game, but you learn a lot more about your team when you lose than when you win."
 
West Virginia (7-4) stranded runners on second and third to begin the game, which led to early dominance by Sleeper. The Henrietta, New York, native retired his first nine hitters, throwing just seven pitches in the first inning, six in the second and 12 in the third.
 
The Mountaineers took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth, thanks to freshman infielder Alex Khan's RBI single to right field. But Michigan State (5-5) got to Sleeper in the bottom half of the inning, tallying three runs to take a 3-1 lead.
 
Sleeper logged 4.0 innings on the day, allowing three runs on four hits with three strikeouts.
 
After the Spartans scored again in the fifth, sophomore infielder Nathan Blasick recorded a pinch-hit, RBI single in the seventh to cut the deficit to 4-2. It marked the second RBI of the weekend for the Halifax, Pennsylvania, native as a pinch hitter.
 
Later, WVU loaded the bases and had opportunities to add more runs in the frame but an inning-ending double play squashed the threat.
 
MSU answered with two runs in the bottom of the seventh to extend its lead to 6-2, before sophomore catcher McGwire Holbrook hit a solo homer – his second of the weekend – in the top of the eighth to get one back for WVU.
 
From there, the Spartans broke the game open with a three-run eighth, making it a 9-3 ballgame.
 
Freshman infielder Grant Hussey led WVU with two hits in the loss, while five others also registered a hit.
 
Next up, the Mountaineers return to Morgantown to open a four-game homestand, beginning on Wednesday, March 9, against Rider. First pitch at Wagener Field at Monongalia County Ballpark is set for 3 p.m. ET.
 
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUBaseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.