Michigan State's Joseph Dzierwa delivers a pitch during a NCAA Big Ten Conference baseball game against Iowa, Friday, May 12, 2023, at Duane Banks Field in Iowa City, Iowa. Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK

Dzierwa Shines Again, Spartans Upset No. 25 USC

Originally posted on Michigan State Spartans on SI
By Tom Cavanaugh | Last updated May 10, 2025 4:53 PM ET

One of the nation's top arms did it again for the Michigan State Spartans (26-22, 11-14) as junior left hander Joseph Dzierwa threw yet another gem to upset the No. 25 USC Trojans (32-17, 16-9) by a final score of 5-0 in Irvine, California at Great Park.

It does not matter who the Spartans are facing; Dzierwa is going to give the Spartans their best chance at victory as he continues his dominance. The defending National Pitcher of the Week hurled seven scoreless innings, allowing just two hits with zero walks and eight strikeouts.

Redshirt senior infielder Sam Busch accounted for four of the five runs that were scored, blasting two home runs with an RBI ground-rule double, all coming in the first four innings. He now has 13 homers on the year, tying him for eighth in program history for the single-season record.

"Both those guys were really good tonight," MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. "I mean, Joe [Dzierwa] was in really command the entire way, he filled up the strike zone, and pitched, I think, is as well as he did last week against Oregon. So doing so against two really quality opponents, and we needed him to be as good as he was, and he did that."

The win marks the second Top 25 victory for Michigan State in the past two weeks. They took down the No. 5 Oregon Ducks (36-13, 17-8) in East Lansing with a complete game shutout from Dzierwa for a 2-0 win. This team finds a way to rise to the occasion against some of the nation's top teams.

Friday's win also draws the Spartans a bit closer to being the 12th and final team in the conference standings with a chance to make the Big Ten tournament in Omaha, Neb. Michigan State will go for the series victory on Saturday afternoon, taking on the Trojans at 5:02 p.m. ET, 2:02 p.m. PT.

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This article first appeared on Michigan State Spartans on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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