WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Sophomore right-hander David Garner threw a complete game shutout and struck out seven to lead Michigan State past No. 13 Purdue, 5-0, Sunday afternoon at Lambert Field.

Garner, of Niles, limited Purdue – which entered the week ranked third in the nation in batting average and 15th in scoring – to just five hits as the Boilermakers (34-7, 14-4 Big Ten) were shut out for the first time this season.

For Garner, who also has a victory over top-ranked Baylor this season, it marked his first career complete game.

“That was David’s best career outing so far,” said MSU head coach Jake Boss. “He was very impressive against one of the nation’s top offenses in their ballpark. He threw strikes all day and got ahead in the count, which was the key. David was very business-like in his approach before the game and came through with a big performance when we really needed it.”

After suffering a heartbreaking 4-3 loss in 14 innings yesterday, Michigan State (27-15, 8-7 Big Ten) bounced back to salvage the final game of the three-game set.

“It’s safe to say today was a must-win for us, and we came out ready to play,” said Boss. “Yesterday was as tough as a loss as we’ve had here since losing at Northwestern in the final game of 2010. To our guys’ credit, they separated today from yesterday and showed a lot of character.” The Spartans broke a scoreless tie with three runs in the top of the fourth. Torsten Boss, Ryan Krill and Justin Scanlon all had RBI singles in the inning to give all the run support Garner would need.

Garner didn’t walk a batter and got stronger as the game went along. He gave up just two hits in the final four innings.
MSU added insurance runs in the eighth on a Jared Hook RBI single and in the ninth as Scanlon drove home his second run of the game with a single to center.

Scanlon led MSU at the plate by tying his career high with four hits, while John Martinez had three hits and a run scored. Hook, Boss and Krill also collected multi-hit games for Michigan State, which had 16 total hits.

Purdue starter Connor Podkul (2-1) took the loss after surrendering three runs and six hits in four innings.

Michigan State returns to action next weekend for a three-game series at Illinois.