No. 1 UCLA baseball took the second game of their Big Ten Conference series 4-3 against Michigan State at Jeff Ishbia Field at McLane Stadium in East Lansing, Mi. on Saturday.

The Bruins remained undefeated in the Big Ten action by relying heavily on their pitching staff, just like they did in their series opener. In the second game against Michigan State, UCLA’s pitching staff limiting the Spartans success at bat to only eight hits over the nine innings.

All in the first

UCLA was aggressive in the top of the first and it resulted in them scoring all four of their runs off of four hits to give them a 4-0 lead. Payton Brennan and Cashel Duggar each delivered two-run singles for UCLA.

Spartans strike back

Michigan State got on the board in the bottom of the second with their only hit of the inning being a double that allowed their runner to cross home plate from second.

No. 1 UCLA baseball handled business over the last two innings against Michigan State to secure a 4-1 win in their series opener at Jeff Ishbia Field at McLane Stadium in East Lansing, Mi. on Friday.

The Bruins found themselves in a much more low-scoring outing than their 15-3 midweek affair against UC Santa Barbara. Against the Spartans, UCLA’s explosive lineup was held to just four hits over all nine innings, but the Bruins pitching staff fared better than Michigan State’s by only allowing two hits.

Scoreless start

Both UCLA and Michigan State had just one hit in the first three innings, as both teams attempted to find success at the plate. The result was the game being runless heading into the fourth.

Spartans strike first

Michigan State got their second hit of the game in the bottom of the fourth with a single, but it was enough to get their base runner across home plate for the first run of the game.

On Thursday, Amazon announced it had partnered with Duke to televise three of the Blue Devils’ games next season on Prime Video. The landmark deal is the first of its kind.

Specifically, Amazon is set to air Duke’s games against UConn in Las Vegas on Nov. 25, reigning champion Michigan at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 21, and Gonzaga in Detroit on Feb. 20. On Friday, Yahoo! Sports‘ Ross Dellenger reported the Big Ten is battling against Amazon for the broadcast rights of the Duke-Michigan game.

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“The Big Ten has notified the ACC and ESPN that it owns the rights of the announced neutral-site basketball game between Duke and Michigan next season from Madison Square Garden, scheduled for streaming on Amazon,” Dellenger wrote. “Duke collaborated with the ACC and television partner ESPN to strike the first-of-its-kind arrangement.

“… The Big Ten, backed by its primary broadcast rights holder, Fox, has communicated with both the ACC and ESPN about the matter. The league believes it owns the broadcast rights as part of a rights-holder agreement between the conferences.”

In a previous deal between the Big Ten and the ACC, the two conferences agreed to alternate broadcast rights of neutral-site games between their members played in “shared territory.” The ACC owned the broadcast rights for the Duke-Michigan game on Feb. 21 last season. The two powerhouse programs played in Washington, D.C.

Thus, the Big Ten believe it owns the broadcast rights to the Duke-Michigan game in the 2026-27 season. The game will undoubtedly draw a massive crowd. Michigan and Duke are each expected to be national title contenders next season.

Per Dellenger, “ESPN and the ACC are aligned in Duke’s licensing of the game to Amazon.” Nevertheless, Duke shouldn’t expect the Big Ten’s push for the game’s broadcast rights to end soon. Duke athletic director Nina King didn’t address conflicting broadcast rights in the school’s partnership announcement.

“In addition to our outstanding partnership with ESPN, we are excited to work with Prime Video on this groundbreaking initiative,” King said. “As Prime Video’s first college sports partner, this collaboration not only expands the global reach of Duke Men’s Basketball, but also creates meaningful opportunities for our student-athletes in a way that reflects innovation and excellence.”