It was a strange, big-league setting. But a beautiful night and a festive crowd welcomed the Michigan State-Michigan baseball rivalry to the Motor City for the first time ever.

More than two years after the Spartans and Wolverines last faced each other in a game, Ryan Krill delivered a two-run, two-out double in the bottom of the fifth that provided MSU with a 4-2 non-conference victory Tuesday night at Comerica Park.

“A fun and special night,” MSU coach Jake Boss said. “We’ve played down here I think the last four or five years now in a row, we play here (tonight). But being able to host Michigan here and it being our home game is something our kids are gonna remember for a long time.”

The Spartans (19-15) return to Detroit as the visitors tonight and will face Central Michigan in the fifth annual Clash at Comerica.

Last season was the first time since 1945 that MSU and Michigan did not play a baseball game against each other. They were not scheduled for a Big Ten series in 2014 or this year, the fourth time that occurred in Boss’ seven seasons. Tuesday’s contest was a non-conference game the programs agreed upon because of what happened a year ago.

MSU and Michigan last met for a Big Ten series April 5-7, 2013 – the first and last games in East Lansing and the middle game in Ann Arbor. The Wolverines swept all three games that weekend.

“We didn’t get to play them last year, and it’s been a while since we played those guys,” said Krill, who finished 2-for-4 a few hours after being named Big Ten player of the week. “I know everybody was pretty juiced up for it, especially with it being at Comerica Park. It’s a pretty neat experience. And only getting one shot at them, this was cool to come out with a ‘W.'”

Freshman left-hander Alex Troop got the win for the Spartans (19-15), allowing seven hits and two runs over five innings to improve to 3-2 on the season.

Lefty Evan Hill (0-1) took the loss for the Wolverines, allowing three runs on seven hits in five innings.

Krill continued his torrid hitting pace. The MSU first baseman doubled to lead off the top of the fourth, then scored the game’s first run on a two-out, opposite-field RBI single by fellow senior Ryan Richardson.

Michigan (21-15) took the lead in the top of the fifth. Travis Maezes hit a two-run single through the right side of MSU’s infield to score Kendall Patrick and Jacob Cronenworth.

The Wolverines continued to threaten in the inning, but Troop got U-M’s Cody Bruder to fly out, and Spartans leftfielder Cam Gibson threw out Maezes at the plate to end the inning.

“It was a pretty shallow fly ball, but I still wanted to be aggressive,” said Maezes, who had a pair of hits. “I tagged up, it didn’t work out – good catch, good throw, good tag.”

But Krill pulled the Spartans back in front in the bottom half of the inning, scalding a double into the right-field corner that scored Chad Roskelly and Kory Young after they both hit singles.

U-M threatened one more time in the top of the eighth after a pair of two-out walks, but Spartans closer Jeff Kinley came in and got pinch-hitter Travis White to strike out. The senior gave a small fist pump and let out a yelp as he walked off the mound.

MSU added an insurance run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the eighth.

The Wolverines left nine runners on base.

“Michigan State just played better than we did,” Michigan coach Eric Bakich said. “They had three two-out RBIs, we didn’t take advantage of some scoring opportunities.”

It was just the third neutral site game in the oldest sport for both MSU and U-M, who first met in 1884. The first was April 3, 1959, in Tallahassee, Fla., and the other was a Big Ten tournament game on May 20, 1994, in Battle Creek. They’ve also played nine times at Cooley Law School Stadium in Lansing, which is an alternate home venue for the Spartans.

The Spartans and Wolverines did not play baseball in 1944 or 1945. MSU did not sponsor a team due to World War II in 1944. They had played at least once every year until 2014. The only two other times the schools did not face each other in the past 100 years came in 1917 and 1922.

The Wolverines, however, still lead the all-time series – 197-104-2 according to MSU and 194-102-2 per Michigan.

Chris Solari is a reporter for the Lansing State Journal.