“It was a frustrating weekend,” MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. “It was like we took one step forward last week and two steps backward this weekend.”Although the Spartans were outscored 16-5 on the weekend, sophomore pitcher A.J. Achter thought the games were much closer than the scores reflected.“We played with them every game,” Achter said. “But it wasn’t a good way to start Big Ten play by getting swept.”

They’re runnin’

A major change Boss has made in his first year with the program has been in the team’s aggressive baserunning style.

In MSU’s 24 games, the team has stolen 32 bases on 45 attempts.

Much of this success can be credited to the attention to detail made by Boss and his coaching staff.

“We’ve been working a lot on base running throughout the offseason,” sophomore shortstop Jonathan Roof said. “It’s been one of the strengths thus far and coach Boss has been giving us more freedom out there. That’s when you run your best.”

While the Spartans are still looking for consistency at the plate, Boss said successful base running is critical for his team’s offensive production.

“Aggressive base running is a very important weapon for us,” Boss said. “We need to keep the foot on the gas petal and force the other team to make a play. If they throw us out once we are confident they won’t do it again.”

Keeping busy

The Spartans have been playing a lot of ball lately.

MSU is in the middle of a streak where they are playing 12 games in 16 days and Boss said the midweek competition is important for his team early in the season.

“It’s tough to replicate game speed in practice,” Boss said. “When you play that many midweek games the positive thing is you have a chance to play at full game speed. It’s a good thing right now because we need to prove we can mentally be focused every day.”

MSU will take the field for two nonconference games this week — today at Notre Dame and Wednesday vs. Central Michigan at Oldsmobile Park in Lansing.

Then, on Friday, the Spartans will play their first-ever game at the new McLane Baseball Stadium at Old College Field against Northwestern.

“We’re playing a lot, but our approach doesn’t change,” Boss said. “We want to go out and win every game we play and the midweek games are important to get momentum going into the Big Ten schedule.”