The Spartans, who will face Western Michigan today at McLane Baseball Stadium before a home-and-home series against rival Michigan this weekend, dropped to 1-14 in road games this weekend after being swept by Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio.

MSU is 2-7 at neutral locations, while they boast a perfect 8-0 record at home.

“Every loss is hard to stomach regardless of who or where,” Boss said. “That doesn’t change and never will change. It’s not fun to lose. It’s not easy to take. We’re going to try to scratch and claw and do everything we can to right the ship.”

The Spartans are 3-6 in conference, with a three-game sweep against Northwestern under their belt.

Though currently sitting in eighth, the Spartans are only three games behind Minnesota (6-2 in the Big Ten) in the win column.

“It’s a deep conference — probably deeper than it’s been in a number of years,” Boss said.

“There are a number of teams that realistically have a chance to win this conference. It’s a challenge every weekend and there’s no break, but at the same time, there being so much talent in this conference, that means teams are going to knock each other off.”

The Wolverines won the conference last season, but stand at 19-13 this year overall and 4-5 in league play.

“Michigan has lost some talent, but they’re still going to compete for a title,” Boss said. “When you get a chance to play your rival twice at home on the weekend with some good things on the line, if you can’t get up for that series, then
you probably shouldn’t be here.”

Before the U-M series, the Spartans will face Western Michigan for the third time this season in a rubber match between the two teams. On Thursday, the Spartans will play at familiar Oldsmobile Park in Lansing, this time against the Lansing Lugnuts, the stadium’s true home team.

It will be the third annual Crosstown Showdown between the two teams and figures to draw well in the thousands, as it has in years past.

“Last year, we had almost 13,000 people there, and it was just awesome to be there in that atmosphere,” sophomore catcher Seth Williams said. “Playing with guys that are being paid to play
the game is an awesome feeling and it makes for an awesome atmosphere.”

In two years, the contest has attracted more than 19,000 fans, including a stadium record of more than 12,862 last season.

The Lugnuts have won both games in the series, winning 4-2 last season and 4-3 the year before.

After the exhibition, the Spartans will finally turn their attention to the Wolverines, of whom Boss was an assistant coach from 2005-07. U-M defeated the Spartans in all four meetings last season by a combined total of 52-14, including a 27-6 drubbing in Ann Arbor for the final game of the series.

The Wolverines lost eight letterwinners from last year’s Big Ten championship team.

“Since we got swept this weekend, we’ve got to sweep again,” Williams said.

“With it being Michigan and the rivalry at all, we’ve got to win. I mean, who likes Michigan?”