The Spartans return a large nucleus of last year’s team, including 19 letterwinners, six starters and two starting pitchers. For a team that ordinarily has been playing catch-up in the Big Ten, MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said the Spartans finally are ready to get over the hump.

“We have some momentum coming off last year,” Boss said. “At the same time, we reminded this year’s team that for the successes we had last year, we still finished fifth in the Big Ten. Where we want to be is not fifth in the Big Ten.”

Helping the Spartans contend will be the one-two punch of A.J. Achter and Tony Bucciferro, who combined for 25 starts last season. Achter, who threw 33 2/3 innings in 2008, was extremely productive last year with 57 strikeouts in 81 2/3 innings. Now, the junior will be relied upon to head a relatively inexperienced rotation.

“It’s been a long wait, but I’m excited for it,” Achter said. “I’ve learned under a lot of good pitchers, especially last year under (Nolan Moody) and (A.J. Dunn). I feel like it’s something I’m ready to do.”

It’s no secret the Spartans won’t lead the Big Ten in home runs or slugging percentage (they were ninth in both categories last season), but senior outfielder Eli Boike said the team has the tools, know-how and strong chemistry to find other ways to win.

“We’re going to earn our runs,” Boike said. “We know we’re not going to hit 100 home runs. We’ve just got to make sure we get our bunts down. Home runs go through droughts more than things like bunting. Knowing we can still do those little things will keep us out of slumps.”

Fellow outfielders Bo Felt and Brandon Eckerle will join Boike roaming the pastures of McLane Baseball Stadium this spring. Both Eckerle and Boike started all 54 games last year, while Felt started 40.

“For communication and stuff like that, it makes it so much easier knowing who is at my right and on my left,” Boike said. “It’s really nice with a veteran club, you can take away runs in the outfield as your last line of defense.”

The Spartans open play today against Furman in the first of three weekend games in Greenville, S.C. After dropping 14 of their first 16 games last year, Boss recognizes the importance of building strengths early in the year.

“For the future, if we want to get an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, we have to be successful early in the year,” Boss said. “Those are all extremely important. We’re going to go out and compete and we want to win every time we play, I don’t care who we’re playing.”

The Spartans haven’t captured a conference title since 1979. Nonetheless, Boss has drilled the goal of a Big Ten championship into the minds of his players since his first day at MSU.

“It’s something we do every day,” Boss said. “We did it the first day I was here last year. It’s really trying to change the mindset that fifth in the league is not good enough. This team has one opportunity to be together, and it’s right now. And it has one chance to win a championship.”