“I told the players afterward that the loss, I think, is on me today,” MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. “I think I left Tony Bucciferro out there a little too long and just didn’t give us a chance to win. I got out-coached and it’s something we’re all going to have to learn from, including me.”

After beating the Golden Gophers on Friday and Saturday, the Spartans looked as though they might record their first Big Ten sweep of the season and move into first place alone in the conference.

With two outs in the fifth, freshman outfielder Jordan Keur lined a double down the left-field line, scoring freshman catcher John Martinez and giving MSU the first run of the game. The Spartans tacked on another in the sixth on a sacrifice fly from junior infielder Jeff Holm.

“Coach always stresses you have to stay focused in the late innings for a big run if it’s a close game and we know we have to make those plays to do everything we can to win,” Holm said.

The Gophers quickly tied the game in the bottom of the seventh on a single from outfielder Troy Larson, which scored designated hitter Trip Schultz and infielder Kyle Geason.

But the Spartans responded immediately in the eighth, as junior outfielder Brandon Eckerle and senior outfielder Eli Boike reached with no outs. Two batters later, Holm performed a squeeze bunt that scored Eckerle and gave MSU a 3-2 lead.

But that was the last time the Spartans would lead Sunday.

In the eighth, Minnesota catcher Kyle Knudson laced a two-run double down the left-field line for the winning run. The Gophers knocked Bucciferro out of the game and tacked on two more in the process for the 6-3 final.

“My gut told me everything to take him out and I didn’t and I left him in there a little too long,” Boss said. “Tony threw well enough to win today and I didn’t give him the opportunity. It proved to be the wrong move.”

Holm was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and Keur had the third MSU RBI on a 1-for-4 afternoon. Bucciferro logged seven innings and struck out four in his third loss of the season.