The Spartans (15-5) are fresh off their first three-game sweep of U-M in 56 years and are looking to take that momentum into this week.

“Hopefully (we) just keep doing what we’re doing,” sophomore second baseman Ryan Jones said. “This weekend, we took a lot of pitches that we haven’t been taking in the past, and when we hit our pitches, we score a lot of runs, and it turns over to the defensive side.”

Last season, the Spartans were 11-2 against in-state opponents and will look to continue the success against rivals.

“It’s one of our goals, to win the state, and we’re off to a good start in that regard,” manager Jake Boss Jr. said. “There are a lot of good baseball programs in the state and Central Michigan is certainly one of those. … It is a goal of ours to be state champs.”

MSU split two games with the Chippewas last season, winning at Cooley Law School Stadium in Lansing and falling at Dow Diamond in Midland, Mich.

The Spartans and Chippewas (9-15) will meet in the Clash at Comerica in Detroit on April 20, but today is the first of the teams’ three meetings this season. They will play in Mount Pleasant on May 11.

Although MSU played its first games in its home state last weekend, Central Michigan has played just one game in the Great Lake State. The Chippewas have lost six of their last seven games, but the Spartans know not to overlook their in-state rival.

“They may be struggling, but they always play us tough,” senior first baseman Jeff Holm said. “They’re always high-scoring games one way or another so we’re going to get their best effort and they’re certainly going to get our best effort.”

The Spartans have gotten off to a strong start this season thanks to quality pitching and hitting.

MSU leads the Big Ten in team earned-run average at 2.78. To complement the pitching, MSU also leads the Big Ten in batting average at .331, led by two of the top hitters in the conference.

Senior outfielder Brandon Eckerle is ninth in the nation and leads the Big Ten in batting average at .448. Holm is second in the Big Ten and 24th in the country in batting average at .427, to go along with two home runs and a team-leading 21 RBIs.

Last season, the Spartans were 12-5 at McLane Baseball Stadium. This season, they will play 15 games at their home park and look to take better advantage of home field.

Players were disappointed they were unable to play the rival Wolverines at home, but are looking forward to home games this season.

“We’re extremely proud of our facility and guys like playing in front of our home crowd,” Boss Jr. said. “They kind of get a chance to puff their chest out a little bit and really enjoy playing out here.”