“We came out with a lot of fire and when a team is pumped up like that, it’s pretty hard to stop us,” senior first baseman Jeff Holm said. “We did everything that we needed to today.”

After U-M scored three runs in the bottom of the second, the Spartans answered in the top of the third.

With two outs and senior outfielder Brandon Eckerle on first, sophomore outfielder Torsten Boss singled to move Eckerle into scoring position. The next batter, Holm, hit a shot down the right field line that appeared to hit the foul pole, which would have been a home run.

But the umpire ruled the ball foul. Holm was then hit by the next pitch, loading the bases. A walk for sophomore second baseman Ryan Jones and a single by junior shortstop Justin Scanlon tied the game at three.

Scanlon went 1-for-3 with three RBIs and a run scored.

“We really kind of felt like we had one taken away from us, rightly or wrongly, I don’t know,” manager Jake Boss Jr. said of the foul ball. “Our guys were able to keep their focus and able to string together a few at-bats a put a big inning together.”

Holm went 3-for-4 on the day.

In the sixth inning, Scanlon reached on catcher’s interference, advanced to second on a passed ball and scored on a single from sophomore designated hitter Jared Hook, giving MSU a 4-3 lead.

The Wolverines (6-13) had three errors, as starting pitcher Tyler Mills only gave up one earned run, and four overall. The Spartans were able to take advantage of the opportunities handed to them.

“We’ve lost a couple games because teams take advantage of our mistakes,” Holm said. “Coach preaches to us about capitalizing on their mistakes and we did a great job of that today.”

In the bottom of the sixth, Wunderlich found himself in trouble with runners on the corners with two outs, but was able to strike out U-M outfielder Patrick Biondi with his final pitch of the day.

“I thought that was the biggest out in the game for Kurt,” Boss Jr. said. “We were really one pitch away from them getting a lot of momentum and the game could have taken a different turn at that point.”

In the seventh, freshman outfielder Jeff Kinley walked and Torsten Boss reached safely on a bunt to start the inning. They scored on a Jones single and Scanlon suicide squeeze, respectively, as MSU opened up a 6-3 lead.

The Spartans tacked on three more runs in the eighth inning to secure the win. Boss Jr. moved to 4-1 against U-M in his three seasons at MSU.

This series against U-M does not count toward Big Ten play, as the two teams have been left off each others’ conference schedules the past two seasons. MSU will look to take the series when the teams meet Saturday at McLane Baseball Stadium at Kobs Field at 1:05 p.m. They will meet again in Ann Arbor on Sunday.

Although the win doesn’t count toward conference play, that doesn’t make a win over their rival any less sweet for the Spartans.

“It always feels good to beat Michigan,” Torsten Boss said. “It’s a huge rivalry game. It feels good to bring (the win) home to East Lansing.”