“It’s huge, I don’t think we swept anybody last year,” senior first baseman Jeff Holm said. “When we can do it at home, in the beginning of the Big Ten conference season, it’s really good to get that momentum going into the rest of the (season).”

With the sweep, the Spartans moved to 20-7 overall and 5-1 in the Big Ten. It was MSU’s first-ever three-game sweep of Minnesota.

“That’s one of the best teams in the conference,” Holm said. “To beat them three out of three games, that’s just huge for us.”

The Gophers quickly opened up the scoring in the first inning, when a sacrifice fly brought in outfielder Justin Gominsky as Minnesota led 1-0 after the top of the first.

MSU tied the game in the bottom of the second after some miscues by the Gophers (10-12, 2-4). With two outs, junior shortstop Justin Scanlon struck out swinging, but the ball got by Minnesota catcher Nick O’Shea allowing Scanlon to reach first base.

The next batter, sophomore outfielder Jordan Keur, hit a groundball to the shortstop, who wasn’t able to handle it, resulting in an error. Freshman catcher Joel Fisher tied the game with an RBI-single, which scored Scanlon.

Two-out RBIs were a theme in the game. After MSU took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third, Minnesota tied the game on an RBI-double from third baseman Kyle Geason.

“We don’t ever feel like we’re out of it,” head coach Jake Boss Jr. said of the two-out hits. “The way that we run … we really try to simplify things at the plate with two strikes and especially with two outs. They’re getting a lot better.”

With the game tied in the bottom of the seventh, Holm blasted a two-run home run to give MSU a 6-4 lead.

“From yesterday, I learned my lesson, I put my head down and ran,” Holm joked.

Freshman pitcher David Garner went six innings. Sophomore pitcher Tony Wieber (3-0) gave up the lead in the top of the seventh but picked up the win thanks to Holm’s home run. Junior pitcher Bryce Jenney picked up the save.

“I felt good and everything; probably didn’t have my best stuff today, but those pickoffs helped and a couple good plays on defense also helped,” Wieber said.

In Friday’s win, the Spartans opened up a 4-0 lead and were able to hold on for a 4-2 win.

On Saturday, MSU senior pitcher Tony Bucciferro pitched a complete game shutout in a 2-0 win.

The Spartans are just six games into the conference season, but the confidence is very high following the historic sweep.

“I think it proves to our guys that we have a legitimate chance,” Boss said. “Obviously there’s a long way to go … but I think it proves to them that when they play well, we’re very capable of beating a lot of people.”