“One of our preseason goals before we get everything going is to be state champs,” Boss said. “It’s a point of pride for us. We want to win each in-state series, and it’s something we think is very important.”

Today’s doubleheader — with first pitch of game one scheduled for 3:05 p.m. — will be the fifth and sixth games of the season for MSU against teams from the Great Lakes State. In late March, the Spartans swept U-M in a three-game series in Ann Arbor but fell to Central Michigan, 3-1, at home later that same week.

Boss said the sting from the loss to the Chippewas still remains, and MSU, which won all four games against Oakland last season, will look to avoid a similar fate today.

“We faltered against Central Michigan, but we still got two games to go with those guys,” Boss said. “Right now, we’re going to focus on hopefully getting two from Oakland, because they’re a good team.”

The Golden Grizzlies are led by head coach John Musachio. In four years with Oakland, Musachio, who was an assistant coach at MSU in 2005, gradually has helped the Golden Grizzlies make strides toward becoming a consistently competitive program.

In Musachio’s first year with the school, Oakland won just 15 games. However, the next season, the Golden Grizzlies posted 22 wins — their highest total as a Division I — and broke 16 other individual or team school records. Last season, Oakland continued to improve with a 23-win season, and although the Golden Grizzlies have not had a great start to 2011, Boss said he expects two tough games from Oakland today.

“Oakland University has a lot of talented kids there,” Boss said. “We’ve had some close ball games with them in the past, and it’s important for us to play well.”

Along with a chance to beat an in-state opponent, Tuesday — much like most midweek games — will give Boss and his assistants an opportunity to play and evaluate a number of players who don’t see as much action during weekend series.

Boss said Sunday he was unsure who will start on the mound in either game but said he and his staff most likely would have a decision made by Monday night.

Regardless of who gets the nod at pitcher or in the field, Boss said he is confident all of his players can go out and get the job done.

“We feel very good about the guys we have on our roster,” Boss said. “I think we have some talented kids and some guys that are going to go out and play well Tuesday.”

Although some of MSU’s everyday players likely will not play as much as they might on the weekends to give other guys some action, Boss said that doesn’t mean the Spartans won’t be playing to win. In addition to hopefully beating the in-state Golden Grizzlies, Boss said he hopes MSU, which sits alone at first place in the Big Ten following its first-ever three-game sweep of Minnesota, can keep rolling through Tuesday and into another conference series against Ohio State.

“It’s an important day on Tuesday,” Boss said. “It’s important for us to continue to build momentum for next weekend’s series down in Columbus, (Ohio), because those are three big games and we want to continue to be confident.”