“First, let me congratulate Illinois — what an outstanding ball club,” MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. said. “As far as we were concerned, obviously the game (was) a little disappointing.

“But, again I want our guys to walk out of here with their heads held high and a sense of pride for accomplishing something that hasn’t happened at Michigan State in 32 years. I’m proud of them for that.”

Illinois got started early against the Spartans as designated hitter Justin Parr lit the fire in the top of the first inning with a double off the left field wall. The next batter, catcher Adam Davis, singled to score Parr and give Illinois a 1-0 lead.

The wheels fell off for the Spartans in the top of the third inning as Davis would get a double with two outs for Illinois. After walks to third baseman Brandon Hohl and left fielder Casey McMurray, Dittman came to the plate and emptied the bases on the third pitch of the at-bat to extend Illinois’s lead to 5-0.

The Fightin Illini would tack on two more runs in the next inning with Josh Parr leading the way with a lead-off single. A double by the next batter, second baseman Pete Capetta, scored Josh Parr to add another to the Illinois lead. Capetta later would score himself on a triple by Hohl to stretch the lead to 7-0.

MSU would add a run in the bottom of the fifth but couldn’t muster any more offense against Illinois pitcher Corey Kines. Kines allowed six hits while striking out six and throwing 113 pitches in a complete game effort to down a mostly impatient Spartan lineup.

“It hurts to lose but you know there’s only one team in the country that wins their last game,” senior outfielder Jeff Holm, who had two hits in the game, said. “I’m fortunate enough to have played with some great groups of players and great coaches and get me a championship. I know taking this jersey off for the last time is one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.”

After throwing No. 3 starter Andrew Waszak and No. 4 starter David Garner in the 6-3 victory over Minnesota earlier in the day, the Spartans sent redshirt freshman pitcher Chase Rihtarchik to the hill against the Fightin Illini. Rihtarchik struggled in one of his few starts of the season, allowing three hits and four earned runs in 2 ? innings of work before he was replaced by Tim Simpson.

The Spartans went through seven pitchers on the day and fought a losing battle in finding a way to shut down the Illinois offense. MSU falls to 1-4 on the season against their co-Big Ten champion Illinois.

The loss signals the end of what was a special season for the Spartans, one where they collected the first Big Ten championship for the baseball program since 1979. Personal accomplishments were abundant for the Spartans this year as senior outfielder Brandon Eckerle broke MSU’s all-time and single season hits records previously held by Bob Malek and Chris McCuiston, respectively.

In addition, a school-record six Spartans were named to the All-Big Ten First Team, including Eckerle, Holm, sophomore third baseman Torsten Boss, sophomore second baseman Ryan Jones, senior pitcher Kurt Wunderlich and junior pitcher Tony Bucciferro. Boss was named Big Ten Coach of the Year while Holm was named Big Ten Player of the Year and Wunderlich was named Big Ten Pitcher of the Year, to round out a mostly successful campaign for the Spartans.

For their contributions over the weekend, Wunderlich and Torsten Boss were named to the 2011 Big Ten Baseball All-Tournament Team. Illinois saw six of its players named to the All-Tournament Team.

Although the season ends on a bitter note, some of the Spartans spoke very highly of their experiences during the course of the season and what they were able to accomplish.

“There’s a lot of emotions right now,” Eckerle said. “Obviously, it’s pretty sad that that may be the last game I play at Michigan State, but you know, it’s been a great four years for me and this program has come a long ways during my four years here. I’m honored to play here and honored to play with this group of guys; It’s a great team.”