Sophomore outfielder Jared Hook rushes the field after the Spartans defeated Northwestern and claimed a share of the Big Ten Championship Friday afternoon at McLane Stadium.
When junior pitcher Tony Bucciferro took the mound for the ninth inning of Friday’s game against Northwestern, he knew a complete game and the Big Ten championship were just three outs away.
With a touch of swagger, Bucciferro dialed up his fastball and slider to strike out the side and deliver the first Big Ten title to the MSU baseball program since 1979.
Bucciferro and senior pitcher Kurt Wunderlich threw a pair of complete games for the Spartans (34-19 overall, 15-9 Big Ten) over the weekend and capped off a strong pitching year for each of the players and for the program.
“I knew it was going to happen, and I was fired-up,” Bucciferro said.
“(Boss) has turned this program around. He’s a great coach, a great, great man to teach us the sport. I appreciate everything he does.”
The Spartans failed to sweep Northwestern during the weekend to clinch sole possession of the trophy and now will share it with Illinois (25-25, 15-9). Coming into a season where the team was picked to finish no better than fourth in the Big Ten, behind Minnesota, Michigan and Indiana, the MSU baseball team shocked many doubters by taking home a share of the Big Ten championship — the fifth for the Athletics Department during this academic year.
A Big Ten championship also marks a dream realized for MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. When Boss came to MSU three years ago, the program had not been competitive in nearly a decade and struggled to sustain continual success in the 32 years and five head coaches since the program’s last championship.
The progress made by Boss and his staff has delivered a Big Ten championship to East Lansing and brings a welcome addition to the banner in left field of McLane Baseball Stadium at Kobs Field, which hadn’t changed in more than three decades.
For Boss, a championship is only a step in the direction of sustaining success for the Spartan baseball program.
“That’s what we wanted to do — we want to build a program,” Boss said. “A championship is outstanding, but we want to build a program that is successful over time as well.”
The next step for the program would be some success in the Big Ten Tournament, starting Wednesday in Huntington Park in Columbus, Ohio.
The Spartans enter the tournament at the No. 2 seed. Although Illinois and MSU tied for the Big Ten title, Illinois claims the No. 1 seed after defeating MSU two out of three games during the season in late April.
MSU and Illinois receive a first-round bye, leaving the Spartans’ first game to be played at 3:35 p.m. Thursday against the winner of the Ohio State-Minnesota game. Purdue, Minnesota, Ohio State and Penn State also qualified for the tournament.
Regardless of the outcome of the tournament, winning a championship for the 35 Spartan baseball players forever has cemented their legacy in the program and has provided a season that the players, the coaches and the fans of Spartan baseball won’t soon forget.
“We knew what kind of talent we had, and we knew what kind of coaching ability (Boss) brought,” senior first baseman Jeff Holm said. “His coaching style works with our playing ability, and we molded it really well together.”
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