“You never want to end (the season) that way, but I think at the same time, when you sit back and look back at what our guys accomplished this year, I’m pretty proud of that,” Boss said.

“It’s been a long time since a championship was won here in baseball, and to be able to be in the same breath with the 1954, 1974 and 1979 teams, it’s pretty humbling I think. It’s something our guys should be really proud of.”

The Spartans legged out their early season games on the road, playing their first 20 games away from home before suffering a 3-1 loss to Central Michigan in the home opener.

Playing at McLane Baseball Stadium at Kobs Field was where the Spartans hit their stride this year, posting an 11-4 record, including sweeps over three Big Ten opponents (Minnesota, Penn State and Purdue).

MSU had opportunities to play several matchups at nontraditional venues, including the fifth annual Crosstown Showdown against the Lansing Lugnuts at Cooley Law School Stadium and the Clash at Comerica against Central Michigan at Comerica Park in Detroit.

“It was definitely a great experience for everybody, especially guys playing in those big parks,” sophomore second baseman Ryan Jones said.

“We need to be able to play well on the road and be able to play well under pressure when we get put in big situations like the Clash at Comerica. In both games, we played really well and won both games.”

After sweeping Penn State and Purdue on consecutive weekends, and with a chance to extend their conference lead, the season shifted after being swept by Indiana in a sloppy series late in the season. The Spartans headed into their final regular season series — hosting Northwestern for three games at home — with a one-game lead in the Big Ten standings over Minnesota and Illinois.

“We felt fortunate coming out of that weekend because we were still able to hold onto a lead,” senior outfielder Brandon Eckerle said. “We would have to play good baseball in order to win, and we were able to do that.”

Although MSU was not able to sweep Northwestern to claim sole possession of the Big Ten title, the Spartans won two games and clinched a share of it — with Illinois — after back-to-back complete game performances from senior Kurt Wunderlich and junior Tony Bucciferro.

The players mobbed into a celebratory dogpile on the side of the pitching mound having eclipsed a feat not done in 32 years.

“Every single year, we expect success,” Jones said. “We hadn’t won a Big Ten championship in a long time here at Michigan State.

“We played well all year long; we had some ups and downs, but we kept working hard and came home with some hardware.”

The Spartans will lose some key contributors in Eckerle, Wunderlich and first baseman Jeff Holm but return a solid core of 22 upperclassmen heading into the 2012 season.

Boss said the goal for the next season is to parlay the success of this year’s squad into consistency for the program to compete for the Big Ten championship and the Big Ten Tournament each year.

“You talk to other programs around the country, and everybody believes they have a shot to win (a Big Ten championship) at the beginning of the year,” Boss said. “We feel like one of the goals of our program is on a consistent, yearly basis to put ourselves in a position to win a championship.”