Fortunately for the Spartans, that wasn’t the case on Sunday.

Led by a strong seven-inning effort by sophomore starter David Garner and a pair of home runs by freshman designated hitter Blaise Salter and junior catcher John Martinez, the Spartans (33-17 overall, 12-9 Big Ten) overpowered the Hawkeyes (20-26, 8-13) and took the game, 7-3, Sunday at McLane Baseball Stadium at Old College Field.

“It’s an odd feeling today — I thought we played well,” Boss said. “We got some big hits today but yesterday’s loss still stings a little bit. To our guys’ credit, they came out and answered the bell when we really needed a win today. It was a big day for us today and we got it done.”

Despite having some bullpen trouble on Saturday, the Spartans relied on the strength of their starting pitching to pick up a pair of wins and take the series from the Hawkeyes this weekend.

Paced by a complete game shutout win Friday by senior Tony Bucciferro followed by a solid outing by junior Andrew Waszak on Saturday, Garner set the table for MSU’s rubber match victory. Garner allowed just two hits through seven innings of work and struck out six to improve his season record to 4-3 and lowered his earned run average to 3.52 on the season.

“Coach said it a little bit in the huddle — our bullpen was kind of shaky this week, which has been different,” Garner said. “They’ve been the best for us — better than the starters and the closers and all. We kind of just find it and then go along with it. When our hitters give us run support, I think that’s when our pitchers can be the best.”

The Spartans started their offensive parade in the second inning, starting with a one-out single by Martinez. Following a single by the next batter, freshman first baseman Ryan Krill, Martinez scored on a wild pitch by Iowa starter Jarred Hippen to go ahead, 1-0.

After putting up three runs on three hits in the fifth that started off with a single, Salter led off the sixth inning with a home run over the left field fence. The home run — Salter’s second of the series and the season — put the Spartans ahead 5-0 and gave the team all it needed against Iowa.

“I feel like getting on the board early against these guys was big today,” Salter said. “We got ahead of them early in the game and we just executed when it counted today. Like I said, to get on the board early, especially against a team like Iowa, to help out and win the series, it was big.”

A two-run home run in the seventh by Martinez, scoring himself and junior third baseman Torsten Boss, increased the Spartan lead to 7-0.

The Hawkeyes had some success putting up three runs against Garner’s replacement, junior pitcher Trey Popp, but it wouldn’t be enough to ignite the comeback.

Given that Purdue clinched the Big Ten championship on Sunday — the program’s first since 1909 — the Spartans are in a race for second place in the conference and still have a chance to earn a bye in the Big Ten Tournament.

The Spartans return to action at 7:00 p.m. Tuesday against Central Michigan in the Clash at Comerica at Comerica Park in Detroit before finishing up the season next weekend in a three-game series at home against Penn State.

And for Jake Boss Jr., the team still has plenty to play for.

“You talk about at-large berths, you talk about getting a bye in the Big Ten Tournament, even making the tournament,” he said. “There’s nothing set in stone yet and we need to play well in our next three Big Ten games and play well Tuesday and we’ll see what happens.”