Purdue Fort Wayne entered the game with a 6-31 record and on an 11-game losing streak. The Mastodons, who sit at 5-12 in the Horizon League, weren’t expected to pose much of a threat — but they brought it to the Spartans.

“We owe a lot of people an apology,” Boss said. “There were close to a thousand people here tonight, and we owe every one of them an apology. The effort is unacceptable. The fact we think we can just walk onto the field and win is unacceptable.”

Purdue Fort Wayne racked up 13 hits — their second-highest total in a nonconference game this season.

MSU’s biggest problem — its defense — continued Tuesday night, as the Spartans committed four errors. Over their last nine games, MSU is averaging 2.5 errors and now holds the Big Ten’s worst fielding percentage at .953.

“When you’re tentative, when you let the game happen instead of dictating what happens in the course of the game, that's when you kick it around,” Boss said. “When you play with confidence, you are usually successful.”

Freshman Khamaree Thomas made his first career start in left field. The Chicago native committed two errors, including a dropped fly ball. He struck out in his lone plate appearance before being replaced by junior outfielder Nick Williams.

Freshman Aidan Donovan got the midweek start, as he has in previous outings. He allowed two earned runs on four hits and two walks over three innings, striking out two. Donovan now holds a 5.47 ERA with opponents hitting .296 against him.

MSU used seven pitchers in the game, with Donovan being the only one to log more than two innings. Boss said he was pleased with junior right-hander Ryan Szczepaniak, who pitched the seventh and eighth.

Szczepaniak had struggled in limited action this season, logging just 5.2 innings prior to Tuesday. But against Purdue Fort Wayne, he was aggressive on the mound, striking out four of the eight batters he faced.

Boss said Szczespaniak was the only pitcher to attack hitters all night.

“He’s a guy that attacked the game, he attacked the strike zone, he played the game hard, and he played the game the right way,” Boss said. “We played 19 guys tonight, and we had one guy (Szczespaniak) play hard.”

There were few bright spots offensively. MSU’s lone run came in the fourth inning, when catcher Caleb Berry led off with an infield single to third. Redshirt senior Sam Busch followed with a walk to put two on.

A double play gave Purdue Fort Wayne two outs but moved Berry to third. Junior infielder Randy Seymour then punched a single through the left side to score the run.

The Spartans will need to clean up their defensive issues ahead of this weekend’s rivalry series at Michigan. The Wolverines boast one of the most productive offenses in the Big Ten, ranking fourth in hits.

“Friday should be the least of their concerns,” Boss said. “Tomorrow’s practice should be what they’re most concerned about.”

Earlier this season, the two teams met in a nonconference game, where Michigan used a nine-run inning to win 11-7. Last year, MSU took the regular-season series, winning two out of three.

This weekend’s series begins Friday at 6 p.m. in Ann Arbor. All three games will stream live on Big Ten Plus.