If MSU wins Game 3 while Northwestern loses, the Spartans will secure a spot in the Big Ten Tournament after a challenging few weeks. Otherwise, their season will end short of the postseason for a second consecutive year.

Friday’s loss followed a familiar script, as Minnesota scored four runs in the third inning and added six more in the fourth. The big innings proved costly — an issue MSU had mostly avoided since the early part of the season.

With Saturday now a must-win, MSU baseball head coach Jake Boss Jr. said he believes his team has the resolve to get it done.

"It's not over; we're not done yet," Boss said. "We need to regroup tonight and be ready to go tomorrow. But you know, it's a group that's not going to quit. I trust that they're going to be ready to go tomorrow. It is must win for us tomorrow, and we probably need a little bit of help. So we can't worry about anything other than the job that we do, and we'll be ready to play."

Minnesota slugged four home runs in the game, making the long ball MSU’s undoing on Friday night. Minnesota, despite holding the worst batting average in the Big Ten, put together 15 hits. 

Sophomore right-hander Tate Farquhar made his seventh start of the season but struggled with command. His inconsistency led to an early exit after just three innings.

Farquhar finished his day with four earned runs, seven hits and two walks, punching out three. 

Sophomore Logan Pikur entered in relief after the four-run third but couldn’t stop the bleeding. MSU quickly recorded two outs in the fourth before Minnesota’s bats erupted once again.

Charlie Sutherland blasted a two-run homer to right center, and after a walk, Minnesota hit back-to-back home runs to stretch the lead even further.

For MSU, nothing was working on the defensive side of the ball. However, they found energy late to avoid the run-rule loss. Boss said he liked the way his team fought at the end instead of throwing in the towel. 

"I thought we did play with some intensity," Boss said. "I think the wind did get taken out of our sails there a little bit, that can be tough to recover from. Again, we tried to string a few together and score late, and I think if (our team) packed it in, that game would have been over in the seventh inning."

MSU will try to extend its season on Saturday in the series finale against Minnesota. Junior right-hander Nolan Higgins will get the start. In 13 starts, he has a 6.55 ERA and a 5.4 K/9, with opponents hitting .283 against him.

First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday, with streaming available on Big Ten Plus.