“I’m just very honored and humbled to be the head coach here, to have 500 wins here is something that I would have never dreamed would have happened,” said Boss. “This has always been the destination, landing spot, the dream job, I haven’t looked for any other job since July 2 of 2008, that was the day I got the job here.”

The Spartans came out red-hot in the first inning after junior outfielder Trent Rice was hit on the opening pitch and a pair of hitters followed with bunts that Iowa was unable to field loaded the bases. Sophomore right fielder Isaac Sturgess grounded out to first but picked up his team-leading 11th RBI, advancing Rice home.

With runners on first and third, heavy-hitting senior first baseman Randy Seymour stepped to the plate and smashed a team-leading seventh home run, his first of the series, sending a three-run shot into left field. Redshirt sophomore catcher Adam Broski nearly followed with a second homer of the inning, but an over-the-wall catch by the Hawkeyes kept them from scoring, ending the first inning down 4-0.

They kept their hot start going in the next two innings as redshirt senior left fielder Nick Williams started out the second with a double to deep left field, and he would later be advanced home on an RBI bunt from sophomore center fielder Khamaree Thomas. 

Sturgess opened the third inning with a leadoff triple to deep right-center field, bouncing off the back wall. Seymour followed with an RBI single near the Spartan logo in right-center, bringing Sturgess home and giving MSU a 6-0 lead after three innings. Iowa pulled pitcher Logan Runde in the middle of the inning following his rough start.

“It’s awesome whenever the offense comes out and swings it,” said graduate pitcher Carter Monke on the offense coming out hot. “You can have quick innings, get your guys back in, so they can keep swinging it.”

The offense wasn’t the only bright spot for the Spartans. Their defense started the game out really strong with Williams and freshman third baseman CJ Deckinga diving all over the field to make acrobatic catches. Graduate pitcher Carter Monke, with the help of his defense, didn't allow a single runner on base through the first Iowa rotation of batters.

“I think this is my fifth start vs. them actually, I don’t know what it is, I just go out there and try to attack and get some quick outs,” said Monke on facing the Hawkeyes.

MSU slowed down for a couple of innings before firing on all cylinders in the 6th, the highest scoring inning of the series putting 5 runs past the Hawkeyes. The Spartans were scoring in just about every way you could think of; wild pitches, catcher's interference, walks, pop-fly outs, and ground balls. Murphy, Seymour, and McKay would all notch RBI’s while Iowa cycled through three pitchers in the 6th inning alone.

The Hawkeyes avoided the run rule with a two-run homer in the seventh and a two-run RBI triple in the eighth. But the outcome was inevitable. In the bottom of the eighth, with the bases loaded, Broski stepped up against Iowa’s seventh pitcher of the game and ripped a deep left-field hit for a run-rule walk off grand slam, ending the first game of the doubleheader.

“Probably first or second honestly, it wasn’t a true walk off because it was a walk off mercy, but it was fun, it was nice,” said Broski on where the grand slam ranked in his career moments. “It feels good, especially the way the game started, I got robbed of a homer and then kind of struggled a little bit, so hitting that ball felt good.”

In a much less exciting game two of the doubleheader, the Spartans were defeated 8-3 by the Hawkeyes. MSU scored twice in the 2nd inning with Rice and Sturgess both picking up RBIs on outs that advanced runners, and senior catcher Noah Bright hit a solo home run in the 5th inning to deep center field over 400 ft deep, his first of the season.

Despite the loss, the Spartans won their first series since the opening weekend against #8 Louisville, taking the first two games against Iowa and Boss reached a career milestone 500th win.

MSU will take a short in-state road trip to face off against Central Michigan on Tuesday, March 24, before returning home for their second consecutive home series against Purdue with the first game on Friday, March 27.