After the game, head coach Jake Boss Jr. said he was glad his team played loose with no pressure. 

"They went out and competed, and just were excited to play together, and looked at it as another opportunity to be together as a team," Boss said. "It was loose and free and easy, and we were fortunate to put up a couple big numbers early."

MSU scraped itself into the Big Ten Tournament, not as a result of their own successes, but due to a free fall from Minnesota. The Spartans held a tiebreaker over the Golden Gophers to secure the 12th and final spot in the conference tournament. The team — which has struggled with slow starts and poor pitching  — flipped its reputation on its head with a relentless offensive prowess and authoritative performance on the mound.

MSU didn’t face a Big Ten opponent during the final weekend of the season, instead opting for Illinois State, whom they won two of three against by a 31-14 margin.

When the MSU offense took to the field Tuesday, its pitching put the Boilermakers in a chokehold at the bottom half of the inning. Sophomore ace Aidan Donovan, on five days of rest, tossed seven and two-thirds innings with five hits, six punch outs and one walk. In arguably the best start of his career, Donovan fooled batters on a sharp 12-6 curveball and a fastball that dotted the zone. 

The Orchard Lake St Mary’s graduate didn’t allow a hit until the sixth and didn’t walk a batter until the eighth. He showed confidence in a big moment that he’s been storing all season. The only blemish on his outing was a two-run eighth as his pitch count began creeping towards 100. Donovan said pitching backwards, with offspeed early in counts and fastballs later confused Purdue to his advantage.

"I really felt like I had them on their toes, especially early in the game," Donovan said. "They started to get on me a little bit, but I would say mixing pitches, cutter, slider, fastball, change up — I feel like I could put it anywhere at any time, so that really helps me."

MSU will face the winner of the 8-seed Iowa vs. 9-seed Illinois game on Wednesday, May 20, at 6 p.m. for a chance to advance to the quarterfinals against 4-seed USC Friday morning.

MSU put up seven runs in the first two innings against Purdue starting pitcher Cole Van Assen. It was the third time the Spartans had scored seven or more runs in the first two frames this season, one of which was from an 8-run second inning against Purdue in March. 

Senior outfielder Nick Williams took the plate for the first at-bat of MSU's postseason hopes. He drew a walk, just the 17th of the season for Van Assen, proving to be a jolt in the early morning offense for MSU. Sophomore Khamaree Thomas followed with a bunt RBI, and senior slugger Randy Seymour scored two on a sharp liner to left.

MSU didn’t slow down in the second inning. The Spartans tallied four hits and three RBI’s, highlighted by sophomore outfielder Isaac Sturgess’ RBI double down the left field line. Junior Parker Picot added to the party in the fourth inning on a 428-foot moonshot that extended the lead to eight.

Relievers Logan Pikur and Nolan Higgins came in for the final four outs as Purdue began to mount a comeback. The Boilermakers put up four runs in the final two frames and were a late source of stress for the pitching staff. But a final swinging strikeout from Higgins was enough for MSU to advance. 

MSU's offense showed little spark after their monster start, but the streakiness they showed early on will only work in their favor as MSU looks to upset every team in their path. 

"We got a game tomorrow, and we're going to worry about that one tomorrow. I think these guys are young, and I don't really know that they think that far ahead," Boss said. "We'll enjoy the rest of the day today, take in a couple games, and probably take in a game or two tomorrow, and then get ready to play."