Michigan State baseball coach Jake Boss Jr. reaches career win milestone
Michigan State head baseball coach Jake Boss Jr. reached an impressive milestone on Sunday, reaching 400 career wins as the Spartans defeated Northwestern, 11-7, to conclude a three-game series in Evanston.
The win over the Wildcats improved Michigan State's record to 16-21 overall and 3-9 in conference play this season. The victory
Boss Jr. is currently in his 14th season at the helm with the Spartan baseball program. He was hired by Michigan State in 2008 after leading Eastern Michigan to the NCAA Regionals in his lone season in Ypsilanti.
After a 23-31 record in Boss Jr.'s first season, the Spartans reeled off eight consecutive winning seasons under the head coach from 2010 to 2017. In that time, Michigan State won the Big Ten regular season championship in 2011, and reached the NCAA Regional round in 2012.
Boss Jr. has a 375-323 record over his 14 years in East Lansing, adding to the 25-34 at Eastern Michigan, compiling an overall record of 400-357 as a head coach. Michigan State has gone 150-154 in Big Ten play during Boss Jr's tenure.
The Spartans' baseball program has fallen on difficult times since their string of consecutive winning seasons ended in 2017. Michigan State has gone 66-99 overall, and 36-52 in Big Ten play over the last four seasons — including a 9-6 start to the 2020 season before it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite this recent decline, Boss Jr. remains one of the best baseball coaches in Michigan State's history. He's led the Spartans to five of the program's 10 highest single-season win totals, and 35 of his players have been selected in the MLB Draft.
In all, Boss Jr. has coached 49 All-Big Ten selections, including 12 first-teamers, and four of his players have been named All-Americans.
Michigan State baseball continues its season on Tuesday with a matchup against Notre Dame at Comerica Park.