Big Ten Baseball Blog: Players to Watch

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Players to Watch

Just a few players to watch as you follow this weekend's games:

C: Josh Phegley, Indiana. The Hoosier's big man behind the plate has been quiet as of late, but I think we'll see a big weekend out of him against a struggling Boilermakers pitching staff.

1B: Nick O'Shea, Minnesota. Although this redshirt freshmen is only hitting .251 on the season, he is a consistent power threat in the heart of the Gophers lineup. As Minnesota plays its' first home series outdoors in a smaller ballpark, look for O'Shea to deposit a couple of baseballs over the fence against the league worst Hawkeyes pitching staff this weekend.

2B: Derek McCallum, Minnesota. How can't you pick this guy? He's leading the Big Ten in hitting with a batting average of .394, 55 RBI, and 11 HR. I don't see the Big Ten's hottest hitter slowing down much this weekend against the gold and black.

SS: Brandon Wikoff, Illinois. Wikoff might easily be the smallest player in the Big Ten, but don't let that mislead you. Wikoff is one of the toughest players in the nation to strikeout, an event that he's only experienced 6 times the entire year. Wikoff has become a consistent contributor to the Fighting Illini offense, and should contribute largely again this weekend against Northwestern.

3B: Dan Black, Purdue. Black is coming off of a tough weekend in Minneapolis against the Gophers. Not only did he struggle, his team struggled, dropping their fourth, fifth, and sixth straight conference game. Look for the Big Ten HR leader to bounce back and have a strong weekend to hopefully get his Boilers out of this funk they're in.

OF: Brandon Haveman, Purdue. The Big Ten's second best hitter, sitting at an impressive .392 should also continue to swing a hot bat along with his teammate Dan Black this weekend. Something's got to go right for the Boilers this weekend doesn't it?

OF: Justin Gominsky, Minnesota. This true freshman has done nothing but impress since he became an everyday outfielder for the Gophers mid-season. In his 25 starts for Minnesota thus far, he is hitting .371 and has provided great speed and a dangerous arm in the field for the Gophers. After a strong midweek contest in which he gathered three hits, including a HR, I see Gominsky being a determining factor for the Gophers in their weekend series against the Hawkeyes.

OF: Dan Burkhardt, Ohio St. Not much to say about this guy. He flat out can hit. He's quietly rose to the top of the Big Ten in hitting with a batting average of .384 for a red-hot Buckeyes team.

P: Eric Arnett, Indiana. Arnett has been phenomenal in his past few starts, compiling a season ERA of 2.49 and a record of 9-1 this season. Arnett's professional stock is rising quickly as scouts are impressed with his ability to throw hard, even in late innings. Arnett's fastball was clocked at 94 mph in the 10th inning of an extra innings game a few weekends ago. He also was recently placed on the National Pitcher of the Year watch list.

P: Chris Fetter, Michigan. The Big Ten's leader in ERA (2.18) comes into this weekend with a 6-1 record, and has no signs of slowing down.

P: Tom Buske, Minnesota. The Gophers fifth year senior has quietly compiled the Big Ten's second best ERA (2.34) and a 6-3 record. Buske doesn't throw hard, but uses his changeup and slider to keep hitters guessing, and so far, it has worked flawlessly. I don't see this changing this weekend as the Gophers try to swallow the sub-par Hawkeyes hitters.

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Big Ten Baseball Blog

Hello everyone and thanks for checking out my Big Ten Baseball Blog! This website is a great resource for anyone and everyone who is interested in not only Big Ten baseball, but baseball in general. Obviously, the main topics of discussion will be Big Ten baseball, but there will also be discussion of other levels of baseball as well. I will try to faithfully update the blog with scores, statistics, standings, and discussions as much as possible.

If you are unfamiliar with Big Ten baseball, or the Big Ten conference in general, here is a quick overview:

The Big Ten Conference was established in 1895, and originally included seven midwestern universities (University of Chicago, University of Illinois, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, Northwestern University, Purdue University, and the University of Wisconsin.). In 1899, Indiana University and Iowa University joined the Big Ten while in 1912, Ohio State joined. In 1946, Chicago withdrew from the Big Ten and later in 1949 Michigan State University was added. For a period of 40 years, the Big Ten remained with its 10 members until 1990 when the Big Ten agreed to add Pennsylvania State University. Since this addition, the Big Ten has become the 11-team elite athletics conference it is today. In recap, today's Big Ten conference includes Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Michigan St., Iowa, Penn St., Northwestern, Purdue, Indiana, Ohio St., and Wisconsin.

The Big Ten athletics conference competes in 12 men's sports and 13 women's sports, and has become one of the strongest collegiate athletics conferences in the nation. Among these is baseball, this blog's focus.

Big Ten baseball has a long and rich tradition which sadly has gone "under the radar" due to the lack of popularity of not only baseball in the midwest, but college baseball in general. It is my goal to gain more attention to this great conference and sport which is always filled with extremely gifted student athletes and exciting competition.

Currently, 10 of the 11 teams in the Big Ten conference compete in men's baseball. Wisconsin is the only team which does not participate, cutting their program in the late 1980's. These 10 teams play a full 50-60 game schedule each spring, and ultimately strive to become not only Big Ten champions, but NCAA champions. Each season, teams play a handful of non-conference games against various opponents across the nation, as well as 24 games against conference opponents (this determines who wins the Big Ten regular season championship). Once the 24 conference games have completed, the top 6 teams in the conference recieve spots in the Big Ten tournament, which has been held at the regular season champion's home field in the past, but this year will be held at a neutral site in Columbus, OH (Huntington Park). The winner of this tournament recieves an automatic bid into the NCAA baseball tournament which ultimately determines the national champion.

Each year, Big Ten teams are getting more talented and are creating a more exciting situtation for fans and followers. The Big Ten has produced some very quality major league baseball players, and will continue to do so.

I hope that this blog will serve as a great resource for you to follow, learn, and enjoy the great sport of baseball, and more specifically, in the great Big Ten Conference.