Big Ten Baseball Blog: Sunday's Conference Results

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Sunday's Conference Results

INDIANA 2
PURDUE 5

Purdue hurler Matt Morgan improved to 4-4 after giving up 1 earned run on 5 hits and striking out 5 Hoosiers in 7.1 innings of work. Indiana starter Matt Bashore falls to 4-4 after giving up 4 runs on 8 hits, although he struck out 9 Boilermaker hitters. Offensively the Boilermakers were led once again by CF Brandon Haveman, who finished 2-5 with 1 2B and 2 RBI. 2B Eric Charles also collected two hits and finished 2-4 on the day. Hoosiers DH Alex Dickerson led the way going 2-4 with a run, while CF Evan Crawford was 1-4 with 1 R and 1 RBI. With the win, the gold and black move to 20-22 overall and 7-10 in conference. The loss drops the Hoosiers to 22-24 overall, and 11-6 in conference.

MICHIGAN 9
OHIO ST. 2

Michigan's Eric Katzman picked up the win and moves to 7-4 on the season after giving up 1 run on 4 hits in 5 innings pitched. Ohio State's Eric Best gets the loss and drops to 6-3 on the year after giving up 5 runs (2 earned) on 7 hits in 4.1 innings of work. The Wolverines were led by 1B Mike Dufek who finished 3-5 with 3 RBI. CF Jake LaMarre and DH Jake McClouth also each added two hits of their own. Offensively the Buckeyes were led by LF Zach Hurley who finished 2-4 with a run and one RBI. CF Michael Stevens also collected two hits, finishing 2-4 on the day. With the win, the Wolverines improve to 24-21 (7-11), while the Buckeyes drop to 34-11 (13-5).

PENN ST. 5
MICHIGAN ST. 6

Spartan reliever A.J. Dunn picked up the win and moved to 1-2 on the year after allowing just one run in 2.1 innings pitched. Nittany Lions' reliever Ryan Ignes gets the loss and drops to 3-1 after giving up 3 runs in 2 innings. Offensively Michigan St. was led by C Eric Roof, who finished 2-4 with 2 RBI. Johnny Lee, Jeff Holm, and Brandon Eckerle also collected two hits each in the contest. The Nittany Lions were led by SS Louie Picconi who went 2-4 with a run and an RBI. With the win, the Spartans complete the series sweep of Penn St. and move to 21-24 (11-7). The loss drops the Nittany Lions to 22-25 (5-13).

ILLINOIS 9
NORTHWESTERN 0

Fighting Illini starter Bryan Roberts pitched 7 shutout innings, giving up just 5 hits and striking out 7 Wildcat hitters to improve to 5-2 on the season. Morton falls to 1-6 for Northwestern after giving up 5 runs on 9 hits in 4.1 innings of work. Offensively Illinois was led by SS Brandon Wikoff, who finished 4-5 with a run and 3 RBI. Bonadonna, McMurray, Altobelli, and Johnson also each collected two hits in the contest. The Wildcats were led by Finn who collected two hits and finished 2-5. With the win, the Illini claim sole possession of first place in the Big Ten with a record of 14-4, and an overall record of 30-13. The loss drops Northwestern to 12-30 (3-13).

IOWA 3
MINNESOTA 12

Golden Gopher sophomore Seth Rosin pitched 6.2 scoreless innings, striking out 7 Hawkeye hitters along the way and improving to 5-1 on the season. Hawkeye's starter Jarred Hippen dropped to 2-4 on the year after giving up 7 runs and 8 hits. Offensively Minnesota was led by 1B Nick O'Shea, who finished 3-5 with a homer and 4 RBI. 2B Derek McCallum continues to swing a hot bat, finishing 3-4 with 3 runs and 1 RBI in today's contest. C Kyle Knudson also finished 2-3 with 3 RBI and 2 BB. The Hawkeyes were led by CF Kurtis Muller, who finished 2-3 with an RBI and 2 BB. C Dallas Burke also added two hits, finishing 2-5 on the day. The win puts the Gophers in sole possession of 2nd place in the Big Ten at 13-4, with a record of 30-13 overall. The loss drops the Hawkeyes to 14-30 (3-14).

WEEKEND REVIEW:

-Purdue takes 2 of 3 games at home vs. Indiana
-Ohio St. takes 2 of 3 games at home vs. Michigan
-Michigan St. completes a clean sweep of Penn St. at home
-Illinois takes all 3 games on the road against Northwestern
-Minnesota sweeps Iowa at home

CURRENT BIG TEN STANDINGS:

Illinois 14-4
Minnesota 13-4
Ohio St. 13-5
Indiana 11-6
Michigan St. 11-7
Purdue 7-10
Michigan 7-11
Penn St. 5-13
Northwestern 3-13
Iowa 3-14

With two weekends to go, the Fighting Illini lead the pack by 1 game with the Golden Gophers and Buckeyes nipping at their heels. Michigan State continues to play well, completing their second straight series sweep, and sitting comfortably in the fifth spot in the Big Ten, just 1/2 game back of the Hoosiers. It looks as though the battle for the final spot in the Big Ten tournament will come down to who plays better down the stretch between Purdue and Michigan, although mathematically no one is out of it yet. With the treacherous seasons that Northwestern and Iowa are putting on, it seems as though they are going to be packing it up soon and trying again next season.

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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.