Indiana Wins 2009 Big Ten Tournament

Indiana Wins 2009 Big Ten Tournament

Saturday, May 30, 2009

NCAA Tournament - Day 2 Results

After an opening day which saw the Big Ten go 0-3 yesterday, the Big Ten bounced back today going 2-1. Here are the results:

OHIO STATE 6
Marist 4

Buckeye starter Dean Wolosiansky gave up 4 runs on 10 hits in 5.1 innings of work to recieve the no decision. Reliever Drew Rucinski pitched 1.2 scoreless innings and struck out two to improve to 11-2 on the season. Jake Hale pitched 2 scoreless innings as well, and picked up his 17th save of the year. Offensively the Bucks only compiled 7 hits, but managed to squeak out the win anyways. Ohio State was led by DH Ryan Dew who hit a 3 run bases clearing triple and finished 1-4, with 1 run and 3 RBI. CF Michael Stephens also collected two hits, and finished 2-2 with a run and 2 BB. With the win, the Buckeyes stay alive and will face the loser of #2 Georgia and #1 Florida State. Currently Florida State is ahead 4-2 in the bottom half of the 8th inning.

MINNESOTA 11
Southern 8

The box score has not yet been released for this game, but I will fill you in with what I know. Minnesota starter Seth Rosin pitched into the 6th or 7th inning, giving up 3 runs. Reliever Scott Fern earned the victory, and Scott Matyas picked up another save for the maroon and gold. The Gophers were led offensively by LF Justin Gominsky, who finished 4-4, just a HR short of the cycle. With the win, the Gophers stay alive and will face the loser of #1 LSU vs. #3 Baylor.

INDIANA 0
Vanderbilt 10

The box score has not yet been released for this game either. Another tough loss for the Hoosiers, and this one even tougher as it eliminates them from the tournament. Great season for the red and white, too bad it had to end this way.

Friday, May 29, 2009

NCAA Tournament - Day 1 Results

Rough day for the Big Ten today on Day 1 of the NCAA Tournament:

OHIO STATE 8
Georgia 24

Ohio State sent one of the Big Ten's top pitchers in Alex Wimmers to the mound today, but surprisingly he was shelled by Louisville. Wimmers pitched just 4 innings, gave up 8 runs on 8 hits and walked 7 batters. The Buckeye's bullpen struggled as well, giving up 14 runs throughout the course of the last 5 innings. The Buckeyes collected 10 hits and were led by C Dan Burkhart who finished 3-3 with an RBI. LF Zach Hurley finished 2-4 with 2 runs and an RBI as well, but it was not even close to enough for the Bucks tonight. Ohio State will face the loser of #1 Florida State and #4 Marist tomorrow. Currently, the Seminoles lead 1-0 in the bottom of the 4th inning.

MINNESOTA 0
Baylor 5

Depressing loss for the Gophers tonight. Senior pitcher Tom Buske gave up a 2-run HR in the top of the first inning, but did eventually settle in nicely and left the game in the 7th inning after giving up just one more run. The normally stellar Golden Gopher offense was held to just 5 hits on the night, led by 3B Kyle Geason who collected 2 hits and finished 2-3 on the night. The Gophers will face the 4th seeded Southern Jaguars tomorrow at 1 pm, facing elimination.

INDIANA 2
Louisville 8

Tough one for Hoosiers fans to swallow tonight. The Hoosiers sent dominant starter Eric Arnett to the mound, and he gave up 5 runs (just 1 earned) on 5 hits in 7 innings of work. As you can tell, Arnett wasn't necessarily the issue for the Hoosiers as he only gave up one earned run. The Hoosiers committed 3 errors, and posted just 6 hits offensively, two coming from LF Kipp Schutz, who finished 2-4 on the night. Indiana will now play #3 Vanderbilt tomorrow, facing elimination.

In summary, three Big Ten teams played in today's opening day of the NCAA tournament, and all three did not fare well. Granted they all played tough teams, I don't think anyone expected it to be as rough as it ended up to be. We will see if the Hoosiers, Buckeyes, and Gophers can rebound tomorrow. Stay tuned for updates and results.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

NCAA Regionals Preview

Tomorrow marks the opening day of the 2009 NCAA Baseball Tournament. As you know, three teams from the Big Ten Conference earned spots in the tournament (Ohio State, Minnesota, Indiana). Here is a quick preview of tomorrow's action:

#2 Georgia (37-22)
#3 Ohio St. (40-17)

Ohio State's Alex Wimmers looks to boost the Buckeyes past the Bulldogs tomorrow. Georgia was the #1 nationally ranked team in a few polls earlier in the season and competed very well in a tough college baseball conference, so this looks like a tough matchup for the red and gray of Columbus. Wimmers has been solid all year in the Big Ten, but we will see how he fares against arguably tougher southern hitters. Should Ohio State win, they will play the winner of #1 Florida State and #4 Marist. If they lose, they will play the loser of FSU/Marist.

#1 Louisville (44-15)
#4 Indiana (32-25)

Indiana sends Eric Arnett to the mound tomorrow to face the top ranked Cardinals of Louisville. The Hoosiers have faced Louisville twice already this season, dropping both games 15-1 and 10-8. Although Louisville may have Indiana's number so far this season, I think that Indiana has a strong shot at pulling off the upset tomorrow. The Hoosiers played excellent baseball down the stretch in conference play, and played nearly perfect baseball during the entire Big Ten Tournament. If Indiana's pitching staff continues to dominate and the their starting lineup's bats stay hot, don't be surprised to see the red and white of Bloomington steal a huge win tomorrow.

#2 Minnesota (38-17)
#3 Baylor (29-24)

Minnesota will start fifth-year senior Tom Buske on the mound to take on the Bears of Baylor. Buske has pitched tremendously this season, earning Third-team All-Big Ten honors. The question is whether or not he will be able to fool Baylor's hitters like he has consistently done in the Big Ten this season. I personally feel that Buske matches up well against southern teams because of his arsenal of pitches. A majority of southern teams such as Baylor face hard-throwing fastball pitchers more often than soft-throwing locating pitchers such as Buske. I wouldn't be surprised if Buske's tricky changeup, sneaky slider, and well-located fastball can keep the Bear's hitters at bay. The question that remains is which Gopher team will show up? Will it be the Gopher team from the first and last games of the Big Ten tourney who looked flat, played poor defense, and struggled offensively? Or will it be the team from the middle games of the tournament who pitched well, hit well, and fielded like a typical Minnesota coached team? I guess we will see tomorrow.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's results and analysis of the opening regional games.

Monday, May 25, 2009

Random Fact

I have been trying to find out when the last time the Big Ten had three teams in the NCAA tournament, and I have found that information. Contrary to my belief, it hasn't been that long since the conference sent three teams away to the tourney. In 2007, the Big Ten sent Michigan, Minnesota, and Ohio State to the tournament. The Big Ten has never had more than 3 teams in the tournament. Ahh... I feel much better now that I know the exact year!

2009 NCAA Tournament Bracket Released

This morning, the 2009 NCAA Tournament bracket was released. 3 Big Ten schools made the field. Indiana recieved a #4 seed after earning an automatic bid for winning the Big Ten tournament, and will play against Louisville in the Lousiville regional. Ohio State earned a #3 seed after recieving an at-large bid and will play Georgia State in the Talahassee, FL regional. Minnesota earned an at-large bid as well, and is a #2 seed and will play Baylor in the Louisiana State regional. Here is the complete field:

Austin, TX Regional:
#1 Texas
#4 Army
#3 Boston College
#2 Texas State

Forth Worth, TX Regional:
#1 Texas Christian
#4 Wright State
#3 Oregon State
#2 Texas A&M

Atlanta, GA Regional:
#1 Georgia Tech
#4 Georgia State
#3 Southern Mississippi
#2 Elon

Gainesville, FL Regional:
#1 Florida
#4 Bethune-Cookman
#3 Jacksonville
#2 Miami (FL)

Tempe, AZ Regional:
#1 Arizona State
#4 Kent State
#3 Cal-Poly
#2 Oral Roberts

Clemson, SC Regional:
#1 Clemson
#4 Tennessee Tech
#3 Oklahoma State
#2 Alabama

Greenville, NC Regional:
#1 East Carolina
#4 Binghamton
#3 George Mason
#2 South Carolina

Chapel Hill, NC Regional:
#1 North Carolina
#4 Dartmouth
#3 Kansas
#2 Coastal Carolina

Fullerton, CA Regional:
#1 California State-Fullerton
#4 Utah
#3 Gonzaga
#2 Georgia Southern

Louisville, KY Regional:
#1 Louisville
#4 INDIANA
#3 Vanderbilt
#2 Middle Tennessee State

Talahassee, FL Regional
#1 Florida State
#4 Marist
#3 OHIO STATE
#2 Georgia State

Norman, OK Regional:
#1 Oklahoma
#4 Wichita State
#3 Washington State
#2 Arkansas

Irvine, CA Regional:
#1 California-Irvine
#4 Fresno State
#3 San Diego State
#2 Virginia

Oxford, MS Regional:
#1 Mississippi
#4 Monmouth
#3 Western Kentucky
#2 Missouri

Houston, TX Regional:
#1 Rice
#4 Sam Houston St.
#3 Xaiver
#2 Kansas State

Baton Rouge, LA Regional:
#1 Louisiana State
#4 Southern University
#3 Baylor
#2 MINNESOTA


As you can see, there are 16 regionals with four teams in each. The four teams in each regional will play a double elimination format tournament, and the winners of the regionals will advance to the Super Regionals. Super Regional matchups:

Winner of Austin Regional vs. Winner of Fort Worth Regional

Winner of Atlanta Regional vs. Winner of Gainesville Regional

Winner of Tempe Regional vs. Winner of Clemson Regional

Winner of Greenville Regional vs. Winner of Chapel Hill Regional

Winner of Fullerton Regional vs. Winner of Louisville Regional

Winner of Talahassee Regional vs. Winner of Norman Regional

Winner of Irvine Regional vs. Winner of Oxford Regional

Winner of Houston Regional vs. Winner of Baton Rouge Regional

The super regionals will consist of a head-to-head, best of three series between the two specified regional winners. The winners of the super regionals will advance to the College World Series (8 teams.)

Overall, today is a good day to be a Big Ten baseball fan. For the first time in quite a while (I'm still searching for a specific year, let me know if you can find it), the Big Ten has sent 3 teams to the NCAA tournament.

If Indiana can play the way they played in the Big Ten tournament, don't be surprised if they win the Louisville regional. Ohio State's regional is tough, and I do not see them surviving, but who knows. Minnesota has a shot at winning their regional, but it depends which Gopher team shows up to play. If the Gopher team that won three straight games in the Big Ten tournament shows up, it's going to be tough for anyone to touch them. We will see what happens.

Regional play begins this Friday, May 29th. Stay tuned for results and updates.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

NCAA Releases 2009 Regional Hosts

Today the NCAA released the 2009 baseball regional host schools:

Clemson
Florida State
Georgia Tech
North Carolina
Florida
LSU
Mississippi
Oklahoma
Texas
UC-Irvine
California State-Fullerton
East Carolina
Rice
Arizona State
Louisville
TCU

Tomorrow at 11:30 AM central time the teams that qualify for the tournament will be announced and which regional they are placed into. Stay tuned for the placings.

2009 All-Big Ten Tournament Team

Here is the 2009 All-Big Ten Tournament team, released by the Big Ten last night:

C: Dan Burkhart, OSU
1B: Nick O'Shea, MINN
2B: Derek McCallum, MINN
SS: Jake Dunning, IND
3B: Vince Gonzalez, IND
OF: Pete Cappetta, ILL
OF: Kipp Schutz, IND
OF: Eric Decker, MINN
DH: Alex Dickerson, OSU
P: Eric Arnett, IND
P: Tom Buske, MINN
P: Matt Bashore, IND

Most Oustanding Player: Matt Bashore, IND