Conference Action Begins

It's another sign that spring must be here--Big Ten Conference baseball play has finally arrived. This weekend's opening slate of games looks like this:

Indiana (7-11) @ Michigan State (9-9)
Northwestern (3-15) @ Michigan (11-7)
Purdue (11-6) @ Illinois (11-6)
Ohio State (12-5) @ Iowa (10-8)
Penn State (4-16) @ Minnesota (10-8)

If forced to select the series of the weekend, I'd take the battle between Purdue and Illinois. The Boilermakers have been steady throughout the pre-season. Amongst their early victories is a triumph over # 7 North Carolina. The Illini enter the Big Ten portion of their schedule red hot. They are returning home from a 7-0 road trip.

Friday's opener features two of the best arms in the conference. In a battle of righthanders, Illinois' Brian Blomquist (1-2) takes on Purdue's Jay Buente (3-0). Blomquist, a pre-season all-conference selection, has a 2.16 ERA. Buente's 1.70 ERA is good for third in the Big Ten, while his 36 strikeouts pace the conference.

In the other games, conference leader Ohio State travels to Iowa. If the Hawkeyes' starters, led by Jeff Maitland (2-0, 2.30), can keep the Buckeyes' bats in check until closer Tim Gudex arrives, then Iowa may prove triumphant. Gudex is leading the Big Ten in wins (3) and saves (4). However, not only does OSU lead the conference in team batting average, but the Buckeyes pitching staff leads the Big Ten in team ERA, as well.

Freshman J.B. Shuck leads the entire conference in ERA at a dazzling 1.12. OSU sophomore Cory Luebke is ninth overall at 2.96. Friday starter Dan DeLucia has three wins and is holding opponents to a .228 batting average. Both Shuck and DeLucia are tied for the conference lead in wins.

I'll defer to each university's weekly release (see link on school above) for previews on the Wolverines playing host to NU, the Hoosiers trip to East Lansing and Penn State's visit to Minnesota. I would, however, like to provide a few additional links for your reading pleasure.

David Murray of the Michigan Daily provides this inspirational story on Michigan walk-on Matt Fisher. Daily Collegian staff writers Corey Mclaughlin and Chris Weeden look ahead to Penn State's Big Ten schedule.

Brandon Castel of The Lantern provides a recap of Ohio State's midweek home win over Toledo. Butler's 6-5 win over Indiana is the topic of review by Jake Brown of the Indiana Daily Student. Enjoy the weekend.

Quick Saturday Recap

Zach Boswell goes 2 for 4 with a pair of RBI in leading Indiana past Hartford, 4-2. Iowa splits a doubleheader with IUPUI-Ft. Wayne. The first contest went the Hawkeyes way, 5-1, but the second affair was Ft. Wayne's, 1-0, in ten innings. Jeff Maitland improved to 2-0 on the year in the opener allowing six hits in seven innings while fanning seven. (That's far too long a sentence. My apologies.)

Michigan State dropped Western Illinois, 7-0. Ryan Basham had three RBI and two hits on the afternoon. Minnesota beat Missouri State, 11-5. Mike Mee and Andy Hunter each had three hits and Jeff DeSmidt and Sean Kommerstad had three RBI a piece.

Ohio State swept a doubleheader from Vermont. The Buckeyes took game one, 14-1. Game two saw OSU prevail, 6-5. Big Ten Player of the Week Ronnie Bourquin had three hits and drove in five in the opener. Wes Schirtzinger had two hits and the GWRBI in the nightcap. Purdue pounded Chicago State, 16-6. Ryne White had three hits, including his first homerun, and four RBI. Neal Gorka also went yard for the Boilermakers.

In the last score I have been able to track down, Michigan slipped past Oakland, 9-8. Mike Schmidt had a homer amongst his three hits for the Wolverines. The teams will play a doubleheader tomorrow as poor weather forced one of today's tilts to be moved.

Links For The Weekend

I've decided to stay up a bit longer and provide some links to the weekend's games. The national perspectives aren't available until tomorrow, so they go missing tonight. Games of note to me, Northwestern at Pepperdine and Penn State's visit to Arizona State. Two Big Ten clubs facing off against a couple of traditional college baseball powers.

I'm also intrigued by Minnesota's battle with Missouri State. Didn't the Bears knock Ohio State out of the NCAA field a few years back? Back when they were still Southwest Missouri State? Seems to me like they did. Maybe a Buckeye or Bear baseball follower can confirm my recollection?

Friday 03/24/06
Illinois @ Cornell 9:30 AM

Ohio State @ Vermont 10:00 AM

Northwestern @ Pepperdine 12:00 PM

Ohio State @ Vermont 1:00 PM (Game Two)

Hartford @ Indiana 3:00 PM

Oakland @ Michigan 3:05 PM

Minnesota @ Missouri State 7:00 PM

Penn State @ Arizona State 9:00 PM


Saturday 03/25/06
Northwestern @ Pepperdine 11:00 AM

Western Illinois @ Michigan State 12:00 PM

Chicago State @ Purdue 1:00 PM

IUPU-Fort Wayne @ Iowa 1:00 PM

Oakland @ Michigan 1:05 PM

Minnesota @ Missouri State 2:00 PM

Michigan State @ Western Illinois 2:00 PM

Hartford @ Indiana 3:00 PM

Chicago State @ Purdue 3:30 PM (Game Two)

Penn State @ Arizona State 6:00 PM

Oakland @ Michigan TBA (Game Two)

IUPUI-Fort Wayne @ Iowa TBA (Game Two)


Sunday 03/26/06
Northwestern @ Pepperdine 11:00 AM

Hartford @ Indiana 12:00 PM

Western Illinois @ Michigan State 12:00 PM

Penn State @ Arizona State 12:00 PM

IUPU-Fort Wayne @ Iowa 1:00 PM

Chicago State @ Purdue 1:00 PM

Minnesota @ Missouri State 1:00 PM

Oakland @ Michigan 1:05 PM

Back To Blogging

I'll never catch up on my week long absence, so instead of explaining or whining over my departure, I think I'll just pick up my baseball blogging where I left off. Here are some Big Ten baseball links I've stumbled upon.

The Daily Collegian's Chris Weeden looks at Penn State's red hot hitting Scott Gummo. Ryan Long of The Daily Iowan notes the Hawkeyes are still looking to go yard.

Of course, as spring reaches this portion of the world after the teams arrive, the cancellations and postponed games appear with greater frequency. IU vs. Valpo, Iowa vs. IPFW, Purdue vs. Indiana State and Penn State's home opener vs. Bucknell all got affected by the elements. No, I won't begin ranting about the inequity of it all. Not today, anyway.

Somewhat to my surprise, I see Purdue garnered some Top 25 votes in the coaches poll. Sure, it's only seven votes, but if the Boilermakers can keep up their early season pace, I would suspect a Top 25 spot isn't out of the question.

I'll apologize in advance to both of us as I may not have time for the usual weekend preview link post. I've got a retirement party tomorrow night and various other adult responsibilities to attend to this weekend. I hope to sneak over to Ann Arbor to watch Oakland (the school that let me in) and Michigan do battle Saturday afternoon. If I make it out to Ray Fisher Stadium, hopefully, I'll have some photos to share. As always, thanks for stopping in.

The Weekend Ahead

I know the majority of you are far too pre-occupied with March Madness to spend much time here this weekend, but hits have been fairly steady at Big Ten Hardball and I'd like to take this moment to thank those of you who stop in. I've noticed that many visitors are from Big Ten country and I hope that's indicative of the interest in college baseball in this portion of the land. Again, thanks for clicking over.

I've altered the weekend links format just a bit. I've provided the listing by school and not by day. I'm not sure if I like it or not. I'm also including links to some national perspectives. (Although, I suspect my heavy emphasis on linking led to a recent investigation of BTH as a potential spammer. Obviously, I was cleared of all charges.)

Here's what lies ahead for the Big Ten this weekend.

Illinois
Friday vs. Northern Iowa
Saturday vs. Illinois-Chicago
Sunday vs. Massachusetts

Indiana
Friday: Hoosiers 10 Vermont 6 (box)
Saturday vs. Illinois-Chicago

Iowa
Friday vs. Notre Dame (yes, again.)

Michigan
Friday: Wolverines 3 George Washington 0 (box)
Saturday vs. Winthrop
Sunday vs. Wagner

Michigan State
Friday, Saturday & Sunday @ Ohio

Minnesota
Friday, Saturday & Sunday @ Louisiana-Lafayette

Northwestern
Saturday & Sunday @ Santa Clara

Ohio State
Sunday vs. Massachusetts

Purdue
Friday: Boilermakers 7 St. Louis 1 (box)
Saturday & Sunday @ St. Louis

Penn State (.pdf file)
Saturday & Sunday @ Furman

On to the rest of the nation, where Baseball America's Will Kimmey gives his take on the weekend. In Breadcrumbs Back To Omaha, Boyd Nation provides his usual array of stats and his guess at the tournament field. Amongst other things, CSTV.com's Eric Sorenson wonders aloud in his Thursday's Thoughts about the make-up of the tournament field, as well.

Enjoy all the hoops and baseball action.

IU, Iowa Win

Indiana rolled over Fairfield, 15-2, today. IU's Zach Boswell hit his second homerun of the campaign and collected four RBI. Hoosier 3B Steve Head went 4 for 5. Clint Crosier notched his first win going six innings striking out nine batters.

Travis Sweet's walk-off double led Iowa past Southern Illinois, 4-3. Hawkeye closer Tim Gudex posted his second win.

Radio Waves

Iowa and Ohio State have announced local radio deals. Here are the press releases for the Hawkeyes and the Buckeyes baseball broadcasts.

Campus Newspaper Coverage

I found three reviews of the Big Ten college baseball weekend from the respective college newspapers.

Jason Grodsky of the Daily Illini pens this review of Illinois' weekend.

Michigan Daily's David Murray looks back on how the Wolverines fared with a special emphasis on Craig Murray's outing.

The week that was for Penn State baseball is recalled by Corey Mclaughlin of the Daily Collegian.

Playing Catch Up

I'm pressed for time, but I do want to review what has happened since Saturday. Illinois lost to Notre Dame, 4-2, on Sunday. The Illini got then got pounded on by Texas A&M, 11-1. Josh Lewis pitched a complete game gem as Indiana won on Monday, 3-1, over Northern Iowa. Today, the Hoosiers lost in ten innings to Bradley, 6-5.

Louisiana-Lafayette beat Iowa Sunday, 3-2, and the Hawkeyes fell again Monday. Notre Dame beat Iowa, 6-2. Michigan beat Pacific Sunday by a 13-9 count. Minnesota shoutout Illinois State in the final game of the Metrodome Tournament, 9-0. The Gophers won again today beating New Orleans, 6-4.

Ohio State knocked around Bethune-Cookman on Sunday, 9-1. Saturday's game between Purdue and Missouri that got interrupted by bad weather resumed Sunday and the Tigers prevailed, 22-2. There was another weather delay in the regularly scheduled Sunday contest, but the Boilers rebounded from the earlier pounding and won, 8-6. After taking two of three from the Tigers, Purdue beat Missouri State today, 7-5.

Aaron Markowitz of Penn State was named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Week. Ohio State's Matt Angle got the nod as conference Player of the Week.

Saturday Results And Standouts

It was an ugly Saturday for most of the Big Ten. Texas-San Antonio beat Illinois, 9-3. Notre Dame crushed Iowa, 16-2. Baylor pounded Michigan, 16-0. Rhode Island dropped Michigan State, 7-4. Penn State dropped both ends of their doubleheader with Toledo, 6-5, and Bethune Cookman. Purdue was losing, 5-0, at Missouri before lightning and rain brought the game to a halt.

Two Big Ten teams did prevail Saturday. Minnesota provided a win in shutout fashion over Ball State, 2-0. Ohio State also triumphed beating Northern Iowa, 9-6.

Shy of much overall team success, let's look at some individual performances. Illini 2B Ryan Hastings went 3 for 5. Lars Davis drove in two of Illinois' three tallies. Michigan State SS Troy Krider went 4 for 4. Cole DeVries was the star of Minnesota's victory. The Gopher righthander pitched a complete game four hit shutout. Buckeye SS Jedidiah Stephen went 4 for 4 with a pair of RBI in OSU's win. Stephen is 9 for 12 with seven runs scored and four RBI in Ohio State's three games so far this weekend. (Right now, Stephen looks like the Player of the Week. DeVries and Purdue's Buente will battle for Pitcher of the Week honors.)

From the opposition, UTSA's Lee Todesco had three RBI vs. Illinois. Baylor's Beamer Weams (a great name) and Tim Jackson each had a pair of hits and three RBI in their route of Michigan. Dave Savard had two hits and three RBI for Rhode Island. Notre Dame's Danny Dressman had three hits and drove in five Irish runs over Iowa.

Friday Night Fireworks

Friday is often the day of the week premier pitching match-ups occur. However, last night was exception to that rule. A number of Big Ten teams and, unfortunately, their opponents, had impressive offensive showings. Iowa (Jeff Maitland) and Purdue (Jay Buente) did slow the Friday night hit parade, but their are plenty of big boxscores around the rest of the conference for you to review.

Illinois outslugged Louisiana-Lafayette, 14-12. Big Ten batting average leader Lars Davis collected three more hits, as did Ryan Snowden, pacing the Illini's thirteen hit attack. Luke Obokowicz earned the win.

Texas-San Antonio downed Iowa, 3-1. Hawkeye starter Jeff Maitland went seven innings allowing only four hits, but didn't figure in the decision. 2B Travis Sweet had the only RBI for Iowa.

It was the Amos Ramon Show in Louisiana Tech's win over Michigan, 13-7. Ramon, had four hits including his fourth homer, scored three times, drove in two, stole a base and picked up the save for LTU. Derek VanBuskirk went 3 for 3 for Michigan. Doug Pickens and Nate Recknagel homered for the Wolverines.

Minnesota defeated Vermont, 11-5, in the first game of the Metrodome Tournament. Gopher freshman LF Matt Nohelty had two hits, two RBI, scored three and stole three bases. Fellow freshmen Bryan Jost (3 RBI) and Nate Hanson (2 for 3, 2 RBI, 2 runs) also had big nights for Minnesota. Brian Bull notched his first win of the year going six innings while allowing a single run.

Ohio State swept a doubleheader from Lehigh. The Buckeyes won game one, 17-10. CF Matt Angle had five RBI and stole two bases for OSU. Buckeye RF Wes Schirtzinger went 4 for 5. Cory Luebke, the defending Big Ten Pitcher of the Week, got roughed up a bit, but earned his second victory of 2006.

Game two was another hit fest. OSU prevailed in the finale, 13-6. Eric Fryer had three Buckeye RBI. 3B Ronnie Bourquin had three hits in the nightcap. Bourquin went six for ten with four runs scored and four RBI in the twinbill. Jedidiah Stephen also had two strong performances going 5 for 8 with six runs and two RBI.

Jay Buente made his claim for Big Ten Pitcher of the Week in leading Purdue past Missouri, 7-0. Buente allowed four hits over eight innings while fanning nine Tiger batters. 2B Eric Osborn had two more hits raising his average to .478.

It took eleven innings, but Penn State topped Bethune Cookman, 6-5. Matt Cavagnaro drove in the winning run for the Nittany Lions in the 11th. Sophomore Paul Hawkins got the win for PSU.

Weekend Links

Welcome to the usual Thursday night fare, a look at the upcoming weekend. Tonight, I've tossed in an extra side dish, a peek at Monday's slate. Only two games against ranked opponents dot the Big Ten schedule-Michigan at # 27 Baylor and Illinois at # 21 Texas A&M. Purdue and Northwestern are both idle this weekend.

FRIDAY
Illinois vs. Louisiana-Lafayette
Dan Hartleb's squad travels to San Antonio for four games in the Collegiate Baseball Classic.

Ohio State vs. Lehigh (Doubleheader)
It's four games in three days in Clearwater, Florida for OSU.

Michigan @ Louisiana Tech
The Wolverines are in the Quala-T Imprints Baylor Classic. Ok, it's a kind of cheesy name.

Iowa @ Texas-San Antonio
The Hawkeyes are also part of the Collegiate Baseball Classic in San Antonio.

Purdue @ Missouri
The Boilermakers get a weekend set vs. the Tigers.

Vermont @ Minnesota
Catamounts visit as part of the Metrodome Tournament.

Bethune Cookman vs. Penn State
Nittany Lions have three games in two days.

SATURDAY
Toledo vs. Penn State
Bethune Cookman vs. Penn State
The split doubleheader ends PSU weekend.

Iowa vs. Notre Dame
The Irish play another of their five Big Ten opponents this spring.

Illinois @ Texas-San Antonio
Illini face tournament hosts, the Roadrunners.

Michigan @ # 27 Baylor
Bears have a fan site.

Michigan State vs. Rhode Island
It's the lone contest of the weekend for the Spartans.

Ball State @ Minnesota
BSU's Brad Miller was selected by Baseball America as the pre-season MAC Player of the Year.

Ohio State vs. Northern Iowa
Buckeyes' SS Jedidiah Stephen has a hit in each of OSU's first six contests.

Purdue @ Missouri
Simmons Field is a fan run Mizzou baseball site.

SUNDAY
Illinois vs. Notre Dame
Does the Lars Davis hit parade continue vs. ND?

Indiana vs. Eastern Illinois

Iowa vs. Louisiana-Lafayette
ULL plays almost as many Big Ten schools as Notre Dame.

Michigan vs. Pacific
Ed Sprague, a favorite of mine, is the head coach at Pacific.

Illinois State @ Minnesota

Ohio State vs. Bethune Cookman

Purdue @ Missouri

MONDAY
Illinois vs. # 21 Texas A&M

Indiana vs. Northern Iowa

Iowa vs. Notre Dame
ND, again? Just join the conference already.

Number Crunching And Other News

Yes, it's far too early for OPS numbers. However, college baseball season is rather short, so let's look at a few figures realizing they mean even less than usual. The Big Ten OPS leaders, unofficially, of course, are as follows:

Lars Davis, Illinois 1.211
Ryan Basham, Michigan State 1.196
Ronnie Bourquin, Ohio State 1.192
Antonio Mule, Northwestern 1.188
Doug Pickens, Michigan 1.179
Wes Freie, Iowa 1.167
Eric Osborn, Purdue 1.132
Adam Tripp, Michigan State 1.129
Andy Hunter, Minnesota 1.110
Steve Head, Indiana 1.079
Troy Krider, Michigan State and Alan Cattrysse, Michigan State 1.071
Brian Ernst, Penn State 1.002

These are the only players above the magical 1.000 mark. Davis, the Illinois catcher, is pacing the conference in batting average at .571, which just happens to be the identical number as his slugging percentage, and on base percentage at .640. Michigan's Pickens is leading the conference in slugging percentage at an impressive .731.

In other Big Ten baseball news, IU's Tracy Smith earned victory number one. Penn State beat Lehigh today, 4-0. Nittany Lions' starter Aaron Markowitz pitched a complete game shutout.

Three members of the Minnesota Golden Gophers were named to the Dairy Queen Classic All-Tournament Team: 2B Luke McLean, SS Dan Lyons and OF Mike Mee . Robert Mews of the Minnesota Daily recaps the Gophers play over the weekend. Other DQ Classic recaps from Arizona, Notre Dame and Nebraska perspectives.

Here's a Kentucky perspective on UK's sweep of the Wildcats from Northwestern.

A Southern Florida angle on Illinois' sweep of the Bulls is also online.

Indiana Daily Student writer Jake Brown reviews IU's winless weekend at the hands of Miami (FL).

Dan Feldman of the Michigan Daily writes about the Wolverines disappointment with their 3-4 record.

The Big Ten announced this week's Pitcher of the Week is Cory Luebke of Ohio State and the Player of the Week is Michigan State's Ryan Basham.

Midweek Match-Ups

3/7/06
Penn State vs. Lehigh
Indiana @ Indiana State
Michigan State @ Florida International

3/8/06
Penn State @ Jacksonville
Xavier @ Indiana
North Dakota State @ Minnesota
Michigan State @ Miami (FL)

3/9/06
Michigan State vs. Seton Hall

Weekend Recaps

Saturday
Illinois 7 South Florida 3
Lars Davis went 4 for 5 and Chase Kliment hit his first homer to lead Illinois past the Bulls. Jake Toohey notched the win (1-1). Matt Whitmore earned his first save.

# 24 Miami (FL) 7 Indiana 2
Hurricane starter Manny Miguelez pitched a complete game one hitter.

Louisiana-Lafayette 14 Iowa 9
The Rajun Cajuns knock Iowa from the undefeated ranks. Wes Freie was the bright spot for the Hawkeyes' offense scoring twice and driving in a run.

Georgia Southern 4 Michigan 3
Brett Pelfrey drove in three and Griffin Benedict homered to lead Georgia Southern past Michigan. Adam Abraham went 2 for 3 for Michigan.

Michigan State 6 Lehigh 3
Coach David Grewe earned his first Spartan victory. Ryan Basham had two hits and two RBI for MSU. Jeff Gerbe's seven innings of one run baseball got him the win.

Minnesota 8 Notre Dame 0
Cole DeVries picked up the win, Bill Johnson earned a save for the Gophers. Nate Hanson got two RBI in the win.

Kentucky 12 Northwestern 7
Antonio Mule and Jake Owens each went 4 for 5 with two RBI, but NU fell to Kentucky. UK catcher Sean Couglin went yard twice nd scored four times to help the Wildcats to their second straight win over Northwestern.

Jacksonville 4 Ohio State 3
OSU closer Rory Meister walked in the winning run. Jacob Howell had two of OSU's four hits on the day. Dan DeLucia went eight innings allowing a single run, but didn't figure in the decision. D.J. Ackley pitched eight solid innings for Jacksonville, as well, but he didn't figure in the decision, either.

# 3 North Carolina 5 Purdue 2
UNC starter Daniel Bard was the story Saturday. Bard tossed a complete game victory yielding five hits, two runs, issuing only a solitary walk and striking out 13 Purdue batters. Eric Osborn had two hits including his first homer for Purdue.

Bowling Green 5 Penn State 4
BGSU scored four in the ninth to beat PSU. Brian Ernst went 3 for 4 for the Nittany Lions.


Sunday
Illinois 7 South Florida 6
Shawn Roof, Chase Kliment and Ryan Snowden each had a two hits to lead the Illini (3-3) to a sweep over USF (4-9).

Western Michigan 12 Ohio State 11
Matt Angle has five hits and two RBI, Eric Fryer has three hits and three RBI, but OSU falls to the Broncos. Matt Bolton and Nathan Marquardt each have three hits and two RBI to pace the WMU offense.

Kentucky 10 Northwestern 3
1B Ryan Strieby collects four hits, including a homer, and four RBI to lead UK past NU. Antonio Mule had three more hits for Northwestern (3-8).

Iowa 6 Evansville 4
Travis Sweet went 3 for 4 to pace a balanced Iowa (5-1) offense.

# 24 Miami (FL) 6 Indiana 4
Danny Valencia homered, scored twice and drove in a pair to lead the Hurricanes past IU. Tad Reida led the Hoosiers (0-6) with three hits in four at bats.

# 3 North Carolina 7 Purdue 3
Reid Fronk, Chad Flack and Matt Spencer all had two hits a piece for UNC. The Heels' Andrew Miller went seven innings fanning 10 Boilermakers. Mitch Hilligoss had two RBI for Purdue (2-3).

Michigan 9 LeMoyne 4
Eric Rose drove in three runs, Leif Mahler and Doug Pickens had two RBI for the Wolverines (3-4). Andrew Hess pitched 5.1 innings and got the victory.

Penn State 17 Sacred Heart 2
The Nittany Lions earned their first win of 2006. Brian Ernst followed his three hit Saturday performance with a four hit affair on Sunday.

Purdue Stuns # 3 UNC, Iowa Still Undefeated

A ninth inning bunt single by Spencer Ingaldson lifted Purdue past # 3 North Carolina, 5-4. Ingaldson, the Boilermakers' backstop, Mitch Hilligoss, Ryne White and Eric Osborn each had two hits a piece. One of Hilligoss hits was his first homer of the year. Chris Toneguzzi picked up the win in relief for Purdue.

Iowa remains undefeated after dropping Northwestern State, 2-0. Jeff Maitland allowed two hits over six innings to earn the win. Tim Gudex posted his second save of '06. Freshman Wes Freie drove in both Hawkeye runs.

UNC-Asheville bested Michigan, 8-6. Doug Pickens remains redhot, hitting his second homerun of the campaign. Drew Taylor lasted only 2.1 innings for Michigan (2-3). Asheville's Elliott Arrington had three hits, scored two and drove in two for the Bulldogs.

Ohio State thumped UNC-Greensboro, 12-2. Eric Fryer had three hits and three RBI. Adam Schneider collected four RBI on three hits. Sophomore Cory Luebke posted his first win for the Buckeyes (2-2).

Kentucky pounded Northwestern, 19-3. Collin Cowgill homered and had three RBI, Sean Couglin also homered for UK and drove in two. Craig Snipp went eight innings striking out nine to get the win. Antonio Mule had two RBI, Jake Owens had three hits for NU.

Miami (FL) is currently beating Indiana, 4-0, in the fifth inning.

Illinois is up on South Florida, 3-0 in the 8th. Ryan Hastings has two hits thus far. Chase Kliment has a pair of RBI for the Illini.

The DQ Classic And Other Weekend Games

The University of Minnesota plays hosts to one of the nation's better tournaments this weekend--The Dairy Queen Classic. The Gophers host Arizona, Notre Dame and # 4 Nebraska. After a three game tilt with highly ranked Florida State a week ago, John Anderson's squad gets another stern test at home in the Metrodome. Coach Anderson and the Minnesota athletic department deserve credit for bringing in some of college baseball's top powers.

Looking at the rest of the weekend schedule, Indiana gets a tough road trip to Coral Gables. The Hoosiers get three against traditional super-power Miami. Undefeated Iowa travels into Cajun country for three games. Purdue, coming off a Bayou adventure last weekend, gets to face off against #3 North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

Below is each schools' weekend schedule. If there is a link to a Big Ten program, it's that's university's preview of the weekend series. The opposition links are, as always, to that school's baseball homepage. This week, for no particular reason, I've chosen to use Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's rankings. Enjoy the weekend.


Illinois
@ South Florida (3 games)

Indiana
@ #27 Miami (FL) (3 games)

Iowa (@ Louisiana Cajun Classic)
Northwestern State, Louisiana-Lafayette, Evansville

Michigan
UNC-Asheville, Troy, South Alabama

Michigan State
Lehigh (Saturday & Monday), Sacred Heart (Sunday)

Minnesota (Dairy Queen Classic)
Arizona, Notre Dame, #4 Nebraska

Northwestern
@ Kentucky (3 games)

Ohio State (Kennel Club Classic)
Aoyama Gakuin (Japan/Exhibition), UNC-Greensboro, Jacksonville, Western Michigan

Purdue
@ # 3 North Carolina (3 games)

Penn State
Bowling Green, Sacred Heart, Central Michigan

Michigan Beats UCF, 6-3

Senior OF Mike Schmidt homered and had four RBI in helping Michigan beat Central Florida, 6-3. Big Ten Player of the Week Doug Pickens went 2 for 3. Craig Murray went six innings allowing three hits and two earned runs to grab the win. Freshman Adam Abraham got his first save with three innings of relief work.

The game just ended, I followed it courtesy of GameTracker, so it's too early to have any links to official recaps or boxscores.

Scholarships Lost

Will Kimmey at Baseball America files this report on today's announcement that a number of schools are being hit with scholarship reductions for not meeting the Academic Progress Report. No Big Ten baseball programs are specifically mentioned, but some universities are appealing their case and as such have not had their names released.