Up To This Moment

Sorry, boys and girls, but I've been away from the PC. I really do have a little bit of a personal life. Shocking, I know. Regardless, let's start reviewing the Big Ten weekend with last night's results.

Northwestern maintained first place by downing Iowa, 9-5. Pat McMahon, Anthony Wycklendt, Antonio Mule and Geoff Dietz each drove in two runs for NU. McMahon paced the hit parade by collecting three hits. Hawkeye DH Brian Burmester had two hits and two RBI.

Zach Putnam kept Michigan tied with the Wildcats for first place by leading Michigan past Michigan State, 7-1. The freshman righthander (4-0) did yield ten hits and five walks, but posted his third straight conference win. Michigan SS Leif Mahler went 4 for 4 LF Mike Schmidt was 3 for 4. MSU's Ryan Basham and Alan Cattrysse each had three hits, as well.

Ohio State beat Purdue Friday night, 10-5. OSU starter Dan DeLucia improved to 7-2 by tossing seven innings of eight hit, five run baseball. Jacob Howell had a pair of hits including a bases loaded triple. Matt Angle went 4 for 5, scoring twice and stealing three bases (21). Eric Fryer and Ronnie Bourquin each had three hits. Purdue SS Mitch Hilligoss had two hits and two stolen bases.

At the Metrodome, Illinois beat Minnesota, 4-3. Mike Rohde went yard for the third time in '06, Dave Schultz drove in a pair of runs and Joe Bonadonna scored the winning run on a wild pitch. Brian Long posted the win in relief of Matt Whitmore. Jake Toohey notched his second save. Minnesota DH Kyle Baran drove in two of the Gophers three runs.

Penn State dropped Indiana, 5-4. PSU starter Alan Stidfole collected his third win going eight innings. 3B Scott Gummo had two hits and two RBI. IU 2B Keith Haas had three hits and stole base number nineteen.

For some national perspective on Friday, here's CSTV.com's Eric Sorenson.

Today's doubleheaders in the Big Ten played out this way.

Bad weather in Iowa City has forced the doubleheader between NU and Iowa to become a single, seven inning contest. I haven't found a result of the game yet.

IU swept PSU by scores of 3-2 (in 10 innings) and 3-0. In the opener, Hoosier freshman Joe Vicini pitched four innings in relief of Josh Lewis to improve to 4-2. IU SS Josh Richardson had a pair of hits, a stolen base and a RBI. PSU SS Scott Gaffney knocked out three hits, including a double and a triple.

Another IU freshman hurler, Tyler Tufts, was the story of game two. Making his Big Ten debut, Tufts hurled a complete game seven inning shutout. The righthander allowed only eight hits and one walk in his seven frames. Jay Brant went 3 for 4 scoring twice and driving home two more IU tallies.

Michigan and Michigan State split their twinbill. Michigan grabbed the opener, 6-2. State scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh to prevail, 7-6, in the nightcap. In game one, Michigan's Doug Pickens went 3 for 4, scored twice and drove in a run to lead the Wolverine offense. Schmidt added his eighth homer and drove in two for Michigan. Michigan's Paul Hammond (4-3) outdueled MSU's Jeff Gerbe (4-4), each pitching complete games, to earn the win.

MSU SS Troy Krider went 4 for 4 and hit his first homer of the year leading MSU to victory in the second game. State CF Adam Tripp had a pair of hits and two RBI. The Spartan's Mike Monterey (6-5) pitched only one third of an inning to claim the win. Michigan CF Eric Rose had two hits, three RBI and stole his 23rd base.

Ohio State swept Purdue on Saturday. The Buckeyes took game one from the Boilermakers, 4-0. Sophomore Cory Luebke pitched a complete game seven inning shutout. The lefty allowed no runs, no walks and only five hits in the opener. OSU CF Angle had two more RBI.

The second affair saw OSU win, 4-1. Buckeye freshman Jake Hale pitched seven innings for his own complete game in the nightcap. The righthander (3-3) gave up only three hits, one run and three walks. Jedidiah Stephen, Wes Schirtzinger and Bourquin all had RBI.

Minnesota and Iowa split their Saturday twinbill. The Golden Gophers took the initial game from the Hawkeyes, 9-5. Illinois emerged with a 5-4 win over Minnesota in game two.