Big Day For Big Ten

It wasn't a perfect twenty-four hours for the baseball programs in the Big Ten Conference, but they did post a number of quality wins.

Iowa beat Notre Dame, 8-1. The Hawkeyes were up seven on the Irish when rain forced the cancellation of the remainder of the game. Travis Sweet went 3 for 3, scored twice and stole a base to lead Iowa. SS Jason White homered and 3B Kevin Hoef drove in two. Steve Turnbull started for the Hawkeyes and went 5.1 innings to gain the win. Turnbull allowed only two hits and fanned six. Big win #1.

Michigan swept their doubleheader in Starkville, Mississippi. In the opener, Michigan beat Troy, 11-3. U of M 3B Adam Abraham went 3 for 6 and had two RBI. SS Jason Christian had two hits, two RBI and scored three times. Nate Recknagel hit his third homerun. RHP Andrew Hess picked up his first win of the year going 7.1 innings. (This was a pretty big win, too, but just continue to read.)

The nightcap saw the Wolverines prevail over host Mississippi State, 4-3. Michigan sophomore RHP Zach Putnam was the story here. Putnam pitched seven innings of three hit, one run baseball. Putnam also struck out six Bulldogs batters. Closer Ben Jenzen posted his second save of the year. 1B Nate Recknagel went yard again, his fourth of the season. C Doug Pickens also hit his second homerun of the season. Big win #2.

In the Dairy Queen Classic, Minnesota dropped #16 Mississippi, 3-2. A three run eighth inning erased a 2-0 Ole Miss lead and provided the Gophers with their fourth win of the year. Mike Mee drove in two of those eighth inning tallies, Jeff DeSmidt plated the winner. Josh Oslin picked up his third save of the season. Big win #3.

Ole Miss did rebound to capture the finale, 9-4. Gophers 1B Bryan Jost went 3 for 4 including his first homer and drove in two. The Rebels had a pair of players knock out three hits.

Penn State provided big win #4 by beating top ranked North Carolina, 3-2. PSU catcher Rob Yodice went yard to tie it in the ninth and the Nittany Lions manufactured the game winner in the tenth. Craig Clark pitched eight strong innings for PSU. Clark allowed four hits, three walks, two earned runs and struck out two, although he did not factor in the decision. The win went to Penn State reliever Drew O'Neil who pitched two scoreless innings. Big (stinking) win #4.

While not the highlight quality of the other victories today, Illinois blasted Sam Houston State, 14-5,. Illini C Lars Davis went 4 for 5, scored three times and had two RBI. 2B Ryan Hastings had two hits, two runs and two RBI. Scott Shaw claimed the win. He pitched five innings of four hit, two run baseball. (Editor's note: This game took place late Friday, not Saturday. The Saturday score appears in the next post.)

Ricky Heines improved to 2-0 in Purdue's 12-5 win over Western Kentucky. Heines struck out seven in six innings of work. The RHP also gave up six hits, two runs, one earned and walked two. From the offense, Boilermakers DH Andy Preston had three hits, including a homer (2), and three RBI. 1B Ryne White had three hits, three runs scored and two RBI. LF Jordan Comadena also had three hits.

As I said to start, it wasn't a perfect day for Big Ten baseball programs. Northwestern dropped both ends of its doubleheader. Texas-Arlington pounded on the Wildcats, 20-2. Jake Owens' three hits were probably the best thing about the first game for NU. In the second affair, Dallas Baptist beat Northwestern, 9-8. Chad Noble, Max Mann and Antonio Mule all had three hits. Mann and freshman 1B Jake Goebbert each hit their first homer.

Memphis also rained on the Big Ten parade today by beating Indiana, 5-3. IU freshmen Evan Crawford and C Josh Phegley each had two hits.

Actual rain stopped the Ohio State vs. Duquesne game. The contest will not be made up. In a late Friday result, OSU beat Georgetown, 7-5. Dan DeLucia improved to 2-0 behind an eight inning, six hit, four run, nine strikeout performance. Jake Hale earned the save. C Eric Fryer homered and drove in two. 3b Tony Kennedy also drove in a pair of Buckeye runs.

All in all, Saturday was a very good showing for Big Ten programs. Wins over Notre Dame, Mississippi, Mississippi State and North Carolina don't happen often, let alone all in one day. And, honestly, beating Troy probably should be on the list of big wins, as well. They are
often tournament bound, so that would make for five big wins today.

There is a long, long way to go, but hopefully the Big Ten earned a bit of respect today. If nothing else, let's hope they earned some RPI points.

(My apologies to those looking for more stats on the opposing schools. I usually give the opposition some cyber-ink, but I'm in a bit of a hurry this evening, so I just provided the Big Ten perspective. I'm not terribly enamored with my lack of balance, either, but I opted for speed over quality.)