The Leaders Keep Pace

While scoreboards were changing frequently around the conference, the Big Ten standings didn't change much Saturday. The leaders kept pace with each other. Here's an overview. Please note that the boxscore links are primarily to GameTracker.

Michigan 8 Michigan State 0 (game one box)
Michigan 10 Michigan State 4 (game two box)
Mike Wilson tosses the shutout for U of M in the opener. Wilson allowed only two hits, walked three and fanned four. Nate Recknagel went yard and drove in two. Eric Rose was 3 for 3 with two RBI. Doug Pickens was also a perfect 3 for 3.

In game two, Eric Rose homered and drove in five. (A grand slam, perhaps? I can't tell on Gametracker.) Adam Abraham was 4 for 4. Chris Berset had two hits and two RBI. Andrew Hess improved to 6-0. Sean Walker led the Spartans offense with two hits, two runs and two RBI. One of Walker's hits was a homerun.

Minnesota 19 Illinois 4 (game one box)
Minnesota 14 Illinois 5 (5th)
Nate Hanson led the Gophers hit parade in game one. Hanson went 5 for 5 with four runs scored and drove in three. Hanson homered amongst his five safties. Kyle Baran and Derek McCallum also drove in three runs a piece. Gary Perniar benefited from the Minnesota offensive charge and posted his third win.

Game two is still being played. Minnesota is still not having much trouble scoring runs in Champaign.

Penn State 6 Indiana 2 (game one box)
Indiana 3 Penn State 1 (game two box)
Craig Clark pitched a seven inning complete game. Clark gave up six hits and no walks. Scott Gaffney homered and drove in three runs for the Nittany Lions. Matt Cavagnaro, Brian Ernst and Gaffney each had two hits a piece. IU's Keith Haas had two hits, as well.

The Hoosiers captured the finale of the twinbill behind freshman Matt Bashore. Bashore (4-4) tossed a seven inning complete game. He scattered nine hits and three walks while striking out four. Jon Fixler's homer and two RBI led the IU offense. Rick Marlin had two hits and the lone PSU RBI.

Purdue 16 Ohio State 0 (game one box)
Ohio State 3 Purdue 2 (game two box)
Boilermakers All-Big Ten 1B Ryne White led the barrage in game one. White went 4 for 5 with four runs scored and four RBI. White, Eric Osborn and Drew Madia each went yard. Matt Bischoff tossed a four hit, seven inning, complete game shutout. The frosh also fanned five Buckeyes. Eric Fryer's two hits were the highlight of OSU's output.

OSU freshman Ryan Dew had a pair of hits in the finale. Fellow first year players Cory Kovanda and Cory Ruppert each had a RBI each. Trey Fausnaugh earned the win in relief and Jake Hale posted save number ten. Jeff Mojzik was 3 for 4 (he was 2 for 2 in the opener) and drove in one of the two Purdue runs. Jon Moore had two hits and the other RBI.

Iowa 15 Northwestern 10 (game one box)
Iowa 13 Northwestern 8 (game two box)
The Hawkeyes bats continue to be red hot. Kyle Riffel was 3 for 3 with three RBI and two runs scored. Travis Sweet had two hits, including a homer, scored three times and drove in two. Dusty Napoleon had two hits, two runs and two RBI. (No word on who was credited with the win, thus I'm not providing the info, either.) NU countered with Max Mann's two homer, four RBI and two run game. Mike Kalina was 3 for 3 with two RBI.

In the nightcap of the slugfest, Iowa's Justin Toole and Ben Geelan each drove in three runs. Jason White and Dusty Napoleon homered. George Rasiarmos won his first game of '07. NU's Mike Kalina had three hits, including a homer, three RBI and two runs scored. Freshman catcher Chad Noble homered and drove in three.