Midweek Madness

I've been slacking off reporting on midweek games. Shame on me. Let me try to catch up on what's happening in the non-conference portions of the schedule.

Illinois thumped Western Michigan, 11-4. The Illini go long three times -- Lars Davis, Ryan Hastings and Nick Stockwell -- and Ryan Snowden goes 3 for 4 in the win. Snowden now has a nineteen game hitting streak. Davis only managed a 4 for 5 game. It's official. Snowden and Davis can rake. Omar Kadir pitched 2.1 innings of relief to earn his second win against no losses.

Typical Midwestern spring weather (snow, freezing cold and sometimes rain) did in Iowa's twinbill with Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Indiana's game with Ball State, the Chicago State at Northwestern contest, the game scheduled between North Dakota State and Minnesota, Purdue's meeting with Miami (Ohio) and Cleveland State's planned visit to Ohio State.

The Michigan bats remained hot in spite of the plummeting temperatures and the Wolverines beat up Central Michigan, 13-3. Derek Vanbuskirk homered and drove in five to lead the Michigan attack. 3B Adam Abraham had three hits, three RBI and scored twice. Freshman Erik Katzman (2-1) didn't allow an earned run in 5.1 innings of work. Katzman yielded six hits, three walks, two unearned runs and fanned six.

Penn State dropped Bucknell, 6-5. Cory Wine, Mike Deese and Joe Blackburn each had a pair of hits. Deese hit his first homerun as a Nittany Lion. Scott Gaffney started and got the win. He also went 1 for 2 at the plate. Drew O'Neil posted his third save of the season. Another solid crowd -- 1,324 -- showed up at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. Way to support the baseball team, PSU fans.

Finally, Michigan State lost an exhibition with the Lansing Lugnuts, 4-3. At least that game was played.