The Magic Number Is Now Two

Michigan 4 Iowa 3, 11 innings (box)
The Wolverines magic number to win the regular season title is now two. Nate Recknagel scored on an 11th inning error to put Michigan up for good. Recknagel finished with two hits and a pair of RBI. Kevin Cislo had three hits. Adam Abraham came in to pitch four innings of two hit, one walk relief and posted his fourth win. Dusty Napoleon had two hits while Matt Wooldrik drove in two for Iowa.

Minnesota 8 Indiana 6 (box)
The Gophers kept the heat on Michigan by winning their afternoon contest with IU. Cleanup hitter Kyle Baran drove in three runs to pace Minnesota's offense. Baran had two hits and scored once. Matt Nohelty led the hit parade with three while scoring once and driving in another. Tom Buske improved to 4-1 working six innings. Josh Oslin recorded his eleventh save of the year. IU had five players with two hits each and Michael Nilles bashed a pinch hit homerun.

Illinois 6 Michigan State 5 (box)
Illinois moved a game closer to a conference tournament berth by beating the Spartans. Mike Rohde and Kyle Hudson combined to drive in all six Illini runs. Rohde homered and drove in four. Hudson tripled and drove in the other two Illinois tallies. Tanner Roark is now 7-2. Jake Toohey came on to claim his seventh save. Brandon Doherty and Kyle Day each had a pair of hits and two RBI for MSU.

Penn State 3 Ohio State 2, 10 innings (box)
Joe Blackburn's RBI double in the tenth plated Scott Gaffney to win it for Penn State. John Ogrodnik worked three hitless innings of relief to get the win. Seth Whitehill went the first seven allowing just four hits, three walks and two earned runs, but got a no decision. OSU's Cory Luebke also went seven allowing seven hits and a walk, but fanning nine. Luebke also got no decision. Gaffney had three hits on the day and scored twice. PSU remains in the hunt for the Big Ten crown and OSU is still looking for a win to claim a post-season berth.

Northwestern 12 Purdue 3 (box)
The Wildcats cranked out 21 hits to pound the Boilermakers. Aaron Newman and Jake Goebbert led NU with four hits a piece. Goebbert also paced the team with three RBI. Andrew Smith (1-3) pitched a complete game for the Wildcats. Smith gave up three earned runs on nine hits and two walks. Purdue countered with a 3 for 3 game from Alex Jaffee and Ryne White's eighth homer of the season. I believe this loss eliminates Purdue from post-season play.

Today, as it's really early Saturday morning as I type, is doubleheader day. As usual, I encourage one and all to get out to the ballpark near you. The race for the Big Ten regular season title is still wide open.