Things Are Getting Tight

As Michigan and Minnesota continue to give ground to the rest of the field, the Big Ten standings tighten. Here's a look at Sunday's scores minus Penn State's first win over Michigan which received its own post earlier. (Scroll down, you'll find it.)

Penn State 15 # 26 Michigan 5 (game two box)
The Nittany Lions continued to pound Michigan pitching. Penn State had 21 hits in the second game of their twinbill. Five PSU players -- Matt Cavagnaro, Cory Wine, Joe Blackburn, Rick Marlin and Scott Kelley -- had three hits a piece. Cavagnaro and Wine both had three RBI, as well. Michael Lorenston (3-1) picked up the win. Lorenston allowed only one hit and one walk in four innings of relief.

Jason Christian led the Michigan response with a homer (6), two runs, two RBI and a stolen base (13). Coach Robbie Wine's side took three of four and are in play for a conference title.

Illinois 7 Indiana 2 (box)
Lars Davis had a pair of hits and scored twice to pace Illinois. Shawn Roof and Ryan Hastings each drove in two runs and Roof stole in 38th base. Brian Long pitched five innings of long relief yielding only a hit and walk to post his first win of the year. IU's Keith Haas had two hits and Jon Fixler had two RBI.

Iowa 10 Purdue 9 (box)
The Hawkeyes posted ten runs in the first four innings only to see the Boilers charge back with nine over the last four frames. Iowa's Jason White had three hits and scored twice. Dusty Napoleon had two hits, scored twice and drove in one. Travis Sweet, T.J. Cataldo and Kevin Hoef each had two RBI. Hawkeye starter Brock Alberts got his second win.

Andy Preston had two hits and two RBI for Purdue. Kyle Lauderdale also had two RBI in the loss.

Michigan State 4 Northwestern 3 (box)
Freshman Chris Roberts had a game winning single in the ninth to win it for MSU. Roberts, the defending conference Player of the Week, had two RBI on the day. Steve Gerstenberger had three hits. E.J. Daws scored twice including the winning run. Mike Monterey (2-2) won tossing the last inning.

Aaron Newman and Antonio Mule each had three hits for NU. Mule also led the Wildcats with two RBI.

Minnesota 5 Ohio State 3 (box)
The Gophers salvaged the split with OSU. Jeremy Chlan had three hits, one run scored and two RBI for Minnesota. Matt Nohelty and Kyle Baran each had two hits and a RBI. Kyle Carr (5-2) came in to pitch the last 3.1 innings and posted the win.

OSU designated hitter Jason Zoeller had two hits, scored once and had a RBI to pace the Buckeyes.

Here are the standings.
1. Michigan 18-6 (36-13)
2. Minnesota 16-7 (35-12)
3. Penn State 17-9 (25-23)
4. Iowa 16-10 (29-17)
T5. Ohio State 14-12 (30-19)
T5. Illinois 14-12 (28-22)
7. Michigan State 13-14 (23-24)
8. Purdue 11-16 (21-27)
9. Indiana 6-21 (17-33)
10. Northwestern 5-23 (14-36)