Boilers Move Closer To Top

Purdue moved a game closer to first-place Michigan by sweeping their Saturday twinbill with Minnesota. The Boilermakers took the opener, 7-6, and game two, 7-5. Kevin Cahill's 4.1 innings of three-hit relief helped lift Purdue to the victory in game one. Dan Black had two hits and two RBI. Jon Moore drove in two and Ben Wolgamot and Ryne White both had a pair of hits. Minnesota freshman Mike Kvasnicka homered, scored twice and drove in two for the Gophers.

2.2 innings of hitless relief earn Purdue's Drew Wurdack the win in the finale. Chris Ivanic got the save by tossing the final frame. Alex Jaffee and Nick Ovemyer both had two RBI for Purdue. Wolgamot, Ovemyer and Brandon Haveman had a pair of hits. Matt Nohelty (who had two hits in the opener) and Nate Hanson both had a pair of hits for Minnesota. Hanson drove in two. Derek McCallum went yard.

Indiana helped the Boilers move a game closer to first place by beating Michigan 2-1 in the first of their two Saturday contests. Matt Bashore gave up five hits, five walks and struck out eight en route to a seven-inning complete game. Evan Crawford had two hits, a run scored and a RBI. Jerrud Sabourin was 3 for 3. Michigan's Chris Fetter worked 6.1 innings giving up seven hits and three walks while fanning five over 6.1 innings, but took his first conference loss. Adam Abraham drove in the Wolverines only run.

Michigan rebounded in game two and beat IU, 11-4. Michael Powers worked 5.2 innings allowing two hits and a walk to post the win. Powers struck out five. Nate Recknagel went 4 for 4 with two runs scored and three RBI. Abraham had three hits, three RBI and scored once. Both Recknagel and Abraham homered. Alan Oaks also went yard for Michigan. IU's Sabourin drove in two.

Illinois and Penn State played three. Well, actually, they had to finish last night's game which was stopped by rain in the eighth. Illinois prevailed, 20-11. I recapped the majority of this game last night, but Daniel Webb ended with five hits, five RBI and three runs scored. John Schlichter also had five RBI along with four hits and four runs scored. PSU's Rob Yodice had three hits, three RBI and scored twice.

Penn State took game one of today's scheduled doubleheader, 16-5. Cory Wine homered twice, drove in five and scored three. Scott Kelley also went deep twice for PSU. Kelley drove in three and scored twice. Yodice homered amongst his two hits, had three RBI and three runs scored. Wes Borden, Landon Nakata and Brian Ernst all had three hits. Mike Wanamaker tossed a seven-inning complete game. Pete Cappetta homered and drove in three for Illinois.

PSU took the final game today, 10-7. Yodice, Wine and Nakata all drove in two. Nakata homered. TJ Macy started and got the win. Illinois' Ryan Hastings had three hits, including a homerun, scored twice and drove in two. Aaron Johnson also had three hits for the Illini.

Ohio State and Northwestern split their double-dip. NU captured game one, 6-4. Chad Noble went 3 for 3 with a homer, scored twice and had one RBI. Jake Owens also homered, drove in three and scored once. Eric Jokisch won and Matt Havey posted the save. OSU's Tony Kennedy was a perfect 4 for 4. J.B. Shuck drove in two.

In the nightcap, single-happy OSU homered three times in the second inning and posted a 13-1 triumph. Brian DeLucia's inside-the-park grandslam highlighted the longball output. Ryan Dew hit a three-run homer and Dan Burkhardt also hit a solo shot. Ryan Meade and Justin Miller both had a pair of RBI. Dean Wolosiansky pitched a seven-inning complete game giving up nine hits, a walk and one earned run. Jake Goebbert had a pair of hits and Jake Wilson drove in the NU tally.

Michigan State swept their pair versus Iowa. MSU won the first game, 6-3. Mark Sorenson fanned eight Hawkeyes and allowed one earned run while tossing a seven-inning complete game. Sorenson also struck out eight Iowa batters. Steve Gerstenberger and A.J. Shindler each had a hit, run and RBI to lead a balanced MSU attack. Iowa's Tyson Blaser had two hits, a run and a RBI.

MSU broke a 7-7 tie with an nine-run eighth inning. Kyle Day and Eric Roof both homered and drove in four runs. Chris Roberts also had a four RBI game. Jonathon Roof had three RBI. Kurt Wunderlich posted the win. Caleb Curry went yard for Iowa, drove in four and scored twice. Justin Toole had two hits, two runs and two RBI.

Through Saturday's games, here are the standings. (Presuming, of course, I did the math correctly.)

Michigan 17-2
Purdue 15-4
Ohio State 10-8
Penn State 10-9
Illinois 10-9
Northwestern 9-10
Minnesota 6-13
Iowa 6-13
Michigan State 6-12
Indiana 5-14