More Friday Scores

Texas A&M 8 Ohio State 5 (box)
Michael Arp had a pair of hits and RBI to pace OSU. Cory Rupert also drove in two. Blake Stouffer and Luke Anders had two RBI a piece to lead the Aggies. Kyle Thebeau notched the win for A&M.

TCU 7 Minnesota 4, 12 innings (box)
TCU's Chris Arnold had two hits, scored three times, drove in three and stole a pair of bases. Matt Nohelty, Jeremy Chlan and Jon Hummel all had a pair of hits for the Gophers.

Baylor 20 Illinois 6 (box)
In front of 3,033 fans, Baylor RF Aaron Miller went 5 for 5 with three homers. Miller scored four times and collected six RBI. Kendal Volz (2-0) earned the win. Nick Stockwell (two runs scored) and Joe Bonadonna (two RBI) each had two hits for the Illini.

Illinois State 12 Indiana 5 (box)
ISU 2B Ronnie Calvird had three hits, two RBI and scored once. Corey Maines homered and drove in three. Hoosiers DH Michael Earley had two hits and two RBI. IU's Andrew Means had a three hit game, including two triples.

Iowa 12 Xavier 9 (box)
Hawkeyes' 2B Justin Toole had three hits, three RBI, two steals and a run scored. Wes Freie also had three hits including a homer. Freie scored three times. Brock Alberts pitched 5.1 innings of five hit relief to earn the win. Alberts didn't yeild a run or walk while striking out 10 Musketeers.

Oklahoma State 13 Northwestern 3 (box)
Rebel Riding and Donnie Webb each had two hits for OSU. Tyler Lyons improved to 2-0 for the Cowboys. NU's Mike Kalina went 3 for 4.

Troy 5 Penn State 2 (box)
Troy's three run eighth inning won it. Mike Wanamaker had his second good start going seven innings giving up five hits and two earned runs while fanning seven. He also walked four. Wanamaker did not factor in the decision. Scott Kelley went yard for PSU and Landon Nakata was the only player with two hits for either side.

Western Kentucky 4 Purdue 1 (box)
WKU's Jake Wells had two hits and teammate Jeremy Coleman had two RBI. Hilltoppers' starter Bart Carter posted his first victory, Colby Beach his first save. Eric Nielsen had two hits for the Boilermakers.

Portland 4 #18 Michigan 3, 10 innings (box)
Portland scored two in the top of the tenth to win it. Nate Recknagel, Zach Putnam, Derek VanBuskirk and Kevin Cislo each had two hits for Michigan in the loss.

Scores And A DQ Preview

Lamar 4 Michigan State 2 (box)
On Thursday, the Spartans' Dennis Jones went 3 for 4. Mike Monterey worked six innings, but took the loss.

Kansas State 8 Michigan State 0 (box)
On Friday, MSU secondbaseman Brandon Doherty's two hits led the way. Steve Gerstenberger walked twice in a game the Spartans just couldn't find any offense.

#1 Arizona State 15 #18 Michigan 4 (box)
Another Thursday affair where the Sun Devils showed why they are the top dogs. Jason Kipnis had five RBI for ASU. Kipnis went yard twice. Marcel Champagnie had three hits and three RBI. All-America 3B Brett Wallace also drove in three. Michigan SS Jason Christian had two hits.

DAIRY QUEEN CLASSIC PREVIEW
Our friends at Gopher Nation and The College Baseball Blog got together to discuss the upcoming Dairy Queen Classic Tournament hosted by Minnesota. Pepperdine, TCU and Tulane comprise the rest of the field.

NU Beat ISU And Other Midweek Scores

Northwestern did go on to beat Illinois State last night, 11-5. Antonio Mule, who has been a standout much of the season, paced the Wildcats offense by hitting two homers and driving in four. The win improves NU's overall mark to 23-29.

As expected, NU starter Dan Brauer was named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Week. Reggie Watson of Indiana claimed the Player of the Week honors.

Illinois is playing Missouri tonight, but with an interesting old school twist. The teams will be using wood bats.

Ball State downed Indiana, 5-3. IU's Billy O'Connor had two RBI, Jay Brant two stolen bases and Tyler Cox had two hits and scored twice. SS Eric Earnhart homered for Ball State.

Northern Iowa beat Iowa, 6-5. I'm not sure I need to say much more.

Central Michigan beat Michigan State, 6-4. Ben Humphrey, one of the better hitters in the midwest (check out the OPS post), homered and drove in four for the Chippewas.

Minnesota defeated Augsburg, 12-5. I can honestly say I no absolutely nothing about the Golden Gophers opponent.

Ohio State plays their final non-conference midweek affair tonight against Pittsburgh.

Western Michigan did a number on Purdue, 13-6. Nathan Marquardt homered and drove in three for the Broncos. Teammate Mark Abro did one better as he also went yard and drove in four. Boilermaker pitcher Chris Toneguzzi's first college hit was a three-run blast.

Villanova dispatched Penn State, 8-5. Scott Gummo and Lance Thompson did hit back-to-back HR's for PSU.

NU Wins, Stays Tied With Michigan

Northwestern crushed Michigan State this afternoon, 12-2. Pat McMahon had three hits and three RBI to lead the 'Cats offense. Anthony Wycklendt and Geoff Dietz each homered for NU. Julio Siberio (4-2) picked up the win. The win means NU and Michigan remain tied for first place in the Big Ten.

This week, the Wildcats will take on Illinois State on Tuesday before facing Purdue in their last Big Ten regular season series. In Ann Arbor, Jack Dahm's Iowa squad will look to derail Michigan's title hopes this weekend. However, the Wolverines have an interesting midweek affair against # 21 Notre Dame tomorrow night.

I'm confident that Rich Maloney will trot out an array of arms in this midweek game, but let's not kid ourselves--this game is more than a bit important. Notre Dame remains ranked in the Top 25 and has an RPI of 49. If the Wolverines cannot capture the Big Ten Conference tournament title, they will be left hoping for an at-large NCAA tourney berth. Their case for one of those coveted openings can be strengthened by dropping the Fighting Irish Tuesday night.

I have time to mention some additional random things, so here goes.

* Remember when I suggested that NU's Dan Brauer would probably merit his second straight Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honor in light of his no-hitter? Well, Brauer did one better, he claimed National Player of the Week recognition, too.

* More quality pitching came from Doug Fleenor of Indiana. Fleenor pitched a nine inning complete game 2-0 shutout vs. Illinois today. He allowed only five hits and a walk while striking out seven.

*IU and Illini fans might like to know that the Hoosiers swept today's twinbill. Tracy Smith's nine beat Dan Hartleb's side by scores of 5-4 and Fleenor's 2-0 gem.

* Purdue's RHP Ricky Heines went the distance in beating Iowa, 4-2 yesterday. The Boilermaker righthander gave up three walks but only four hits in nine innings.

* Purdue's Trae Dauby outdueled Iowa's Jeff Maitland to post a 1-0 victory Saturday. Each pitched a seven inning complete game with Dauby allowing no runs on six hits and a single walk while Maitland countered by yielding seven hits and three walks, but the lone run of the game. Dauby K'd eight, Maitland five.

* Am I reading this correctly? Minnesota scored 12 runs on 17 hits, but did not record a solitary extra base hit? Not one?

* I've yet to learn what happened to Indiana freshman Cameron Satterwhite. It appears he has been dismissed from the squad, as he hasn't appeared in a game in quite a while and his name is no longer on IU's roster.

* Michigan catcher Jeff Kunkel is a semi-finalist for the 2006 Johnny Bench Award. The Bench Award is given out annually by the Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission to the nation's best catcher.

* I was whining (yes, again) not long ago about a lack of college baseball coverage on XM Radio. Specifically, I was lamenting the Big Ten not using the opportunity to broadcast their games on a satellite radio feed that was, basically, doing nothing. Well, two things have come to my attention since.

First, Michigan and Ohio State, to name just two, have a separate satellite deal with Sirius radio. I sort of knew that. (How you have broadcast rights to the Big Ten without Michigan and Ohio State seems kind of odd, but okay.) What I was totally clueless about (in addition to college baseball) was that Sirius does broadcast Big XII and SEC baseball games. Imagine my surprise and disappointment.

Sure, now, CSTV.com's Eric Sorenson points this out. Where was this information when I was reviewing satellite options, Eric? Even though I am Sirius-free, it's still good news for college baseball. Okay, college baseball's big boys, but I'm all in favor of more college baseball coverage.

Note to the other satellite radio provider and the conference I tend to cover here: I still think the Big Ten should at least put together a Game of the Week for XM. Hey, XM has the Pac-10, as well. Why not a Pac-10 tilt?

* Jim Carty of The Ann Arbor News wrote this story on Michigan reliever Ali Husain and his life after the death of his father, Faz, earlier this year. I met Ali a year at a Michigan baseball meet-and-greet and came away very impressed.

* Ohio State's diminished title hopes are outlined by Mark Znidar of The Columbus Dispatch.

NU's Brauer Tosses No-No, Michigan Grabs First

I'll begin the weekend review at the top where Northwestern has taken two of the three games played with Michigan State. The highlight of the first three games for NU has clearly been Dan Brauer's (6-1) no hitter vs. the Spartans today. The Wildcats won the opening game of today's twinbill, 7-0, behind the junior lefty's no hit, one walk, eight strikeout seven innings of work. I think there's a pretty good chance Brauer will repeat as Big Ten pitcher of the week.

The Wildcats other win came in the lone Saturday affair, 6-3. Caleb Fields, NU's 3B, hit his fourth homer, drove in two, scored twice and stole a base. MSU's Kyle Day went 3 for 5, stole a base and also went yard to lead the Spartans offense. MSU starter Craig Brookes (1-4) fanned 12 'Cats in seven innings, but suffered the loss. NU starter Ryan Myers (3-4) also worked seven innings to post the win.

The Spartans win came in the nightcap of Sunday's doubleheader. After getting no-hit by Brauer in the opener, MSU prevailed in game two over Northwestern, 6-2. The game was quite a pitcher's duel. Both MSU's John Dwan and NU's George Kontos pitched seven inning complete games. Dwan tossed 130 pitches fanning 10 Wildcat batters and improved to 2-5 on the year. Kontos (2-9) countered by throwing 122 times, striking out 11 Spartans, but taking the defeat.

Sean Walker went 3 for 3 for the Spartans and teammate Ryan Basham drove in a pair of runs. NU 2B Jake Owens went 3 for 4. Northwestern's loss allowed Michigan to claim first place in the Big Ten.

The Wolverines took three of four games from Penn State this weekend. Michigan took Friday's game (see previous post) and then split Saturday's doubleheader with the Nittany Lions. Game one went to Michigan, 2-0. Michigan's Chris Fetter (4-1) allowed no runs, no walks, four hits and struck out three in 6.2 innings. PSU's Mark Wyner (2-8) was the hardluck loser tossing a complete game six hitter. Michigan's Ben Jenzen earned his third save facing only two batters.

The Nittany Lions roared back in game two, winning 13-2. Matt Cavagnaro went 3 for 4 (a double, triple and homerun) and had six RBI for PSU. Lions' starter Seth Whitehill (2-2) pitched six innings and fanned eight.

Michigan took the Big Ten lead by beating PSU today, 4-0. Drew Taylor (5-4) tossed a complete game nine inning shutout. The Wolverines' starter allowed only seven hits and walked only a single batter. Freshman outfielder Adam Abraham went 3 for 5 for Michigan. PSU's Aaron Greenfield had three hits on the day.

The win placed Michigan one half game ahead of Northwestern heading into Monday. The Wildcats hope to play the finale of the their set with Michigan State at 3pm central time. Another NU win would put the Wildcats back into a first place tie with the Wolverines. A loss would give Michigan a full game lead heading into the final weekend of Big Ten play.

Ohio State remains in third place, but the Buckeyes have dropped two of three from Minnesota this weekend. The Gophers have 2-1 and 12-3 wins after a Friday night OSU triumph, 10-2. Purdue and Iowa split their weekend encouter. Illinois and Indiana split the only two games they've been able to squeeze in between the raindrops.

As it's late, I'm going to stop here. My apologies to those I have not provided links to. I'll attempt to address that matter and give some credit to those who performed well in the games I've glossed over Monday night. Hopefully, I'll also have a Northwestern/Michigan State result to share. And, yes, an Illinois/IU game (or two) result, as well.

Editor's note (5/15/06): I believe I've linked all the players I've referenced. Again, my apologies if I missed someone.

Friday Night Scores

Michigan moved a half game ahead of idle Northwestern today by beating Penn State, 7-0. Paul Hammond started for the Wolverines and posted his sixth win of the year. Zach Putnam, who has been Michigan's Friday starter for about a month, became the Friday DH and promptly collected two hits and drove in three runs.

Ohio State is currently beating the you-know-what out of Minnesota. The score in the seventh inning is 10-1, OSU. Freshman J.B. Shuck is 4 for 4 with a pair of RBI and Ronnie Bourquin, the Big Ten's leading hitter, has three hits and three RBI.

Iowa is beating Purdue, 4-2, but that game is still early. Illinois and Indiana got washed out. Michigan State and Northwestern won't begin until tomorrow, weather permitting.

Monday Standings

The top of the Big Ten standings on Monday look surprisingly similar to the standings prior to the weekend. Well, at least the top four didn't move any. Michigan (16-8) and Northwestern (16-8) both won on Sunday keeping their dual hold of the conference lead. Ohio State (15-9), after ripping off three straight in Lansing, lost to Michigan State yesterday dropping the Buckeyes back into their pre-weekend spot in third place. Illinois (12-12), which split their weekend encounter with the Wolverines, is still in fourth spot.

Purdue (11-12) split their weekend four game set with Penn State moving the Boilermakers into fifth place. Minnesota (11-13), which went toe-to-toe with the front-running Wildcats this past weekend, has hold of the final spot in the Big Ten Conference tournament picture at sixth.

The Nittany Lions (10-13), Spartans (10-14), Iowa (10-14) and Indiana (8-16) round out the field.

Catching Up On The Weekend

As I mentioned in my previous post, I've had no time over the last couple of days to log into Blogger. While I was away from the keyboard, I didn't entirely ignore the Big Ten baseball race. Part of the time away was spent watching college baseball. On Friday, I made the trek up to Lansing to watch Michigan State host Ohio State. (Expect a picture link to be provided later. Hopefully, later today, but I make no promises.)

As for the game between the Spartans and Buckeyes, well, it wasn't very competitive. Dan DeLucia, OSU's Friday starter, kept MSU hitters off balance and got plenty of offensive support in a 16-2 Buckeye triumph. It was the type of dominant performance I expected from Ohio State in Ann Arbor a few weeks back.

As I've learned since, things haven't gotten much better for the host Spartans as OSU also took both halves of yesterday's doubleheader. Ohio State took game one, 12-3, and the second affair by a 6-4 count. The three consecutive OSU's wins combined with Northwestern and Michigan dropping two of their three games thus far, has led to a three way tie atop the Big Ten standings.

Minnesota beat Northwestern up on Friday, 15-3. The bats for both sides went silent Saturday as both teams claimed 1-0 victories. Dan Brauer led NU to the triumph in the first game. The nightcap went to Gophers courtesy of starter Brian Bull.

While in Champaign, Michigan lost Friday's game, 3-1 and split the Saturday twinbill with the Illini. Dan Hartleb's side won the second game, 7-4, but Rich Maloney's nine took the opener, 1-0.

Purdue and Penn State have only played a single game so far this weekend. Saturday's solo contest went to the Boilermakers, 6-5. A doubleheader is on tap for today. In Iowa City, the Hawkeyes have taken three in a row from Indiana. Friday was 3-2, Iowa. Saturday's doubledip went the Hawkeyes' way by scores of 4-3 and 6-0.

All this leaves Ohio State, Northwestern and Michigan tied atop the Big Ten at 15-8. Illinois if fourth at 12-11. Minnesota is fifth, Purdue sixth. If the regular season ended today, those outside the conference tournament would be Iowa, Penn State, Michigan State and Indiana.

NU Keeps Winning And Other Sunday Action

Northwestern's surprising run through the Big Ten continued Sunday. The Wildcats split a doubleheader with Iowa and maintained their share of first place in the conference. While the Hawkeyes pounded the 'Cats in the opener, 16-2, NU (14-5/17-23) took the finale of the weekend series, 7-6.

Iowa CF Nate Price went 4 for5 with a homer and five RBI in game one. Austin Seward (4-4) pitched a complete game for Iowa. Seward allowed eight hits, two runs and fanned six in his seven innings. In game two, Tommy Finn and Jake Owens each drove in a pair of run to help lead NU to victory.

Michigan stayed level with the Wildcats by beating Michigan State, 11-5. Leif Mahler, Doug Pickens, Nate Recknagel and Jeff Kunkel, the Wolverines' 2-5 hitters, each drove in a pair of runs. MSU's Oliver Wolcott and Sean Walker each homered and drove in two.

Purdue avoided a sweep in Columbus by beating the Ohio State, 7-6. Ryne White and John Hunter each had two hits and two RBI for the Boilermakers. Purdue's Jordan Comadena went yard, as well. OSU's Ronnie Bourquin went 4 for 5 and Jedidiah Stephen went 3 for 4 with his sixth homerun.

Illinois brought out the lumber (or heavy metal) today and beat Minnesota, 16-8. The Illini's twenty-four hit attack was led by Dave Schultz who was 5 for 5 and Ryan Snowden who went 5 for 6. Both scored twice and had two RBI. Joe Bonadonna had four RBI and Ryan Hastings had four hits and scored three times. Illini righthander Brian Blomquist won his third game pitching in relief.

On a happier note in Gopherland, head coach John Anderson was given a contract extension. Anderson is now signed through the 2010 season.

Penn State beat up (and down) Indiana, 11-0. PSU's Craig Clark pitched a complete game shutout. Clark allowed only six hits, walked no one and struck out seven Hoosiers. 3B Matt Cavagnaro led the way with three hits and also scored three times. Lance Thompson and Aaron Greenfield each had a pair of RBI.

Up To This Moment

Sorry, boys and girls, but I've been away from the PC. I really do have a little bit of a personal life. Shocking, I know. Regardless, let's start reviewing the Big Ten weekend with last night's results.

Northwestern maintained first place by downing Iowa, 9-5. Pat McMahon, Anthony Wycklendt, Antonio Mule and Geoff Dietz each drove in two runs for NU. McMahon paced the hit parade by collecting three hits. Hawkeye DH Brian Burmester had two hits and two RBI.

Zach Putnam kept Michigan tied with the Wildcats for first place by leading Michigan past Michigan State, 7-1. The freshman righthander (4-0) did yield ten hits and five walks, but posted his third straight conference win. Michigan SS Leif Mahler went 4 for 4 LF Mike Schmidt was 3 for 4. MSU's Ryan Basham and Alan Cattrysse each had three hits, as well.

Ohio State beat Purdue Friday night, 10-5. OSU starter Dan DeLucia improved to 7-2 by tossing seven innings of eight hit, five run baseball. Jacob Howell had a pair of hits including a bases loaded triple. Matt Angle went 4 for 5, scoring twice and stealing three bases (21). Eric Fryer and Ronnie Bourquin each had three hits. Purdue SS Mitch Hilligoss had two hits and two stolen bases.

At the Metrodome, Illinois beat Minnesota, 4-3. Mike Rohde went yard for the third time in '06, Dave Schultz drove in a pair of runs and Joe Bonadonna scored the winning run on a wild pitch. Brian Long posted the win in relief of Matt Whitmore. Jake Toohey notched his second save. Minnesota DH Kyle Baran drove in two of the Gophers three runs.

Penn State dropped Indiana, 5-4. PSU starter Alan Stidfole collected his third win going eight innings. 3B Scott Gummo had two hits and two RBI. IU 2B Keith Haas had three hits and stole base number nineteen.

For some national perspective on Friday, here's CSTV.com's Eric Sorenson.

Today's doubleheaders in the Big Ten played out this way.

Bad weather in Iowa City has forced the doubleheader between NU and Iowa to become a single, seven inning contest. I haven't found a result of the game yet.

IU swept PSU by scores of 3-2 (in 10 innings) and 3-0. In the opener, Hoosier freshman Joe Vicini pitched four innings in relief of Josh Lewis to improve to 4-2. IU SS Josh Richardson had a pair of hits, a stolen base and a RBI. PSU SS Scott Gaffney knocked out three hits, including a double and a triple.

Another IU freshman hurler, Tyler Tufts, was the story of game two. Making his Big Ten debut, Tufts hurled a complete game seven inning shutout. The righthander allowed only eight hits and one walk in his seven frames. Jay Brant went 3 for 4 scoring twice and driving home two more IU tallies.

Michigan and Michigan State split their twinbill. Michigan grabbed the opener, 6-2. State scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh to prevail, 7-6, in the nightcap. In game one, Michigan's Doug Pickens went 3 for 4, scored twice and drove in a run to lead the Wolverine offense. Schmidt added his eighth homer and drove in two for Michigan. Michigan's Paul Hammond (4-3) outdueled MSU's Jeff Gerbe (4-4), each pitching complete games, to earn the win.

MSU SS Troy Krider went 4 for 4 and hit his first homer of the year leading MSU to victory in the second game. State CF Adam Tripp had a pair of hits and two RBI. The Spartan's Mike Monterey (6-5) pitched only one third of an inning to claim the win. Michigan CF Eric Rose had two hits, three RBI and stole his 23rd base.

Ohio State swept Purdue on Saturday. The Buckeyes took game one from the Boilermakers, 4-0. Sophomore Cory Luebke pitched a complete game seven inning shutout. The lefty allowed no runs, no walks and only five hits in the opener. OSU CF Angle had two more RBI.

The second affair saw OSU win, 4-1. Buckeye freshman Jake Hale pitched seven innings for his own complete game in the nightcap. The righthander (3-3) gave up only three hits, one run and three walks. Jedidiah Stephen, Wes Schirtzinger and Bourquin all had RBI.

Minnesota and Iowa split their Saturday twinbill. The Golden Gophers took the initial game from the Hawkeyes, 9-5. Illinois emerged with a 5-4 win over Minnesota in game two.

Yes, More Midweek Disasters

Cleveland State 7 Ohio State 5
Eastern Illinois 10 Illinois 6
UW-Milwaukee 5 Northwestern 4, 10 innings
#8 Notre Dame 2 Purdue 1

Only the Boilermakers can offer up a legitimate reason for dropping one of their two midweek games. The Irish have long since passed red hot and moved into white hot or whatever other color indicates that they haven't lost a game in about a month. Hanging that tough with a team zooming up the rankings speaks well of Purdue.

However, the remaining losses were just painful. It absolutely crushes the conference's RPI numbers and leaves me with little doubt that the only team advancing to the NCAA Tournament from the Big Ten will be the automatic berth given to the conference tourney winner.

On a positive note, there have been three midweek conference successes. None as noteworthy as the defeats, unfortunately, but these squads did what they should in the time between conference affairs. (Note: There are two or three more games left, I don't recall exactly how many but I'm certain that MSU and Minnesota both have contests to play.)

Purdue 13 Valparaiso 4
Indiana 5 Miami (OH) 0
Penn State 14 Bucknell 6

A Quick Sunday Recap

I'm a bit pressed for time, so my apologies for not getting more in depth into the stats and for not providing links to both schools, but here's what happened Sunday.

Iowa pounded Illinois, 17-3. Ohio State beat Indiana, 8-6. Purdue avoided a sweep by beating up Michigan, 10-5. Minnesota took the series finale from Michigan State, 6-3. Penn State crushed Northwestern, 15-5.

Northwestern and Michigan remain in a first place tie at 11-5 in the Big Ten. Ohio State is third at 9-7. The three way tie for fourth is between Purdue, Minnesota and Michigan State. All three are 8-8 in conference.

Penn State is next at 7-9 followed by Illinois at 6-9. Iowa is 6-10 in league play while Indiana is 5-11.

Double Dip Saturday

Instead of plopping myself on my couch and watching this morning's F1 race, I'm going to provide both of my readers (who actually subscribe to a feed of BTH) with a recap of yesterday's Big Ten play. I realize you are impressed with my dedication.

Northwestern and Michigan maintained their tie atop the conference standings as both swept their doubleheaders yesterday. NU took game one from Penn State, 3-2. Tommy Finn's single in the bottom of the seventh won it for the 'Cats. Antonio Mule and Anthony Wycklendt each went yard for NU. PSU's Scott Gummo and Aaron Greenfield each homered, as well. Widcat Dan Brauer fanned eight in seven innings to improve to 4-1.

The second affair went to Northwestern in come from behind fashion. NU scored four times in the seventh to beat PSU, 5-4. Mule hit a three run double to tie the game and Caleb Fields brought Mule home to win it. Lance Thompson homered and drove in three for the Nittany Lions. NU's George Kontos notched his second win of the year.

The Wolverines kept pace with the 'Cats by beating Purdue twice. Michigan claimed the first game, 6-2. Michigan 3B A.J. Scheidt homered and had two RBI. Senior Paul Hammond pitched six innings giving up ten hits, but walking no one to post his third win. DH John Cummins went 3 for 3 for the Boilermakers.

7-2 was the final in the nightcap. Michigan's Eric Rose and Adam Abraham each homered and collected three hits. Abraham also drove in three. Chris Fetter (3-0) pitched five innings of two hit baseball and earned the win. Purdue's Mitch Hilligoss and Alex Jaffee each had a hit, run and RBI.

Michigan State moved up to third in the Big Ten standings with a split of their Saturday twinbill with Minnesota. The Spartans grabbed the opener from the Golden Gophers, 9-8. MSU came from two runs down in their final at bat to win. Adam Tripp's two-run single won it. Ryan Basham went yard twice for the Spartans. Mike Monterey posted the win in relief.

Apparently, the Gophers weren't too happy about coughing up a lead in the first game and pounded MSU in the second game, 20-6. Andy Hunter hit a pair of homers and drove in five for Minnesota. Gopher OF Mike Mee hit a grandslam. It was head coach John Anderson's 399th Big Ten triumph. His next win will make him the only coach in conference history with 400. MSU Kyle Day homered and drove in two.

Ohio State split it's pair of games with Indiana Saturday. IU won the opener over the Buckeyes, 5-3. IU 1B Ben Greenspan hit his first career homerun and had three RBI. Josh Lewis pitched six innings of six hit ball to move to 4-5. IU freshman Joe Vicini posted his third save. Ronnie Bourquin and Jason Zoeller each went yard for OSU.

The Buckeyes rebounded in game two, beating up the Hoosiers, 11-4. Jedidiah Stephen hit two homeruns and Bourquin hit another to pace OSU's offense. Stephen finished the day with four RBI. IU's Greenspan also drove in two more runs in the nightcap. OSU's Jake Hale (2-3) went six inning for the win.

Illinois swept Iowa and put itself back into the running for a Big Ten tournament slot. The Illini downed the Hawkeyes, 4-3, in the opener. Freshman Ben Reeser pitched six innings allowing five hits and three runs to improve to 3-1. Illini SS Shawn Roof was 2 for 2 with a RBI.

Another freshman arm led Illinois to a 10-2 triumph over Iowa in the nightcap. Tanner Roark pitched five innings yielding four hits, one walk and two earned runs to claim his second win against no defeats. Chase Kliment and Dave Schultz each homered for Illinois. Schultz drove in five runs in the game. Hawkeye SS Jason White had a hit, run and RBI.

Big Ten Weekend Series

Here's what we've got for the weekend. Minnesota travels to East Lansing to take on Michigan State. In West Lafayette, Purdue hosts Michigan. Penn State travels to take on Northwestern. Ohio State's in Bloomington visiting Indiana. Illinois plays host to Iowa.

After last weekend, I've learned my lesson--no more predicitions. Well, no more predicitions this week, anyway.

Update: Ohio State has already beaten IU, 4-3. Adam Schneider had two RBI for OSU. Dan DeLucia posted his sixth triumph. The OSU lefty went 8.2 innings yielding seven hits, one walk and three earned runs. DeLucia also struck out five. Rory Meister got the save.

Michigan downed Purdue, 4-3. Zach Putnam pitched a complete game allowing seven hits, two walks, fanning six. Michigan CF Eric Rose had two hits and two stolen bases. SS Mitch Hilligoss went 3 for 4, hit his fourth HR and stole a base for Purdue.

Michigan State beat Minnesota, 7-6. MSU's Ryan Basham hit a walk-off single. Troy Krider had three hits, Alan Cattrysse collected three RBI for the Spartans. Minnesota's Andy Hunter homered and drove in three runs.

Update #2: Closer Matt Whitmore started Friday night and led Illinois to a 12-3 win over Iowa. Whitmore pitched 6.1 innings allowing three hits, four walks and three earned runs. Whitmore also struck out six. Ryan Hastings and Mike Rhode each went yard and drove in three runs.

Penn State walked into Northwestern and promptly bashed the Big Ten leaders, 12-1. Alan Stidfole twirled a complete game for the Nittany Lions. Stidfole yielded seven hits, no walks and only the single NU run. He also fanned five Wildcats. PSU's Lance Thompson and Brian Ernst each went 3 for 6. Nittany Lions' C Aaron Greenfield drove in three.

Weekend Games And Conference Standings

While I did not make it back out to Ann Arbor Saturday, I have found time to recap both Saturday and Sunday's Big Ten baseball action. After this weekend's results, I think I can start safely expecting the unexpected in conference play this season. Here's a brief review.

Northwestern took three of four from Illinois. After winning Friday night's contest (please refer to my recap post on that), NU won both ends of Saturday's doubleheader in Champaign, 7-3 and 7-6 in twelve innings. In the opener, Caleb Fields hit his second homer (one of his three hits) and Antonio Mule jacked homer number five for the 'Cats. Dan Brauer threw a 114 pitch seven inning complete game and improved to 3-1.

The nightcap saw Fields collect four hits in six at bats to pace NU's attack. Dan Schwartz earned his third win pitching six innings of relief work. Chase Kliment had two hits and two RBI for Illinois in the loss.

Illinois managed to avoid the sweep by capturing Sunday's game, 3-1. Kliment had two more hits Sunday to lead the Illini. NU's Fields went 2 for 4 and Anthony Wycklendt homered and doubled for the Wildcats. Jake Stewart pitched five innings of the rain shortened affair to gain the victory.

The Hoosiers and Boilermakers split their Saturday twinbill. IU captured Game One, 3-2. Zach Boswell went yard (his fourth) and drove in two runs. Josh Lewis (3-5) grabbed the win, Chris McCombs claimed the save (his third).

Purdue emerged victorious in the second game, 5-2. Mitch Hilligoss went 4 for 4 and stole his tenth base of the year in leading the Boilermakers' offense. Brent Courdon improved to 3-3. IU's McCombs, who saved the first game of the doubleheader, started and lost the second affair.

Sunday's game was all Purdue. The Boilermakers rolled to a 25-8 triumph over Indiana. Neal Gorka and Ryne White homered twice and banged out four hits a piece. Gorka drove in eight, yes, eight runs. White had five RBI and Hilligoss chipped in with four hits and four RBI of his own. Purdue starter Ricky Heines got the win.

Minnesota took game one of their Saturday DH with Iowa, 5-2. The Hawkeyes beat the Gophers, 3-1, in the nightcap. 3B Joe Maciej drove in two Minnesota runs. Dustin Brabender (3-4) earned the win. Andy Peters posted the save. Iowa's Jeff Maitland suffered his first defeat of the season.

Iowa 2B Travis Sweet went 2 for 2 with a RBI in the second game. Tim Gudex posted his sixth save.

Minnesota won again Sunday, 12-1, to take three of four from Iowa. For the Gophers, Maciej and Taylor VanderAarde each had two hits, two RBI and scored twice, DH Kyle Baran had three hits and three RBI. Cole DeVries fanned eight in 6.2 innings and bumped his record up to 4-2.

At State College, Michigan State needed extra innings in both games to sweep the doubleheader from Penn State. The Spartans won by scores of 9-5 and 6-4. Jeff Gerbe pitched all eight innings in the opener to post his fourth win against three defeats. MSU's Steve Gerstenberger had a three run triple and stole home on a double steal.

E.J. Daws hit his first homerun of 2006 and Ryan Basham went 3 for 4 to lead MSU to victory in Game Two. Mike Monterey (4-5) got the win in the nightcap. Lance Thompson drove in two PSU's runs.

Scott Gummo's double in the bottom of the ninth vaulted Penn State to victory Sunday, 12-11. The win also earned the Nittany Lions a weekend split with MSU. Nittany Lions OF Brian Ernst went 5 for 6. PSU's Scott Gaffney delivered his first win of the year in his first pitching performance of the campaign.

Arguably the most interesting results of the weekend came from Ray Fisher Stadium, where Michigan swept the series with #24 Ohio State. After a resounding win Friday night, the Wolverines swept Saturday's double dip with OSU. Michigan won game one, 7-1 and captured the second tilt, 2-1 in eight innings (which is extra innings for those unaware that the DH's are seven inning games).

Paul Hammond went the distance in the first meeting. Hammond (2-3) allowed five hits, struck out five and yielded only the single run. Mike Schmidt and Adam Abraham each went yard and drove in three runs.

SS Leif Mahler drove in the winning run in extra innings in the nightcap. OSU's Jake Hale and Michigan's Chris Fetter pitched strong outings, but it was Wolverine reliver Craig Murray who posted the win pitching the eighth inning. Schmidt and Buckeye CF Matt Angle each had a pair of hits.

Michigan swept the weekend series by claiming a 5-4 triumph today. Eric Rose drove in a pair of runs for the Wolverines. Andrew Hess (2-0) pitched seven innings, allowing eleven hits, but allowing only two runs. Buckeye freshman star J.B. Shuck took his first career loss (5-1). Michigan's Ben Jenzen threw two innings of relief work to merit his first save.

With this wacky weekend now in the books, let's see what the standings look like. Northwestern owns sole possession of first place in the Big Ten at 9-3 (12-19). Michigan, after it's sweep, has lifted itself into second place at 8-4 (20-12). Purdue holds onto the third spot at 7-5 (20-11). Fourth place belongs to the .500 clubs--Ohio State (20-11), Michigan State (17-15) and Minnesota (18-14). Each is 6-6 in the conference.

Iowa (15-17) and Penn State (11-23) are in at 5-7. Indiana is 4-8 (12-20) and Illinois is 4-9 (16-16).

Upset Friday

My self-proclaimed Rivalry Week, see previous post, got off to quite a bang yesterday. Depending on your perspective, you could argue that every result in Big Ten baseball play Friday was an upset. Now, not all upsets are equal (think nine seeds beating eight seeds in the NCAA basketball tournament), but it was a fairly surprising day around the conference.

It begins for me in Ann Arbor where I spent Friday evening. When I heard that freshman Zach Putnam (photo top left, copyright Big Ten Hardball, btw) was going to make his first collegiate start for Michigan against #24 Ohio State, I thought two things. First, "Cool, I get to see Putnam make his first start". Second? "Giving a freshman his first start on Friday night against your hated rival, who just happens to be red hot, seems a tad risky". In the end, I learned why Rich Maloney coaches baseball and why I (poorly) write about it.

Putnam went 7.1 innings allowing only one OSU run and earned the win. Now, Putnam did get a bit of help for his mates. Michigan prevailed over #24 Ohio State, 14-3. Eric Rose and Mike Schmidt each had a pair of hits and drove in three runs for U of M. One of Schmidt's hits was his sixth homer of the year. If there was an offensive star for the Buckeyes, it was Matt Angle who had two hits and a RBI.

Back to Putnam for a moment. He started a bit rough, as one would expect from a freshman making his first start, but he settled down fairly quickly. Again, his run support probably did help, but college baseball can be a high scoring affair, so let's give the guy credit for keeping a potent OSU offense in check for seven innings.

I thought Putnam's off-speed stuff was the key. It appeared he kept the Buckeyes off balance most of the game. I didn't sit close enough to the radar gun folks to know what his fastball was clocked at, but Putnam impressed me more because he appeared to be a pitcher and not a thrower.

Dan DuLucia, OSU's starter, did get roughed up, but you can see why he's successful. He works fast and throws strikes. He's going to win quite a bit more before the season is done. I'm planning on heading back out to Ray Fisher Stadium today, so I'll hopefully have more to post about this series tonight.

Attention! We interrupt this post for some personal stuff and a shameless plug or two. At the game, I did get to meet a couple of fellow bloggers. Ian of Sweaty Men Endeavors , Fried Rice Thoughts and Motor City Sports Magazine and Sam of Blue Cats and Red Sox, Chicks Talk Football and Roar of the Tigers joined me (and Mrs. BTH) at The Fish.

My wife and Sam must have taken about four million photos of the game. Ok, maybe it was more like four hundred, not four million. It's still a ton-o-photos. Eventually, a link to most of all of them will appear in this space.

Ian and Sam are both intelligent, funny and very good writers. They actually know stuff that doesn't pertain to sports, as well. I strongly encourage you to check out their blogs. I also look forward to the next time we meet and discuss 80's music, the Detroit Lions, Sam's and my refusal to view Fever Pitch , blogging, and sports, in general.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled Big Ten Hardball post. Thank you for your patience.

Let's see if I understand this correctly. A team cranks out 26 hits and scores 18 runs and loses? Yep, you read that right--26 hits and 18 runs. And loses. Yet, that was Illinois' fate last night as Northwestern's magical (is it too soon to use that word?) season continues. Pat McMahon and Antonio Mule eached jacked a pair of dingers in leading NU past the Fighting Illini, 19-18. The win, combined with OSU's defeat, gives NU sole possession of first place in the Big Ten.

McMahon hit for the cycle and drove in six of Northwestern's 19 tallies. Mule had four hits and just as many RBI. From the blue and orange perspective, Joe Bonadonna went 4 for 4 and five of his teammates had three hits a piece, although it wasn't quite enough.

Upset #3, if you are counting: Indiana bests Purdue, 8-4. Jay Brant and Zach Boswell each went yard for IU. Doug Fleenor posted his first win of the year in relief. Amazingly, the Go-Go Hoosiers only stole one base Friday. I'm just not sure what to think about that. Purdue's Neal Gorka went 3 for 4 and homered in the loss.

It's difficult to consider Minnesota's 9-0 triumph over Iowa an upset, although the Gophers were lower in the standings heading into Friday night, but I am surprised that Iowa didn't muster any offense. Brian Bull worked the first seven innings and improved his record to 3-3. 2B Luke McLean's three RBI led the Golden Gopher attack.

An interesting item I found while reviewing the boxscore, there were six batters hit by pitch. Doesn't that seem like an unusually high figure?

In what I think constitutes a mild upset, Penn State clipped Michigan State, 10-9, in ten innings. PSU's James Leitgeb knocked in the winner in the tenth with a single. Gary Amato picked up his fourth win of the year in relief. Lance Thompson and Cory Wine eached collected three hits.

Ryan Basham, basically my Pick to Click this weekend, homered for the Spartans. MSU also stole six bases (Basham stole his eighth). Apparently, I may need to start calling MSU the Go-Go Spartans.

Saturday is doubleheader day around the Big Ten, so the conference race can get even more scrambled today.

Midweek Games

Bradley beat Illinois, 6-5. Jason Grodsky, Daily Illini, provides a recap.

Indiana topped Xavier, 10-6. Indiana Daily Student writer Jake Brown provides a preview and a review of IU baseball.

#4 Nebraska tops Iowa, 16-14, in 13 innings. Michael Bruntz of the Daily Nebraskan reviews the slugfest from a Cornhusker perspective. The Daily Iowan's Ryan Long offers the Hawkeye recap.

Toledo beat Michigan, 10-9, in ten innings.

Michigan State dropped Western Michigan, 7-5.

Robert Morris prevailed over Northwestern, 14-8.

Purdue topped Illinois State, 9-8.

Penn State beat Duquesne, 12-6. Mark Myers of the Daily Collegian previews the game.

Robert Mews of the Minnesota Daily looks the the Gophers pitching staff.

#24 Ohio State beat Central Michigan, 8-5.

Results And Conference Records

A quick review of Sunday and Monday. Northwestern beat Indiana today by a 4-3 score. Caleb Fields homered for the 'Cats. The two schools split Sunday's twinbill. Game one went to NU, 12-1. The Hoosiers claimed the nightcap, 3-2. (Note to self: IU freshman Cameron Satterwhite bears keeping an eye on. He's got six hits in his last three games.)

#24 Ohio State beat Illinois in Sunday's finale, 9-1. Freshman J.B. Shuck pitched a complete game. The Buckeyes Sunday starter is now 5-0.

Michigan beat Minnesota, 2-0, Sunday. Purdue beat MSU, 4-3. Penn State dropped Iowa, 11-10.

After two weekends of conference play, here is what we have. #24 Ohio State and surprising Northwestern sit atop the Big Ten at 6-2. Purdue follows at 5-3. We've got the usual logjam of teams at the .500 mark. Michigan, Iowa and Michigan State are all in at 4-4. Illinois, Penn State and Minnesota are at 3-5. Indiana finds itself at 2-6.