The Boilermakers remain the only Big Ten team ranked, but Minnesota is on top in the conference race after sweeping Michigan at home this weekend. Purdue won their series against Penn State, but the bashing they took on Sunday, at home no less, makes one wonder if it was just a bad day or a sign that Purdue might be getting a little haughty.
Still, it's early in the season, eh?
Two Big Ten coaches had career weekends as Iowa's Jack Dahm won his 200th career victory and Purdue's Doug Schreiber won his 400th game.
|
Big Ten |
Overall |
|||
|
Team |
Record |
Pct. |
Record |
Pct. |
|
1. Minnesota |
3-0 |
1.000 |
16-13 |
.552 |
|
2. Purdue |
4-2 |
.667 |
20-5 |
.800 |
|
Indiana |
4-2 |
.667 |
12-16 |
.429 |
|
4. Michigan State |
1-1 |
.500 |
16-8 |
.667 |
|
Nebraska |
3-3 |
.500 |
19-11 |
.633 |
|
Iowa |
3-3 |
.500 |
10-14 |
.417 |
|
Northwestern |
3-3 |
.500 |
10-15 |
.400 |
|
8. Ohio State |
2-3 |
.400 |
14-11 |
.560 |
|
9. Illinois |
1-2 |
.333 |
15-10 |
.600 |
|
Penn State |
2-4 |
.333 |
8-18 |
.308 |
|
Michigan |
0-3 |
.000 |
12-16 |
.429 |
|
Illinois |
4-1 |
Illinois State 16, Illinois 7 Illinois 6, Bradley 3 Illinois 15, Mississippi Valley State 6 Illinois 12, Mississippi Valley State 4 Illinois 7 Mississippi Valley State 1 |
|
A good week for Illinois. They took on a bad team and took care of business. Friday's game featured 20 hits, setting a school record with five triples in their home opener. Saturday's game had the Illini scoring 10 runs in the first three innings, while on Sunday freshman John Kravetz threw for seven innings, allowing only three hits and one unearned run. Kravetz faced only 24 batters, three over the minimum. |
||
|
Indiana |
3-1 |
Xavier 11, Indiana 3 Indiana 10, Iowa 7 Iowa 4, Indiana 0 Indiana 10, Iowa 5 |
|
I've pointed out Indiana's issues with defense - mostly in the form of errors. The Hoosiers remain last in conference in offense with 61 errors this season, 21 more than the next to last team Northwestern. Defense cost the Hoosiers the Saturday game as they committed three errors, giving up three unearned runs. In their two wins, the Hoosiers committed only one error. |
||
|
Iowa |
1-3 |
Nebraska-Omaha 3, Iowa 1 Indiana 10, Iowa 7 Iowa 4, Indiana 0 Indiana 10, Iowa 5 |
|
Iowa outhit Indiana in the first game, 14-10, but gave up three runs in the seventh in the road loss. Saturday's victory gave Hawkeye head coach Jack Dahm his 200th career win as Matt Dermody threw seven innings, giving up only four hits. Sunday, Iowa had a 5-0 lead before Indiana came back with 10 unanswered runs as the Hawkeyes used seven pitchers in the loss. Sasha Kuebel gave up six hits and five unearned runs in 4.2 innings, and the bullpen didn't do much better. |
||
|
Michigan |
1-4 |
Michigan 6, Oakland 1 Eastern Michigan 12, Michigan 2 Minnesota 6, Michigan 3 Minnesota 9, Michigan 4 Minnesota 4, Michigan 3 (10 innings) |
|
Not a good week for Michigan as they get swept by the Gophers in Minneapolis. Michigan was outhit in the first two games, 6-10 and 10-13, and Minnesota's Matt Halloran hit a walk-off homer in the bottom of the 10th to give the Gophers the sweep. |
||
|
Michigan State |
Michigan State 13, Bowling Green 3 Michigan State 6, Central Michigan 5 Ohio State 1, Michigan State 0 Michigan State 2, Ohio State 1 Michigan State 10, Ohio State 5
|
|
|
The Friday loss broke a eight-game Spartan winning streak in a pitcher's duel that had MSU starter Tony Bucciferro throw eight scoreless innings, striking out nine and allowing only two hits while Buckeye Jason Long was better, throwing a complete game five-hit shutout. Saturday was again another pitcher's duel. Spartan Andrew Waszak threw eight innings, allowing only one run and two hits, then closer Tony Wieber set a school record for career saves shutting down the Buckeyes for his 15th save. The loss wasted a good effort by Buckeye Brian King, who threw for seven innings, giving up nine hits and two runs (one earned). Sunday's game had the Spartans score eight runs in the first inning as starter Brett McKinney lasted .2 innings, giving up four hits and eight runs (three earned). Michigan State leads the Big Ten in team pitching, with a team ERA of 2.66. |
||
|
Minnesota |
4-0 |
Minnesota 9, South Dakota State 3 Minnesota 6, Michigan 3 Minnesota 9, Michigan 4 Minnesota 4, Michigan 3 (10 innings) |
|
Minnesota is second in team pitching with a ERA of 3.27. TJ Oakes remains the top pitcher in the league, and in Friday's game he allowed only one unearned run and five hits in seven innings. Bobby Juan added an inside the park home run at the Metrodome. Saturday saw Gopher DJ Snelten throw seven innings, giving up five hits and two earned runs, while Wolverine pitcher Bobby Brosnahan lasted 1.1 innings, giving up 10 hits and eight earned runs. Snelten is currently ranked third in the Big Ten with a 2.01 ERA in 40.1 innings pitched. The Gophers took the sweep when Matt Halloran hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the tenth. Minnesota struggled early in the season with batting, but has since risen in the Big Ten team batting ranks, now seventh at .260. The Gophers have won seven in a row. |
||
|
Nebraska |
2-2 |
Nebraska 6, Kansas State 3 Nebraska 7, Northwestern 4 Northwestern 8, Nebraska 4 Northwestern 6, Nebraska 1 |
|
What a disappointing weekend for the Huskers, who still haven't won a road conference series since 2008 (!!!!). In the first game, Husker starter Tom Lemke went six innings, giving up 11 hits, but only three earned runs. The Wildcats outhit the Huskers 15-13, but scored only one run in the final six innings. Saturday's game was a mess, with the Huskers committing six errors, allowing Northwestern eight unearned runs! Nebraska outhit Northwestern 7-6, but, hey, six errors! It was the first loss of the season in which Nebraska outhit their opponent but still lost. In Sunday's loss, the Huskers managed only six hits and a run. Michael Pritchard went 2-for-3 three and scored a run, but the offense disappeared. Pritchard is second in conference in runs scored with 30, behind team mate Chad Christensen who has 31. Nebraska had been averaging eight runs a game before this series, but managed only 12 runs over three games. |
||
|
Northwestern |
2-1 |
Nebraska 7, Northwestern 4 Northwestern 8, Nebraska 4 Northwestern 6, Nebraska 1 |
|
Northwestern took care of business, winning their home opening conference series against a Nebraska team playing badly. In Sunday's game, Wildcat Zach Morton pitched a complete game, giving up only six hits and an earned run. |
||
|
Ohio State |
2-2 |
Ohio State 13, Eastern Michigan 4 Ohio State 1, Michigan State 0 Michigan State 2, Ohio State 1 Michigan State 10, Ohio State 5 |
|
Jason Long threw a complete game shutout as the Buckeyes picked up their only win against the Spartans. |
||
|
Penn State |
3-2 |
Penn State 6, Coppin State 2 Penn State 7, Coppin State 1 (7 innings) Purdue 9, Penn State 3 Purdue 2, Penn State 0 Penn State 16, Purdue 6 |
|
Coppin State has the distinction of being ranked dead last in ISR, and have yet to win a game this season (0-25). This is one of the reasons that Penn State is last in the Big Ten in pseudo RPI at 210. Sunday's game saw the Lions reel off season-high 19 hits and 16 runs against four Purdue pitchers. The game featured seven errors between the two teams. |
||
|
Purdue |
4-1 |
Purdue 2, Louisville 1 (10 innings) Purdue6, IPFW 1 Purdue 9, Penn State 3 Purdue 2, Penn State 0 Penn State 16, Purdue 6 |
|
A nearly excellent week for Purdue as Saturday's game saw Purdue head coach Doug Schreiber pick up his 400th career win. Purdue continues to lead the Big Ten in hitting, batting .324. The Boilermakers are ninth in the nation in that category. Saturday's win had Lance Breedlove throwing a complete game for Purdue, giving up only two hits and retiring the first 19 batters he faced. Sunday's loss broke an eight-game home winning streak, and was the second week in a row that Purdue couldn't pull off a sweep against a conference opponent after winning the first two games. |
||