Big Ten Baseball Weekly Review - 2013 Week One

Illinois

1-2

Illinois 13, Tennessee Tech 2

Tennessee Tech 6, Illinois 5

Tennessee Tech 7, Illinois 6

Illinois started the season well, blasting 13 runs on 16 hits with eight of their runs coming with two outs.

Saturday's game featured two "snow delays". Imagine that.

In Sunday's game, Tech hit a homer in the bottom of the ninth with two outs to seal the win.

Indiana

2-1

Indiana 2, Louisville 0

Connecticut 4, Indiana 3 (15 innings)

Indiana 12, South Florida 2

Not only did the Hoosiers finish the week with the only winning record in the conference, but they did it in pretty impressive fashion. Louisville was ranked as high as #4 - that Indiana held them scoreless and gave up only six hits, ouch. Joey DeNato and Evan Bell each pitched four innings, then Ryan Halstead closed it out in the ninth.

In game two, both teams scored three runs each in the first four innings, and then nothing until UConn scored after the runner got on base because of walk, got to second because of a balk, then made it home after two consecutive wild pitches.

Indiana must have gotten angry Sunday, pounding out 12 runs on 12 hits while pitcher Kyle Hart went seven innings and gave up 10 scattered hits and two runs (one earned).

Nice job, Hoosiers!

Iowa

1-2

Austin Peay 4, Iowa 2

Iowa 13, Austin Peay 1

Austin Peay 6, Iowa 1

Another Big Ten team in Tennessee playing in 30-something degree weather, and another conference series loss.

Iowa pitched pretty well this series, ending up with a 1.80 team ERA for the weekend. Unfortunately the Governors did better in the opener and rubber match, giving up only three runs in those two games.

Oh, and before you make fun of Iowa playing these guys, Austin Peay is projected to win the Ohio Valley Conference this season, was a NCAA tourney qualifier last year losing to Oregon in the regional final, and have won the OVC the past two seasons.

Michigan

0-3

Cal 5, Michigan 4 (11 innings)

Cal 6, Michigan 5 (10 innings)

Cal 2, Michigan 1

Michigan went to Cal to play a three-game series and came away with naught a win. Three losses, all by a single run and two games into extra innings. Crowd got their money's worth on this one, eh?

Friday Cal tied the game with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. Saturday, the Golden Bears again tied the game in the ninth. And if those weren't enough, Sunday's game was tied in the ninth when Cal won it with a base hit on intentionally loaded bases.

DAMN THE LUCK MICHIGAN!

Michigan State

1-1

Furman 4, MSU 3

vs Miami (OH) Cancelled

MSU 7, Northwestern 4

It wasn't only the Wolverines who were plagued by the ninth inning. Furman scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth to spoil Sparty's opener in the First Pitch Invitational in Greenville, SC. Sparty's runs came on a three-run homer by Joel Fisher in the top of the fifth.

MSU and Northwestern played a non-conference on Sunday, with MSU winning 7-4.

Apparently in love with Greenville, SC, Sparty will go back next weekend to face Western Carolina, Cincy, Furman and Miami (OH). Kind of weird scheduling ain't it?

Minnesota

1-2

Minnesota 6 UCLA 2 (10 innings)

UCLA 14, Minnesota 0

UCLA 14, Minnesota 1

EGAD Gophers!

Granted, Minnesota went out West to face the second-ranked Bruins, but giving up 30 runs in three games while scoring only seven is, well, they've got a ways to go.

The first game was good enough, tied 2-2 heading into extra innings when the Gophers put up four in the tenth.

In the second game, the Gophers were behind 7-0 after three innings and Minnesota managed only six hits while committing four errors. Sunday the Gophers again managed only six hits, but committed only two errors.

The Gophers appear to be starting the same way they did last season, having problems hitting (.220 over the weekend, worst in conference) and scoring only seven runs on opening weekend. But again, they opened against some pretty tough competition on the road.

Nebraska

0-4

CSU Bakersfield 9, Nebraska 4

Cal State Fullerton 10, Nebraska 5

Cal State Fullerton 9, Nebraska 0

USC 4, Nebraska 3

What a lousy start for a team that hopes to win the Big Ten Conference. Husker fans might take solace in the fact that Darin Erstad wants to play a tough non-conference schedule, but HOLY CRAP.

The pitching staff finished the weekend with a 8.54 ERA (worst in conference) while Husker batters struck out 38 (insert profanity) times while earning only five walks. Granted, they were missing ace pitcher Kyle Kubat, but the pitching was inconsistent as was the batting. The number of called third strikes while looking was a little maddening. Check the weekend Husker recap for more information.

It looked like the Huskers might get a win Sunday, but USC scored in the bottom of the ninth (‘TIS A PLAGUE I TELL YOU) for the win.

Northwestern

1-1

Northwestern 8, Miami (OH) 1

vs Furman cancelled

Michigan State 7, Northwestern 4

Against Miami (OH), Northwestern scored seven runs from the sixth inning on while pitcher Zach Morton threw seven innings while allowing only three hits and striking out four.

On Sunday, Northwestern tried to come back, with three runs in the seventh, but couldn't get it done. This was a non-conference game, but again, isn't this kind of weird scheduling?

Ohio State

1-2

Mercer 6, Ohio State 5 (10 innings)

Notre Dame 13, Ohio State 3

Ohio State 3, St. John's 1

Ohio State had a chance to tie Mercer in the 10th, but Ryan Cypret was thrown out at the plate to end the game. Saturday the Buckeyes had 10 hits against Notre Dame, but allowed 16 hits while committing four errors.

Buckeye pitcher Brad Goldberg went seven innings against St. John's, allowing only two hits while striking out seven. That won him Pitcher of the Week honors from the conference.

Penn State

1-2

Penn State 6, ETSU 4

ETSU 8, Penn State 3

ETSU 9, Penn State 7

Another Big Ten opener in Tennessee as the Nittany Lions took on Eastern Tennessee State.

ETSU opened a new baseball stadium this year, and began it's new era by losing to Penn State after scoring three runs on a JC Coban double in the eight inning.

The story of this series wasn't so much Penn State, but instead Buccaneer Clinton Freeman who was named Louisville Slugger POTW after going .800, hitting a double, triple, three home runs, five RBIs and seven runs scored. He had three walks (two intentional), a 2.00 slugging percentage and .a 846 on-base percentage.

Purdue

2-2

Purdue 11, Connecticut 8

South Florida 20, Purdue 2

Louisville 9, Purdue 4

Purdue 5, Connecticut 3

Purdue headed to Florida and participated in the Big East/Big Ten Challenge, beating Connecticut twice and losing badly to South Florida.

Things started out well enough, with Purdue scoring seven runs in the fourth inning, then holding on after UConn came back with four runs in the fifth. The Boilers played well enough against Louisville, with Kyle Wood going seven innings giving up four earned runs. The Cardinal scored five runs in the final two frames.

The South Florida game was a disaster with the Boilers giving up nine runs in the first inning, committed four errors in the game while providing USF with nine walks and five hit batters.

Boiler Robert Ramer pitched a complete game against UConn to help win 5-3.