Big Ten Baseball Weekly Review – 2013 Week Four

Illinois

3-0

Illinois 4, Baylor 3

Illinois 5, Baylor 4 (11 innings)

Illinois 6, Baylor 1

The Illini took game one by scoring two runs in the ninth inning, ruining an eight-inning outing by Baylor pitcher Dillon Newman who gave up four hits and two runs.

Baylor was held scoreless from the fourth inning of first game in the Saturday doubleheader until the ninth inning of the second game.

Illini pitcher John Kravetz went eight innings in game three, giving up three hits and a run. Sophomore Will Krug batted .538 over the series (7-for-13), scored five runs and hit two doubles.

Indiana

2-1

Indiana 4, Florida 1

Florida 6, Indiana 4

Indiana 7, Florida 4

Joey DeNato continues to impress, going 7.1 innings in the first game of the series, giving up eight hits and only one run.

The Hoosiers lost game two after leading by three runs early, but bounced back to take the rubber match and the series on Sunday. Hoosier pitcher Kyle Hart pitched 7.2 innings, fiving up four runs and five hits, while the Hoosier offense banged out 14 hits against seven Gator pitchers.

Iowa

3-0

Iowa 9, Maine 2

Iowa 7, Georgetown 2

Iowa 6, West Virginia 4 (12 innings)

A good weekend for the Hawkeyes, as Sasha Kuebel pitched seven innings giving up eight hits and two runs in the opener against Maine. Iowa scored six runs in the sixth inning to break the game open.

Hawkeye pitcher Matt Dermody had a gem against Georgetwon, going eight innings giving up two runs and nine hits while striking out six.

Against the Mountaineers, freshman Blake Hickman hit a two RBI single in the top of the 12th to get Iowa through an undefeated weekend.

It was the first time since 2006 that Iowa had won three games at a three-day tournament.

Michigan

4-1

Michigan 11, Florida Gulf Coast 6

Michigan 6, Holy Cross 3

St Louis 9, Michigan 5

Michigan 7, Holy Cross 4

Michigan 5, San Diego 2

The Wolverines pounded out 12 hits in each of their games against Holy Cross while holding Holy Crosss to just six in their first game and eight in the second.

Wolverine pitcher James Bourque struggled early in the game against St Louis, going only 1.2 innings, giving up three runs (two earned), and walking four. Logan McAnallen came in in relief, but went only 2.2 innings giving up six hits and three more runs.

Michigan State

2-3

Austin Peay 10, Michigan State 7

Michigan State 5, Tennessee Tech 3

Kentucky 2, Michigan State 1

Michigan State 6, Kentucky 1

Kentucky 3, Michigan State 1

The loss to Austin Peay was early in the week, a continuation of a series that was delayed due to weather.

The Spartans played well against one of the top-ranked teams in the nation at Kentucky. The Wildcats needed a home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to take game one, although Spartan pitcher Andrew Waszak had a good game, going 6.2 innings, giving up one run and eight hits.

On Saturday, Spartan right hander David Garner went 8.1 innings, holding Kentucky to just one run while giving up only four hits (Big Ten Pitcher of the Week material).

That sent the series to the rubber match, but Michigan State could manage only four hits, as Kentucky’s Corey Littrel went seven innings, giving up four hits and a run while striking out nine.

It was a decent showing by MSU. It would have nice to get the series win, but against one of the top teams in the nation, not bad.

Minnesota

4-0

Minnesota 3, Hamline 1

Minnesota 3, Western Illinois 0

Minnesota 5, Western Illinois 1

Minnesota 5, Western Illinois 3

Minnesota continues to play against substandard competition, sweeping a Western Illinois team that’s only won two games this season. Western Illinois currently has a higher pseudo-RPI despite the Gophers’ record at 8-5, which tells you something about Minnesota’s scheduling.

Junior Gopher left-hander Tom Windle pitched the first no-hitter since April 4, 1993 in the initial win over the Leathernecks.

Nebraska

3-2

Nebraska 10, Northern Colorado 5

Nebraska 5, Northern Colorado 1

Louisiana Tech 5, Nebraska 0

Louisiana Tech 2, Nebraska 1

Nebraska 3, Louisiana Tech 2

Nebraska sweep mid-week foe Northern Colorado, then travelled to Louisiana Tech for a weekend that should have had them coming away with a series win.

Instead, the Husker offense struggled, coming up with only four runs in three games. In the opener, La Tech pitcher Phil Maton shut down the Huskers, going seven innings while giving up four hits and striking out eight. Nebraska’s Ryan Hander wasn’t so fortunate, giving up four runs in the third inning.

In the second game, Nebraska got another good outing from pitcher Christian DeLeon, who went eight innings, giving up two runs and six hits. Unfortunately the effort was wasted as the Husker offense managed only six hits.

In the third game (doubleheader on Saturday), Nebraska’s Brandon Pierce had a good outing, going six innings giving up four hits and a run. The Husker offense scored just enough, with three runs in the sixth inning, to avoid the sweep by the Bulldogs.

The Huskers appear to have straightened out their pitching, but the offense is dead last in the Big Ten in team batting with a .236 average.

Northwestern

0-3

Missouri State 2, Northwestern 1 (10 innings)

Missouri State 7, Northwestern 5

Missouri State 3, Northwestern 2

Heckuva disappointing weekend for the Wildcats, losing three games by a total of four runs and being swept by Missouri State. With the sweep, Missouri State moved to 10-3 on the season.

Zach Morton continues to star for Northwestern as in the opener he went 7.2 innings, giving up six hits, zero runs and striking out six. Morton’s ERA on the season is 0.85.

The Bears won the final two games with late rallies, scoring two runs in the eighth in the 7-5 loss, and scoring one run in the bottom of the ninth in the final.

Ohio State

2-1

Ohio State 11, Harvard 0

Ohio State 5, Ball State 3

Coastal Carolina 3, Ohio State 1

The Buckeyes beat up on Harvard to start the weekend, with Jaron Long pitching a complete game and Jacob Bosiokovic driving in six runs while hitting two home runs.

Bosiokovic had another homer against Ball State, driving in three runs as the Buckeyes put up four runs in the eighth inning to get the win.

Coastal Carolina pitcher Ben Smith had a career day against the Buckeyes, striking out nine and going 6.1 innings while giving up only four hits. The Buckeyes managed only six hits I the game. It wasted a good performance by Buckeye hurler Brian King who went 7.2 innings, giving up eight hits and three runs.

Chanticleer coach Gary Gilmore won his 700th game in the win over Ohio State.

Penn State

2-3

Houston 14, Penn State 8

Houston 15, Penn State 5

Penn State 9, Houston Baptist 3

Penn State 8, Houston Baptist 4

Houston Baptist 11, Penn State 10 (10 innings)

29 runs given up in two games. That’s pretty bad, Penn State. Houston started by scoring six runs in the first inning, then two more in the second. Penn State tried to respond, adding three in each of the fifth and sixth inning, but Houston scored six runs over the final two frames to seal the win.

In the second game against Houston, Penn State committed six errors, and allowed fourteen hits. There’s not much more than that to say.

Nittany Lion pitcher Steven Hill threw the seventh complete game of his career in the first game of a doubleheader win against Houston Baptist on Saturday. Hill gave up nine hits and four runs.

Purdue

1-1

Illinois-Chicago 9, Purdue 2

Purdue 17, Illinois-Chicago 10

Game Three Cancelled

Purdue is still struggling, but they did snap a seven-game losing streak this past weekend. In game one, Illinois-Chicago scored seven times with two outs in an inning, and Purdue couldn’t come up with timely hitting of their own as they went 3-for-16 with runners on base.

Purdue came alive in game two, coming up with 20 hits and 17 runs, including eight in the second inning and six in the eighth.