Big Ten Baseball Weekly Review - 2014 Week Six

Through games of March 23

Illinois

4-1

Illinois 8, Indiana State 0

Xavier 6, Illinois 2

Illinois 6, Xavier 1

Illinois 6, Xavier 2

Illinois 3, Xavier 2 (13 innings)

Illinois had a good week against a decent Xavier team Against Indiana State; they posted their first shutout in a home opener since 1998 when they blanked Western Michigan, 6-0.

After losing the first game of the series, Illinois swept the Saturday double header. Ryan Castellanos went 7.1 innings in the first, giving up seven hits and one earned run. John Kravetz went 8 innings in the second, giving up seven hits and two earned runs.

Then on Sunday, freshman Zack Kolakowski executed a suicide squeeze with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 13th to win the game 3-2. See it here....

Indiana

2-1

Indiana 5, Michigan 3

Indiana 5, Michigan 1

Michigan 4, Indiana 3

Another week, another Big Ten honor for Hoosier pitcher Kyle Hart. The Hoosiers are still the team to beat in the conference. Of concern might be that they're currently 7th in team batting at .254.

They are first in team pitching with a 2.55 ERA.  Their pitching staff is loaded.

Sunday's loss was Indiana's first at home this season in six games and the first in 10 games going back to 2010 against Michigan.

It's going to be interesting to see whether or not Indiana loses any series this conference season.

Indiana is no longer ranked in any poll.

Iowa

2-1

Iowa 2, Nebraska 1

Nebraska 5, Iowa 1

Iowa 8, Nebraska 4

What the hell is going on in Iowa City?  Hawkeye baseball used to be an afterthought, and here they are, winning winning winning.

The opening game was a heartbreaker for the Huskers as Iowa scored both runs in the bottom of the ninth inning.

In game two, the Hawkeyes couldn't get anything going against Husker pitching.

In the third game, Nebraska lead 4-3, but the Hawkeyes scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth as they rattled off 14 hits against five Nebraska pitchers.

Iowa is second behind Nebraska in team batting (.311, .312, respectively) and two of their pitchers lead the Big Ten in strikeouts (Calvin Mathews, 38 IP, 32 Ks and Tyler Peyton, 37 IP, 29 Ks).

It going to be interesting to see how Iowa does this season. Rich Heller might be building a helluva program.

Michigan

1-2

Indiana 5, Michigan 3

Indiana 5, Michigan 1

Michigan 4, Indiana 3

Lack of timely hitting cost the Wolverines in the first game. They were down 4-0, and tried to rally, but that Hoosier pitching cut them down, finishing the game with two strikeouts.

In the second game, Michigan could manage only five hits because Kyle Hart.

Michigan used seven pitchers in the series finale and they combined to hold the Hoosiers to three runs.

Hey, Michigan gets to play their home opener this week!

Michigan State

1-2

Michigan State 7, Ohio State 6

Ohio State 6, Michigan State 2

Ohio State 1, Michigan State 0

The series with Ohio State was to be played in East Lansing, but was moved due to weather conditions.

Sparty won game one with a RBI single in the bottom of the ninth. In game two, Ohio State's Troy Montgomery hit a grand slam in the fourth as the Buckeyes plated five runs that inning.

Ohio State's Tanner Tully went 7 innings in game three, giving up seven hits and no runs. Sparty outhit the Buckeyes 9 to 8.

Minnesota

4-1

Minnesota 15, St Mary's 11

Minnesota 12, St Mary's 1

Minnesota 5, Northwestern 1

Northwestern 4, Minnesota 3

Minnesota 2, Northwestern 1

This series was moved to St Charles, Missouri due to weather.

Minnesota split a doubleheader with Northwestern on Saturday. Gopher shortstop Michael Handel hit a grand slam as Alec Crawford went 7 innings, giving up 10 hits and one earned run while striking out 5. In game two, Northwestern jumped out to an early lead, and Minnesota could manage only six hits.

In the rubber match, Gopher pitcher Ben Meyer pitched a complete game, giving up 6 hits and one earned run. Northwestern outhit the Gophers 6-3, but could only manage one run in the third.

Minnesota is third in conference in team pitching with a 3.27 ERA.

Nebraska

2-2

Nebraska 5, Creighton 4 (10 innings)

Iowa 2, Nebraska 1

Nebraska 5, Iowa 1

Iowa 8, Nebraska 4

Opening conference play losing a series to Iowa wasn't what the Huskers had in mind - you can bet on that.

Closer Josh Roeder, normally reliable, gave up the two runs in the bottom of the ninth in game one.
Game two - Chance Sinclair moved to 4-0 on the season, going 7 innings giving up 9 hits, and one earned run. Sinclair leads the conference in ERA at 0.51.

Game three - Nebraska's offense could only manage six hits as Iowa's Tyler Peyton went 6.1 innings, giving up six hits and four earned runs.

Nebraska appears to have the same problem as last year - wild inconsistency.

Northwestern

1-2

Minnesota 5, Northwestern 1

Northwestern 4, Minnesota 3

Minnesota 2, Northwestern 1

Northwestern just doesn't have the horses all around. They're third in team batting (.274), but 10th in team pitching (5.05 ERA) and last in team fielding with a .950 percentage.

40 errors so far this season.  The RPI is at 241.

Ohio State

4-1

Ohio State 6, Akron 5

Ohio State 10, Xavier 3

Michigan State 7, Ohio State 6

Ohio State 6, Michigan State 2

Ohio State 1, Michigan State 0

The Buckeyes had a great week, picking up their first conference series and taking two non-conference games. Check out the Michigan State section above.

The performance by freshman Tully (0.96 ERA) has to have Buckeye fans feeling good as he could move into a starting role. Ryan Riga (3.03 ERA) is set as a starter, and the Buckeyes appear to be trying to find the proper rotation. Greg Greve started the Saturday game (4.50 ERA), but Zach Farmer (4.22 ERA) is another freshman to keep an eye on.

Last years closer Trace Dempsey has struggled this season, and has been replaced in that role by freshman Travis Lakins (0.87 ERA). Do you see a theme here?

Penn State

5-1

Penn State 7, New York Tech 3

Penn State 8, New York Tech 0

Penn State 7, Bucknell 2

Penn State 4, Bucknell 3

Bucknell 1, Penn State 0

Penn State 6, Bucknell 2

Penn State had a really good week, although it should be noted that New York Tech is 1-15 and 300th out of 300 teams in Division I RPI (Boyds World). Bucknell is at 246 with a record of 8-11.

That leaves Penn State with a RPI of 224, although they doubled their wins for the season in one week.

Purdue

2-2

Purdue 6, Butler 1

Purdue 3, Southern Illinois 2

Southern Illinois 5, Purdue 4

Southern Illinois 4, Purdue 0

Hey, Purdue tripled their win total this week, and dropped their ERA by nearly two full points. They're still last in team pitching with a 7.30 ERA.

Purdue is first in team fielding, ahead of Nebraska at .978.