Tag: big ten baseball

Some assorted Big Ten Tournament photos

The newly renovated home of the Michigan Wolverine baseball team with the complicated name of “The Wilpon Baseball Complex home of Ray Fisher Stadium”.  Too much like Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.  Anyway, it IS nice.

Joe Blackburn has once again gotten a mohawk like last year.

Speaking of hair and ballplayers, it looks like the Purdue team is making their own statement with their locks.

For my money, the Penn State fans are the loudest, most raucous fans in Big Ten baseball.  Not in a drunk obnoxious way but in a sort of soccer mom way.

And it’s these women who lead the pack.

Big Ten Tournament photos

Manson, Bonadonna key win in tourney

That is a smile of a proud father.  Russell Bonadonna (above) is holding the homerun ball hit by his son, Joe during Wednesday’s action at the Big Ten Tournament.  Bonadonna’s homer proved to be the game-winner in the win against Ohio State in the first round of the tournament.  Illinois won 3-2.

Tied 2-2, Bonadonna hit a solo homer to left in the seventh inning off of Buckeye reliever Dean Wolosiansky.  The score stood and Illinois won.

Kevin Manson: CG, 0 ER

But I can’t write any more without talking about Kevin Manson.  Why?  He simply dominated the Buckeyes today.  He began the game by striking out the first two Buckeyes.  Then he got better.  No earned runs, only 4 hits, no walks.  Manson rose to the occasion.

In some ways, it was a typical Illinois game.  We outhit them 11 to 4 but won 3-2.

Steal #40

Kyle Hudson walked in the first inning and you knew what was coming next.  Steal #40.  That steal tied Shawn Roof for the single season team record.  Hud later scored on a sac fly.

Illinois also scored when Brandon Wikoff doubled in the 3rd inning and Daniel Webb singled to drive him home.

Tomorrow, Illinois face #1 seed Michigan in a night game.

I’ve created a separate album in the photo gallery for the Big Ten Tournament.  You can access it here. I will have separate sub-albums for each game.

Penn State defeated Indiana 6-1 in the second game of the day.  If anyone is interested, I took photos of that game, too.

Finally, this week I’ll be doing daily updates on the Tournament on Brian Foley’s The College Baseball Blog.  Thanks to Brian for the opportunity.

Settling in at Ann Arbor, Tomorrow the Big 10 Tournament

I just rolled into Ann Arbor this evening on the aptly named “Wolverine” Amtrak line.  I’m staying at the Lamp Post Inn.  It’s a budget motel but it has the important amenity I need.  Wireless access. 

When I told the motel owner my reason for being here he told me knew a few of Michigan baseball kids and their families.  Being somewhat familiar with the team, I asked ‘Which ones?’. 

“Zach Putnam”, he said.

Anyway, The tournament bracket is out (here’s the pdf version).  Illinois has their work cut out for them.  They face defending Tournament champion Ohio State tomorrow.  And if they can get by them, they face ranked Michigan.  What a difference one game in the standings makes.  Seed #3 Penn State is facing Indiana. 

Here are a couple other BTT interesting links if you haven’t run across them yet:

Official 2008 Big Ten Baseball Tournament press release (pdf format) …chock full of info.

Info on 2007 Big Ten Tournament from the Big Ten website

The Baseball Zealot coverage of the 2007 Big Ten Tournament

One final thought on the tournament before they get started tomorrow.  Last year’s #1 seed, Michigan was eliminated by Friday.  I’m not necessarily trying to pick on Michigan (much).  My point is that it’s a new “season” now and it’s anyone’s game out there.  Let’s not get overwhelmed by regular season rankings or standings. 

Oh and one more thing…

Go Illini!!!

One series left in regular Big Ten play

No game on Sunday between Illinois and Ohio State.  Rain washed away any chance of the Illini to tie Ohio State for the weekend.  As frustrating as that probably is, Ohio State had the momentum after their amazing comeback in Game 2 on Saturday (they scored 10 runs in the bottom of the fifth after the Illini scored 7 in the top).  Maybe it’s just as well? 

A Look at the Standings

Let’s take a look at the Big 10 standings with just one weekend left. 

 

Team W L T Pct. W L T Pct.
Michigan
23
4
0
.852
38
11
0
.776
Purdue
18
9
0
.667
27
22
0
.551
Illinois
15
12
0
.556
29
20
0
.592
Penn State
15
13
0
.536
24
27
0
.471
Ohio State
13
13
0
.500
27
22
0
.551
Northwestern
13
15
0
.464
20
25
0
.444

Michigan State
12
14
0
.462
24
24
0
.500
Indiana
11
17
0
.393
23
28
0
.451

Minnesota
8
19
0
.296
18
33
0
.353

Iowa
8
20
0
.286
20
31
0
.392

Illinois maintains its third place spot (just barely) only one-half game ahead of Penn State and 1 1/2 ahead of Ohio State.  They will need a sweep of Purdue this weekend to take over second place and get the bye in the tournament.

Michigan has now clinched the home berth for the tourney making things easy for those who make travel arrangements, I’m sure. 

It will be a tight race between Northwestern, Indiana and Michigan State for the last two spots.  Michigan State was knocked out of the tourney qualification in the last regular season game by Illinois last year.  I’ll bet MSU will do everything in their power to see that doesn’t happen again. 

On thing that might help the Spartans… Northwestern’s schedule.  They have the pleasure (?) of playing Michigan this weekend. 

All this said, it’s anyone’s game (except sadly for their fans, Indiana, Minnesota, and Iowa; they’re mathematically eliminated).  On the other hand, Purdue and Michigan fans can rest easy, their teams are in it.

Some Big Ten Leaders

Right now, Illinois has 3 hitters in the top ten in batting average in the Big Ten.  That would be Kyle Hudson (.409), Daniel Webb (.404) and Brandon Wikoff (.397).  Hudson also leads the conference in on-base percentage (.515), and runs scored (57).  Wikoff is fourth in rbis with 56.

Big Ten leaderboard

Some Big Ten baseball links

First, thanks to Brian Foley from The College Baseball Blog for reminding me to update everyone on the Michigan-Mets game.  It looks like Michigan gave the big boys a run for the money.  The game ended in a 4-4 tie complete with a David Wright homer.  The Wolverines were out away from a 4-2 victory until Michael Abreu hit a two-run homer.

And something you don’t see every day, the game was umpired by a crew of four women.  One of the umpires was named, appropriately enough, Theresa Fairlady. 

Also, it’s a long time coming but I’ve added three blogs to the blogroll.  These three blogs are all websites that cover Big Ten baseball teams.  The Buckeye Nine is covering the Ohio State team and already has good contact with the team.  Read their Q&A of Buckeye pitcher Dan DeLucia. 

Happy Valley Hardball is a new blog covering Penn State baseball.  Happy Valley is working overtime spitting out stats, RPI figures, you name it not just for Penn State for other Big Ten teams as a whole, too. 

Finally, The National Anthem Before A Cubs Game is a multi-sport blog but they do cover a lot of Minnesota Gopher baseball.  They’re not new (they’ve been around for years) but they’re new to me. 

A quick look at the Big Ten Schedule

The Big Ten Network has the full Big Ten baseball schedule for the 2008 season. 

Penn State kicks off the Big Ten season this year as they have a Thursday game next week against High Point.  Then on Friday, it’s game on as all ten teams play.  For those not in the know, Wisconsin does not have a baseball team.  Welcome to Big Ten baseball… where Big Ten actually means Big Ten.

Some tough outings… Minnesota will battle #6 Tulane on March 1.  Penn State will take on #1 Miami on March 11.  Iowa will have home field advantage against #7 Nebraska.  And well, anyone playing Michigan. 

Looking ahead, Big Ten fans should block out May 21-24 on their calendar.  That’s when the Big Ten tournament will occur.  Of course, the place is TBA.  The host will be determined by the standings. 

Big Ten Hardball reviews Illinois

Zealot friend Brian DeCaussin from the excellent site Big Ten Hardball takes a turn at reviewing the University of Illinois squad. 

He does a quite thorough job.  His take on the Illini?

The good thing for Illinois is that outside of Michigan, the remainder of the conference appears to be very close. The hunch here is the Illini finish in the middle of the pack in 2008. However, if McMurray and Chmielewski explode onto the Big Ten scene, all bets are off.

Read Brian’s full review at Big Ten Hardball.

My final thoughts on the Big Ten Tournament

Shawn Roof and me

Let me first say I had a fantastic time. This was my second Big Ten Tournament and the first time I’ve traveled to see the Illini baseball team play.

Every Illinois fan wishes they could have won the tournament but all things considered, I thought they played well. They were able to defeat a tough Iowa team in the first round and stay around for that much longer (hey, longer than #1 seed Michigan).

It was good to finally meet Brian DeCaussin in person. He and I have been in contact all year via email and phone. I’ve already said enough good things about his web site Big Ten Hardball so I won’t belabor the point. Just check it out.

It was definitely a highlight to meet so many parents of the Illini players. I was honored when some of them knew of The Baseball Zealot and enjoy the postings and pictures. Lars Davis’ mom says that between Big Ten Hardball and The Baseball Zealot, it’s the only way she gets news about her son because, “Lars doesn’t tell me anything.”

Well, he doesn’t tell me anything either but I try to get some good pictures of him in action when I can.

All in all, it was good to be around good baseball. The one thing I like about college baseball is the intimacy of the ballparks. I don’t see a game from the nosebleed section. Rather, I can see it from up close and I can hear it. Sometimes I can even smell it. Note: The Ohio State Buckeyes wore their unwashed jerseys on Sunday, perhaps for luck. I’m sure I could have smelled it then.

Anyway, I’m sold. When the Illini make the tournament in 2008, I’ll be there.

By the way, thanks to Shawn for taking the time to pose in the picture with me. It was 20 minutes after their loss and they were all headed out on the bus. I’m sure he had other things to do and other things (like the loss) on his mind but he took the time. It meant a lot.

Ohio State Buckeyes champion of Big Ten Tournament

Some years, the Big Ten tournament champion is determined by Saturday night. In this strange year of one tough team in the loser’s bracket plus dealing with Mother Nature rearing her ugly head, three teams were still in the mix on Sunday morning.

Unfortunately, I was on my way home on the train. Thanks to Brian DeCaussin from Big Ten Hardball who phoned me while I was headed home with the results.

Picking up where we left off Saturday, Minnesota and Penn State continued their suspended game from the afternoon before. Minnesota had just given up the lead before the suspension was called and PSU had the advantage 3-2. The Golden Gophers came ready to play and tied the game in the ninth. Two innings later, they scored the winning run on a rbi double by Jeremy Chlan.

Chlan pinch hit in the ninth and sacrificed the tying run to second and stayed in the game, by the way. Funny how those things, work out.

Minnesota wins 4-3

That eliminated Penn State. I’m sure there were a lot of fervent PSU fans out there who were probably very heartbroken. And I got to give the Penn State team a lot of credit. They had a lot of heart losing their very first game then coming this far.

That said, Minnesota and Ohio State had a championship game to play. Ohio State was playing for the Tournament title and Minnesota was simply playing for the right to play Ohio State again.

By this time, there was another rain delay. Once they got started, it was 2:25. Ohio State had better win or they be playing till midnight.

Actually, that was exactly what happened. All the fears (on both sides) of depleted pitching were for naught as Cory Luebke came on for the Buckeyes and pitched brilliantly allowing only 2 runs in 7 innings.

If it were any other day, Gary Perinar’s performance would be pretty good, too. He allowed 3 runs on 7 innings. But dang if that one extra run made the difference.

Minnesota came back to tie the game after the Buckeyes scored two in the first. It wasn’t till the eighth when the Gophers put together a rally consisting of two singles and a double. The Buckeyes didn’t sit quietly. With two on, pinch hitter Michael Arp hit a double that broought both runners home.

Buckeyes win 4-2.

Ohio State win the Big Ten Tournament!

Sports Columnist enjoying the Tournament

During today’s Penn State-Minnesota game at the Big Ten baseball tournament, I saw someone who looked very familiar. I nudged Brian from Big Ten Hardball, who was sitting next to me and said, “Isn’t that Jon Saraceno from USA Today? It sure looks like him.”

We discussed it and decided that no, it couldn’t be. USA Today wouldn’t be sending someone as big as Saraceno to cover something like the Big Ten Tournament. So I dismissed it.

Later we found out that indeed, it was him. He was there to watch his son who plays on the Penn State baseball team. So I decided to go over and talk to him.

I’m glad I did. He seemed like a really friendly guy. His son is the backup catcher on the Nittany Lions and he pointed him out. He noticed my Illini hat and noted that his wife was a University of Illinois grad,

A few jokes about USA Today not sending him to cover the tournament and then I asked if I could take his picture. He graciously said yes.

Thanks, Jon!