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.