Buckeye Nine Tournament Central

Three Big Ten Teams Earn Bid to NCAA Championship

2009-05-25T13:34:00.002-04:00

Bracket

Indiana, Minnesota and Ohio State selected to 2009 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship

PARK RIDGE, Ill. – Indiana, Minnesota and Ohio State all received invitations to the 2009 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship, the NCAA announced on Monday. This year’s field marks the second time in the last three years the Big Ten has placed three teams in the bracket.

Indiana earned the conference’s automatic bid after capturing the 2009 Big Ten Baseball Tournament title on Saturday. The Hoosiers are making their second NCAA appearance overall and the program’s first since 1996. Indiana is the No. 4 seed in the Louisville Regional and will open competition with the host Cardinals (44-15) on Friday. Indiana enters NCAA action with a 32-25 overall record and finished third in the Big Ten standings with a 16-7 mark during conference play.

The No. 2 seed in the Baton Rouge Regional, Minnesota is making its Big Ten-leading 29th NCAA appearance and earns the program’s sixth bid over the last 10 years. The Golden Gophers finished second in the Big Ten standings with a 17-6 record and enter regional competition with a 38-17 overall mark after advancing to the championship contest of the Big Ten Tournament. Minnesota faces No. 3 Baylor on Friday in the first round of regional play.

Ohio State earns its 19th trip to the NCAA Championship and its sixth in the last nine years. The Big Ten Champion Buckeyes posted an 18-6 mark during conference action and enter regional play with a 40-17 overall mark. Ohio State is the No. 3 seed in the Tallahassee Regional, and will open NCAA action on Friday against second-seeded Georgia (37-22).

The opening weekend of the NCAA Championship features 16 four-team regionals playing double-elimination format. Regional play runs from May 29-June1, with the 16 winners advancing to super regionals. The eight two-team super regional sites will be determined on Monday, June 1, with play scheduled for June 5-7 or June 6-8 in a best-of-three series. The Men’s College World Series will take place June 13-23, at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Neb.

The complete NCAA Championship bracket can be found by clicking the link at the top of the story.

Louisville Regional
#1 Louisville (44-15) vs. No. 4 INDIANA (32-25)
#2 Middle Tennessee (43-16) vs. #3 Vanderbilt (34-25)

Tallahassee Regional
#1 Florida State (42-16) vs. #4 Marist (31-26)
#2 Georgia (37-22) vs. #3 OHIO STATE (40-17)

Baton Rouge Regional
#1 LSU (46-16) vs. #4 Southern (30-15)
#2 MINNESOTA (38-17) vs. #3 Baylor (29-24)

Buckeye Nine: Big Ten Tournament, the exclamation point on a great season

2009-05-24T12:37:00.009-04:00

As rock band Carolina Liar in their top 100 hit Show Me What I'm Looking For in the chorus belts "Oh lord I’ve been waiting for you.... show me what I'm looking for," no truer words can reflect the 2009 Big Ten baseball season.

Hardball fans around the Midwest have waited far too long for a spring such as one the one this Big Ten baseball season provided. The last four days at Huntington Park was the crowning event, a summation if you will, of two months in which the Big Ten saw the red-headed step child of the "big three" sports finally find a home at the family dinner table with welcomed arms. Even if baseball is still a foot shorter and 40 pounds lighter than its big brother's basketball and football, baseball hit a growth spurt and hopefully that gap narrows and narrows in the upcoming years.

The season started with Michigan and Indiana receiving the accolades, praise, and attention, with expectations of the Big Ten to produce another ho-hum season, one which would not receive any national merit. I mean we're talking Big Ten, northern baseball, a joke compared to the south and west and the power conferences of the ACC, PAC-10, SEC right? Oh boy where those expectations wrong.

It was not Indiana, nor Michigan who week after week could be found in the baseball polls and various rankings. After the first weekend Ohio State went the entire year being ranked by at least one publication. The Buckeyes were not alone either. Illinois and Minnesota spent considerable teams in the top 30s of numerous publications. In fact the preseason favorite Wolverines would wind up being overwhelmed, limping to a 9-15 conference record, finishing 7th after back-to-back-to-back Big Ten conference championships.

Indiana after a slow start in non-conference play went through the Big Ten at a blistering pace. The Hoosiers finished Big Ten play with an 16-7 record, that's winning 70% of your games folks. The mindblower, that winning percentage only allowed the Hoosiers to finish THIRD in the conference as Minnesota went 17-6, and conference champion Ohio State 18-6. Oh and for good measure, Illinois made it four teams that finished within 2 games of first with a 16-8 record. The Illini won 2 of every 3 games and finished fourth. Remarkable.

Not only did the conference see its championship come down to the last day of the regular season, it had individual performances that rival and its probable top any performances the Big Ten has seen in decades. The run of brilliance started Michigan State's Nolan Moody as he would no-hit Northwestern on April 2nd. Moody's no-hitter was the first Big Ten game played in McLane stadium in East Lansing. What's better than a no-hitter? Two no hitters. The second conference no-hitter came courtesy Alex Wimmer's as the Buckeye would no-hit Michigan on May 4th in a 6-0 victory over the arch-rival Wolverines.

Not to take anything away from Moody as his performance, no not at all that is an incredible feat and needs not undermined. However the Wimmer's no-hitter had a special meaning to it.

-Unlike the Moody no-no, the Wimmer's performance was captured live on the Big Ten Network. And replayed again, and again, and again over the next few days. This was HUGE. Obviously Ohio State-Michigan regardless of sport has a certain ring no other rivalries have sorry IU-Purdue, Northwestern-Illinois, etc. People around the nation caught a glimpse at the talent the Big Ten has.

-The attention Wimmers received from national media members like Aaron Fitt, Kendal Rogers, and Eric Sorenson further put Ohio State and the Big Ten into the limelight and brought attention to the conference.

-It solidified Ohio State as a team that can truly beat any in the nation. The Bucks had a high ranking but not many had seen them or really paid attention to them.

-Lastly it would kickstart a heated competition and race for the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year with Indiana's Eric Arnett who at the time had a sub-2.00 ERA and seemingly was throwing complete games in every start making opposing schools look like high school JV teams. The two shared Big Ten pitcher of the week honors for the weekend of April 9th as they before threw complete games, striking out 11 in the process. This wouldn't be the only award they would share.

Also in the string of incredible individual performances Minnesota's Derek McCallum belt 6 home runs and 20 RBI in a single week. That is some players entire year. Over the last two weekends Ohio State's Justin Miller carried the Buckeyes to the conference championship hitting .576 going 15-for-26 being the only conference player to receive back-to-back Big Ten Player of the Week honors. Amazing performance were seemingly produced weekly by Illinois' Brandon Wikoff and Willie Argo, or Indiana's Alex Dickerson, Josh Phegley, Michigan's Chris Fetter or Ryan LaMarre, Purdue with Brandon Haveman and Dan Black. Week after week a different star in the Big Ten would step up and put on a show.

The Big Ten will litter All American lists over the next few weeks. With co-Big Ten Pitchers of the Year Arnett and Wimmers leading the way, Phegley, Burkhart, McCallum, Fetter, Wikoff, Dickerson, and Ohio State's Jake Hale surely to be included. Not even mentioned have been the amazing season's by Michigan State's Eric Roof, Ohio State's Ryan Dew, Illinois' Dominic Altobelli, Indiana's Kipp Schultz and Matt Bashore.

I haven't witnessed a Big Ten season with as many stars and gaudy performances on a consistent basis. The talent in the Big Ten is starting to build and people are starting to recognize that. Though stars like Arnett, Bashore, Phegley, Hale, and McCallum are expected to be drafted and move on, Dickerson, Burkhart, and Wimmers are underclassmen just scratching the surface and will return.

Amazing performances, great teams, and a heated battle for the conference crown would be more than enough to make the season special. Not so fast my friends. For the first time since 1994 the Big Ten went to a pre-determined site for the conference tournament, and it'll probably be another 15 seasons before they make a change to that format.

Taking place at brand new Huntington Park in downtown Columbus, Ohio. The Big Ten hosted a conference tournament that surpasses anything the conference has seen to date. To be quite honest, the actual games let a lot to be desired, only one game, Ohio State-Illinois had any sense of drama and that ended with a Ohio State 3-run victory. Indiana scorched the field tallying 47 runs in 4 games, allowed just 10.

The Hoosiers secured a berth in the NCAA tournament, a field that will see three Big Ten schools competing. That ties the most teams the Big Ten will see in a NCAA Regional, the last time occurring in 2007, that courtesy 6th seed Ohio State winning the Big Ten Tournament and gaining the auto-bid otherwise it would not have occurred.

The 2009 NCAA tournament will see three 3 Big Ten schools with better than solid chances of making noise and further putting the Big Ten on the college baseball map. By all means a 4th Big Ten team, Illinois should be in the field, but the numbers will unfortunately leave the Illini out of the mix. That is a team that did travel down to top-5 LSU and take 2/3 against the Tigers in the Bayou and deserves a bid, but that's an argument for a different day. Ohio State's Bob Todd echoed my thoughts saying “I really believe that, as you take a look at the Big Ten Conference, that we have four teams that are very deserving (of an NCAA Tournament berth), and Illinois is one of those teams.”

After a 2008 season with 1 regional team, 3 is more than a step in the right direction.

Back to the tournament.

The 2009 Big Ten Baseball Tournament drew a total of 12,219 fans over a four-day period, marking the conference’s highest overall attendance number in at least the past decade. The previous high in that span was 6,728, set in 1999 when Ohio State hosted the tournament at Bill Davis Stadium. The single-day high for the 2009 event was 4,575, set on Thursday, marking the largest total in at least the past decade. The single-day mark exceeds the previous high of 3,012, also set in 1999. To better look into the record books will probably show very few tournaments put more butts in seats than this one.

Outside of just the attendance, the operation was ran at a first class rate. Big Ten official, Huntington Park, and the Greater Columbus Sports Commission official did not miss one aspect in putting on the event. Media was treat exceptionally. Fans witnessed baseball in a beautiful, amazing ball park. In large part due to the hometown Buckeyes, the atmosphere and excitement in the air was alive and well during the primetime Thursday and Friday games. The collective joy and anticipation from Hoosier nation made Saturday's lack of attendance fairly moot.

Day after day coaches and players would rave about their experience and what the tournament felt like.

In a brief statement after being eliminated in a tough loss, Purdue's Brandon Haveman would say about the tournament “The facilities are really nice. The playing field was really nice. I had a great time." His sentiments were not alone.

Ohio State's Cory Kovanda also after elimination would say “It was exciting. It was a new atmosphere for us, a different atmosphere than Bill Davis. Of course it was great to see all the Ohio State fans out there, but that was real fun.”

Indiana's Kipp Schultz would say the following at the conclusion of the tournament “From the facilities and everything else to how we were treated by staff, I certainly can’t imagine a conference tournament that was run better than this one.”

Each head coach after their last game made it an issue to thank the Big Ten, Huntington Park, and the Greater Columbus Sports Commission for the show they put on. Be it Purdue's Doug Schreiber, Indiana's Tracy Smith, Minnesota's John Anderson, Michigan State's Jake Boss Jr., Illinois Dan Hartleb, and Ohio State's Bob Todd, there was a genuine and honest appreciation and wow effect of the tournament.

Every game was played lived on the Big Ten Network and replayed throughout the day. Though the shining moments from an audience perspective would have been the two evening games with Ohio State playing drawing 4,000+, each game showed the Big Ten's step in the right direction. The Big Ten will probably not see 3 of it's schools in the Omaha field of 8 at the College World Series, but its not ridiculous for a team to dream of such a trip and to achieve it. A spectacular season, a spectacular tournament and spectacular goals are alive and well in the Big Ten. That folks is what I've been looking for, and oh lord I've been waiting for it.

The Buckeye Nine would like to thank everyone for their support of Ohio State an Big Ten Baseball and hopes the Big Ten can truly grow from this season.

Indiana Baseball Wins Big Ten Tournament Championship

2009-05-24T11:22:00.005-04:00

Photo courtesy The Buckeye Nine
Recap courtesy Indiana Athletics

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Indiana baseball team finished off its Big Ten Tournament run in familiar fashion, upending No. 2 seed Minnesota 13-2 in the Tournament Championship Game on Saturday night. It is the first tourney title for IU since 1996 and the second in school history. The Hoosiers also earned the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Indiana won all four of its games in decisive fashion, outscoring its opponents 47-9 during the tournament. The Hoosiers delivered at least 15 hits in every game and limited its opposition to just 26 hits throughout the tourney. Junior pitcher Matt Bashore was named the Tournament's Most Valuable Player after throwing a seven-inning shutout performance against Minnesota in the second round of the tourney.

He was not alone on the All-Tournament team from the Hoosiers, as Eric Arnett, Vince Gonzalez, Jake Dunning, Kipp Schutz and Alex Dickerson joined him on the honored squad. Freshman hurlers Blake Monar and Matt Igel also had quality starts for the Hoosiers in earning victories during the tourney.

On Saturday, it was Igel who threw well in giving IU a victory. The freshman surrendered just four hits and two runs, striking out one in five innings of work. Chris Squires pitched the final four innings of the ballgame to collect his eighth save of the season. The junior surrendered two hits and two walks, striking out four during his outing.

Offensively, Chris Hervey was the star, going 3-for-4 with four RBI. Dunning (3-for-3) and Dickerson (3-for-5) joined him in the three-hit club, as every member of the starting lineup hit safely in the game and every player scored a run for the Hoosiers. Brian Lambert scored three times to lead the way in that category.
Indiana struck first with a pair of unearned runs in the top of the second inning. Gonzalez drew a one-out walk and Lambert was hit by a pitch to put a pair of runners on. Tyler Rogers followed by hitting a grounder to third, but it was mishandled by third baseman Kyle Geason and all runners were safe to load the bases. Dunning then delivered a sac fly to make it 1-0 and Hervey followed by ripping a liner to the right-center field gap. Lambert came around to score on the play, but Rogers, who was trying to stop rounding third, got hung up on his way to the plate to end the inning.

In the third inning the two teams traded solo home runs to make the score 3-1. Sabourin got the first of the longballs, as he smashed a ball off the right-field foul pole for his sixth homer of the season. In the bottom of the frame, it was the Big Ten's leading hitter Derek McCallum blasting his 17th round-tripper over the center-field wall to put the Golden Gophers on the board.

In the top of the fourth, the Hoosiers came through with another big number, putting four runs on the board to make it 7-1. With one out on the board, Lambert and Rogers delivered consecutive hits to put runners on first and second. Dunning then came to bat and dropped down a perfect bunt to third. Geason barehanded it and tried to gun Dunning down at first, but his throw careened into the Gopher bullpen to score both Lambert and Rogers and move Dunning all the way to third.

With the score now at 5-1, Hervey followed with a single to left field that plated Dunning for run number six. Sabourin delivered Indiana's fifth straight base hit, ripping a single to center, and Eric Decker mishandled it to allow Hervey to move to third. Phegley then scored the seventh run of the contest for IU on a sac fly to right.

Igel surrendered just his second run of the ballgame in the bottom of the fifth, when Minnesota got a leadoff single and a walk to put two runners on with nobody out. Igel then got leadoff hitter Matt Nohelty to bounce into a brilliantly turned double play by Dunning to put a runner at third with two down, but AJ Pettersen scored him on a bunt single to make it 7-2.

The Hoosiers tacked on four more scores in the top of the seventh. Three singles in the frame helped plate the runs, with the key blow being a two-run single by Hervey that made it 11-2. Rogers also helped IU score a run with a bases-loaded hit by pitch and Lambert scored on a wild pitch in the inning as well. The Hoosiers tacked on two more insurance runs in the eighth on a two-run double to left center by Schutz that made it 13-1.

Indiana will now play in its first NCAA Regional since 1996 next weekend at a campus site that is yet to be determined. The NCAA selection show is scheduled for Monday at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN. Stay tuned to IUHoosiers.com for all the latest on Indiana's trip to the 2009 NCAA Tournament.

Indiana University Athletics

Box Score

Big Ten Network: Championship Game video and reactions

2009-05-24T11:02:00.001-04:00

Highlights

Reaction

Indiana coach Tracy Smith

On winning the team’s first Big Ten Tournament championship since 1996:
“I am very pleased, obviously, for our guys. I just said to our seniors to think about where we were four years ago. And we talked about what a neat experience it will be to play in a regional and I am very glad these guys will get to experience that because they have worked very hard for it.”

On qualifying for the NCAA Tournament:
“It is awesome to go to a (regional), but I told the kids to don’t think for a second that we can’t get to the ultimate thing (the College World Series). The kids we throw out 1-2 (Arnett and Bashore) are as good as anybody in the country, and the way we are playing as a team right now and the way we are swinging the bats, anything is certainly possible.”

On the performance of Blake Monar and Matt Igel:
“We waited for a long time for two guys to step up and we got that out of them this weekend. And the neat thing about it is, they are both freshman. We wouldn’t be where we are right now if those guys didn’t do a good job shutting down good baseball teams.”

Senior outfielder Chris Hervey

On winning the Big Ten Tournament:
“I have been here for four years and I have seen the best of the best and the worst of the worst. It is a testament to our players that we can get here and play so well. We kept our eye on the goal and we worked hard to get there.”

On the tournament experience:
“From the facilities and everything else to how we were treated by staff, I certainly can’t imagine a conference tournament that was run better than this one.”

On fan support:
“We are sports fans in Indiana and we wanted a team to cheer and we are that team.”

Minnesota coach John Anderson

Opening comments:

“First of all, I would like to congratulate Indiana University on winning the tournament championship. They deserved to win the championship because they played excellent baseball for four days on all facets of the game. They should be commended for that.”

On his team's experience in the tournament:
“I'm extremely proud of our guys that after a difficult loss against an outstanding pitcher Thursday that we were able to bounce back and find the energy and the competitiveness and the determination to try to fight our way back in this thing. To me, that was impressive. I have no regrets. I couldn't be prouder of them.”

On fighting through the loser’s bracket to reach the championship game
“If you look at our team, we played consistently well all year long. I don't think you can play consistently well all year long, unless you can weather some of the storms that come up in the course of the individual games, weekends and series as the year goes along and I think they have a tremendous ability to stay focused and not get to far ahead of themselves and the ability to bounce back and get ready for the next opportunity and not get stuck on what happen. This group has been unbelievable to forgive themselves and move on.”

Bloomington Herald Times: IU pounds Gophers to win Big Ten (Tournament)

2009-05-24T10:57:00.000-04:00

Hoosiers advance to NCAA Tournament for first time since 1996 with 13-2 win

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Indiana’s bats had become almost a given at the Big Ten Baseball Tournament this weekend.

But getting the pitching performance it did out of Matt Igel Saturday had to be a treat.

Igel limited Minnesota to two runs over five innings in his first start of the season, and Indiana pounded out 18 more hits to rout the Gophers, 13-2, to win the tournament and advance to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1996.

Igel followed outstanding efforts in the first three games by Indiana starters Eric Arnett, Matt Bashore and Blake Monar by allowing just four hits and getting defensive help with three double plays. Closer Chris Squires took over to start the sixth with a 7-2 lead and pitched four innings of two-hit ball.

“We waited for a long time for two guys to step up, and we got that out of them this weekend,” Indiana coach Tracy Smith said. “And the neat thing about it is (Igel and Monar) are both freshman. We wouldn’t be where we are right now if those guys didn’t do a good job shutting down good baseball teams.”

Indiana (32-25) racked up 67 hits and outscored its opponents 47-9 in the four-game run to the title. Along the way, the third-seeded Hoosiers knocked off No. 6 seed Purdue, top-seeded Ohio State and No. 2 seed Minnesota — twice.

“It is a testament to our players that we can get here and play so well,” said lead-off hitter Chris Hervey, who drove in four runs. “We kept our eye on the goal and we worked hard to get there.”

Hervey singled in the second run in the top of the second as the Hoosiers jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Gopher starter Austin Lubinsky (3-1).

Jerrud Sabourin led off the third with his sixth homer of the season to make it 3-0.

Minnesota (38-17) got one back in the bottom half on Derek McCallum’s solo shot to center, but Indiana took control with four more runs in the fourth.

With one out, Brian Lambert and Tyler Rogers hit back-to-back singles to put runners on first and second. Jake Dunning laid down a bunt that Gopher third baseman Kyle Geason fielded but threw wildly to first, allowing Lambert and Rogers to score and Dunning to reach third. Hervey followed with an RBI single to chase Lubinsky, and Josh Phegley later knocked Hervey in with a sacrifice fly to make it 7-1.

Indiana blew the game open with four more in the seventh. Dunning was hit with the bases loaded, Lambert scored on a wild pitch and Hervey capped the inning with a two-run single that made it 11-2.

Kipp Schutz added a two-run single in the eighth as every Hoosier got a hit, including three each by Hervey, Dunning and Alex Dickerson.

Minnesota was playing its second game of the day after knocking off the Buckeyes, 9-6, to make it out of the losers’ bracket in the double elimination tournament.

“We basically played four nine-inning games in the last 24 hours,” Minnesota coach John Anderson said. “That’s not an easy task. For what our kids accomplished, I’m impressed.”

Now the Hoosiers await the draw for the NCAA Tournament, where anything can happen.

“It is awesome to go to a (regional), but I told the kids to don’t think for a second that we can’t get to the ultimate thing (the College World Series),” Smith said. “The kids we throw out 1-2 (Arnett and Bashore) are as good as anybody in the country, and the way we are playing as a team right now, and the way we are swinging the bats, anything is certainly possible.”

Bloomington Herald Times

2009 Big Ten All Tournament Team

2009-05-24T00:21:00.008-04:00

C Dan Burkhart OSU
1B Nick O'Shea Minn
2B Derek McCallum Minn
SS Jake Dunning Indiana
3B Vince Gonzalez Indiana
OF Eric Decker Minnesota
OF Kipp Schultz Indiana
OF Pete Cappetta Illinois
DH Alex Dickerson Indiana
P Eric Arnett Indiana
P Matt Bashore Indiana
P Tom Buske Minnesota

Most Outstanding Player: Bashore

I voted for Purdue's Brandon Haveman in the OF and Dan Black at 3B. Also placed Michigan State's Eric Roof at C on my ballot. McCallum was my MOP, but you can't argue with Bashore.

Buckeyes Eliminated by Gophers 9-6

2009-05-23T20:55:00.007-04:00

Photo courtesy the-ozone.net

-Matt Brown
COLUMBUS- With their Big Ten Tournament hopes on the line, the Ohio State Buckeyes came up just short.

Eric Decker went 4-4 with 4 RBI and a home run, Derek McCallum continued his strong tourney performance with 2 RBI, and Scott Fern got stops when he needed them as the Minnesota Golden Gophers outlasted Ohio State 9-6.

The Gophers didn’t waste any time getting to Ohio State’s Eric Best, tagging him for 4 runs on 6 hits in the first inning. Nohelty lead off the game with a single, then advanced to second off an error from an aborted pickoff attempt from Eric Best.

McCallum doubled him home, and later scored from a 2 run double from Nick O’Shea.

Ohio State started the 1st inning with 5 consecutive singles to get back to within one, but left runners on second and third. The Buckeyes tied the game in the bottom of the second being an RBI single from outfielder Michael Stephens, but struggled mightily to string together hits the rest of the game. Minnesota’s Scott Fern was far from dominant, scattering 8 hits and 4 runs over 4 and a third, but he was able to retire enough batters to prevent Ohio State from gaining momentum.

The Gophers added a run in the 5th, two in the 6th and a final insurance run in the 7th inning, behind the strong hitting of Eric Decker. Big Ten Player of the Year Dan Burkhart added a home run in the 7th for the Buckeyes, but it wasn’t enough. Despite the partisan, pro-Buckeye crowd at Huntington Park, Ohio State was never able to seriously threaten Minnesota after the Gophers regained the lead in the 3rd inning.

Despite the loss, Ohio State expects to continue their season next week. Armed with a #23 ranking and a 40 win regular season, Ohio State’s resume looks to be strong enough to warrant an at-large selection for the post season. Ohio State will learn if they received a bid, and where they will play, on Monday.

Ohio State wasn’t resting on their laurels though. “We came in not relying on the Big Ten championship [to get the team into the NCAA tournament],” said Burkhart. “We came into this tournament playing to win.”

Stephens and Cory Kovanda led the Buckeyes with three hits apiece, and Ryan Dew added two more and an RBI. Matt Nohelty added three hits for the Golden Gophers, along with his 6th stolen base of the Big Ten Tournament, a record. The Buckeyes also committed three errors.

Indiana Big Ten Tournament Champs

2009-05-23T20:44:00.003-04:00

Lots to come. Hoosiers win 13-3 securing their first BTT championship and NCAA berth since 1996

Live Blog May 23rd

2009-05-23T14:15:00.112-04:00

2:16-Another absolutely perfect day outside for the first game today, featuring the #2 seed Minnesota and the #1 seed Ohio State. The victor gets a rematch against Indiana at 7:05 (the Hoosiers crushed both of these teams in the first meeting). The loser goes home.

Minnesota will be having Fern pitch tonight. Their lineup will be Nohelty, Pettersen, McCallum, Kvasnicka, Knudson, O'Shea, Decker, Gominsky and Geason.

Ohio State will be throwing Eric Best. Their lineup will be Hurby, Kovanda, Stephens, Burkhart, Drew, Miller, Arp, Engle and Streng

Another note to consider in the "should we continue to host the Big Ten tournament at Huntington Park" discussion. Through three days, 9,429 fans have come through the turnstiles. According to the Big Ten, that three-day total is the highest *total* attendance number in more than a decade. 6,728 came when the event was at Ohio State's Bill Davis stadium in 1999. Over 5,000 attended at Michigan's Ray Fisher last year, which was the 3rd highest total since 1999. This is also the first neutral site for the tournament in 15 years.

Not sure how many people we'll be getting here tonight, but I think it is already safe to say that as far as putting fans in the seats, Huntington Park has been a great success. Feel free to comment your thoughts. Should they host it here again? What about at other minor league parks (like Dayton, Ft.Wayne, etc).

2:47- Here are some more random thoughts before game time:
Minnesota has won at least one game now in their last 16 tournament appearances, and at least twice in their last 8. They have also faced Ohio State at least once in their last 8 appearances. For what its worth though, Ohio State has a 16-13 record against the Gophers in tournament play.

-Matt Nohelty's 4 stolen bases tie three other players for the most in a single Big Ten tournament.

-McCallum's homer against Purdue gave him 16 on the season, which is the 5th most in school history, and most by a Golden Gopher since 1999.

-Ohio State is only hitting .281 so far in the tournament, with a measly two extra base hits. OSU opponents are hitting .307

-The Bucks have yet to go yard here in Huntington Park. They are 29-3 when they hit a home run. Watch for that today.

2:58, They opened the gates a few min ago, and the crowd is sort of trickling in. I don't expect to get a showing anything like we saw for the last two Buckeye games, although they should still have the crowd advantage. The Gopher fans, while small in number, have certainly made themselves heard so far...but it looks like there are fewer and fewer of them each game.

Also, I just went and stood at the Hamburger Balcony. It was everything I hoped it would be.

3:13- The Big Ten Network boys are giving their pregame broadcast right above me. I feel a little sorry for them, since they have to wear those suits and have those bright spotlights next to them. They must be burning up.

3:18-I'm checking over some of the team stats right now. Ohio State is near the bottom of just about every offensive category. Only 10 runs scored, 21 total bases (Minny has 57), a .328 slugging percentage, 9 RBIs (Minny has 24), etc etc.

Granted, the Buckeyes have only played 2 games so far, and Minny has three, but the bats will have to do a better job if Ohio State hopes to be playing again today (or tomorrow).

3:25- Dippin' Dots sound really good right now. I wonder where is the closest place I could buy some.

They've been saying Dippin Dots are going to be the Ice Cream of the Future for about as long as I've been alive...whats the deal? Can you buy them in grocery stores, or can you only get them for 4 bucks at baseball games, amusement parks or state fairs? I gotta tell you...so far, the future has been a disappointment. No flying cars, and dippin dots have yet to make the big time. (Chris)

3:37 Matt Nohelty leading off the gamne. He leads off the game with a single.
Terrible pickoff throw by Best advances nohelty to 2nd.
Petterson flies out to shower center.
McCallum rips a double to center, scoring Nohelty. 1-0 Golden Gophers. The small Gopher faithful are on their feet. I think there are maybe 1,000 people here, but most obviously are for the Buckeyes.
Kvasnicka grounds to a fielders choice. McCallum is gunned down trying to get to third. One on, 2 outs
Knudson rips a single right up the middle. Runners on 1st and 2nd for Nick O'Shea
Nick O'Shea doubles everybody in. 3-0 Gophers. Rough start so far for Best. buncha hits and that ugly error.
Eric Decker gets a bloop single to drop, scoring O'Shea. 4-0.
Gominsky hits a sharp grounder to short, but Engle couldn't get a throw off. 2nd and 1st, two outs for Geason.
Greason strikes out. 4 runs, 6 hits and one buckeye error later, the top half of the first is over. Best is not looking so great. I think he topped out at 85 MPH, and wasn't showing a lot of confidence out there.

3:55 Zach Hurley leading off, and stars things off right with a first pitch single to center
Kovanda singles in a perfect Hit n Run. Runners on the corners for Stephens.
Three straight singles for the Buckeyes. 1st and 2nd, and the Bucks get on the board. 4-1 Gophers.
Burkhart continues the hit parade with a deep single to left. 4-2, with runners on the corners. Those 1,000 people just made themselves very loud. Dew up. We're calling the Hamburger Balcony right here.

3:58, no balcony, but the 5th straight single for the Buckeyes...and the Gophers are having a mound conference for Fern. 4-3, runners on 1st and 2nd for Miller.

Miller Sac fly advances a runner. 1st and 3rd, one out for Arp. Wild pitch advances the runner to second. Pitching conference again. Arp swing and a miss for strike three. Engle batting....and Engle sitting, for another strike out. Big opportunity lost there. Great hitting, but you just can't leave runners in scoring position, 'specially if your pitching is going to give up 6 hits an inning.

4:07 Nohelty back up, and flies out to deep left field. One away.
Petterson walks on four straight pitches.
McCallum singles, Petterson to second.
Kvasnicka up. Man, if I covered the Gophers every single day, I still wouldn't be able to spell Kvansnicka. Kvansnicka is robbed of extra bases by a great catch in left field. Runners hold, two away for Knudson.
Engle with a great diving stop gets the force at 2nd, ending the inning. Great glovework by the Buckeyes to keep any more runs from scoring. Best looked a little better, but I think the Bucks better plan on scoring a lot today.

Had to retreat to the pressbox for a few, since my laptop needs charging. I don't really like reporting from here, since my view of the game is terrible and I have to practically watch it on TV. However, it does have AC, and I am that much closer to the bowl of pretzels. Zach Hurley is batting for the Buckeyes, one away.

Quick flyout, Kovanda up. Kovanda rips a sharp single right back up the middle. Stephens up now. Stolen base for Kovanda.

The crowd has started to fill out a little more. I am pretty bad at estimating this sort of thing, but there is comfortably more than 1,000 people...maybe 1,300? Not too shabby for a daytime game.

Stephens rips an RBI single, and now we're tied, 4-4. Burkhart flies to center to end the inning. One run, two hits, no errors and one left on. After 2, we have a tie game, 4-4.

4:27, top 3, and Nick O'Shea is batting. He's had quite a tournament so far...but Best strikes him out anyways.

Eric Decker just took Best yard (soooooo close to the Hamburger Balcony. 5-4 Gophers.

Gominsky smacks one deep, but is caught just before it bounces off the Hamburger Balcony. No, Wendys isn't paying for me for product placement...that just happens to be where the Gopphers keep hitting the ball. Two away. Geason flies out to end the inning. One hit, one run, no errors, nobody left on. 5-4 Minny

4:34 Arp batting, one on, one out. Wild pitch advances the runner, and the Minny crowd wants interference on Arp. The ball did kind of bounce off his foot...

Arp flies out, runner stays at second. Engle hitting. Engle can't beat out the throw after a grounder, and the inning is over. The 3rd inning is in the books, and the Golden Gophers lead the Buckeyes 5-4.

Matt Nohelty leading off for the 4th, and he knocks a single into left center. Best is still throwing for the Bucks. Petterson up now.

Petterson grounds up the middle...it should have been a double play ball, but the SS bobbles it, and everybody is safe. 2 on for the very dangerous Derek McCallum.

McCallum is called out at first after a short grounder, and he is not happy about it at all. The TV replay looks like he was out by about a foot. The runners advance though, so it was still a pretty productive at bat. 2 on for Kvansnicka.

Kvansicka flies out, and Stephens' throw keeps anybody from scoring.

Best is being replaced with #12 Drew Rucinski on the mound. Knudson up, and Knudson promptly back down after grounding out to Rucinski.

Bottom of the 4th coming up.

In other news, I am so freaking sick of the Clipper Credit Card song they play after every 4th inning here. It gets stuck in my head and I find myself singing it on the way home, much to the chagrin of everybody in my car.

4:53 Matt Streng up to back for the Buckeyes, and draws the walk...something we haven't seen too often from the Buckeyes this weekend.

Zach Hurley up now, runner on first. Hurley grounds into a double play. Two away for Kovanda, who flies out.

Pitchers are starting to settle down. Its about five o'clock heading into the 5th inning, with the Gophers clinging to a 5-4 lead.

O'Shea flies out to right to start the inning. Eric Decker up, who hommered his last time up. He's batting .375 against Ohio State this season. Decker draws a walk.

Gominsky up. Decker *just* steals second. Gominsky smacks a double to right, scoring Decker. 6-4 Minny now, with Geason up. Minny has a dangerous lineup. Geason grounds out, Nohelty up, and down, after a flyout. Time for the Buckeyes to string some hits together again. 6-4 Minny after 5 and a half.

In unrelated news, I think I've had three cups of pretzels, and i'm ready for something else. All the luxury boxes are unoccupied, but they still have fresh fruit and granola bars. I wonder how much trouble I would get in if I walked down there and stole a banana? (Clippers Officials, I said *wondered*, not *I will go right now*)

Stephens up for the Buckeyes. Fern is still pitching for the Golden Gophers. Stephens gets the party started with a sharp single up the middle. Burkart up next.

Crowd starting to really get into it now, spontaneously standing and cheering. Burkhart grounds to second, but Stephens is safe at second. One out, one on for Ryan Dew. Minny will take this opportunity to replace Fern with Luke Rasmussen. After a rough first inning, Fern settled down and gave the Gophers some solid innings.

Nice grab to rob Dew of a bloop single. Stephens stays at second, Miller up.
Miller takes it deep, but misses a home run by maybe 4 feet. The ball is caught, and the inning is over. At the end of five (at 5:20), Minny still is up 6-4

Petterson grounds out to first to lead off the top of the 6th inning. McCallum up. A GREAT catch in right field robs him of a hit. The buckeye defense has made a few errors today, but I think they have also made some pretty tough plays as well....overall, I think the balance is about equal.

Kvasnicka singles to right.

Knudson walks. None of those 5 pitches looked very good.

5:28 tough break for the buckeyes, after a few infield hits, Decker knocks in two more with an RBI single. 8-4 Gophers. The buckeyes have to stop the bleeding now before the game totally gets away from them.
Gominsky grounds into a fielders choice and the inning is over. 8 13 0 for Minn. 4 8 2 for OSU, heading into the bottom of the 6th. Ohio State needs a run in this inning badly, to start to establish somne 'mo with the bats. Since that first inning, they've been awfully quiet with the sticks.

Arp leading off for the Buckeyes, and he quickly strikes out. Arp has flat out not looked good at all. Engle eeks out a single.

Streng grounds into a fielders choice, Engle to second. Hurley needs to get a real, legit single right now. Hurley flies out to right. One hit, no runs, no errors, one left on. Heading into the 7th, Minny leads 8-4.

Geason grounds out to start the 7th inning. Matt Nohelty steals his 5th base of the tournament, setting a big ten record. AJ Petterson lays out a perfect bunt, and slides headfirst into first. Everybody is safe. 1st and 3rd, one out. With the way they're hitting, the Buckeyes CANNOT afford to give up any more runs.

McCallum hits a sac fly, scoring Nohelly. 9-4 Gophers, one on, 2 out. After a balk, the runner advances. I dunno if people are getting sleepy, of if it is the quality of play or what, but there is almost no energy in the park right now. Ohio State needs to do something and they need to do it fast. End of the inning. 9-4 Minny.

5:55 Maybe the 7th inning stretch will wake everybody up. From the looks of it though, everybody is just getting up to get more food.

Kovanda up. According to The College Baseball Blog, OSU is predicted to be in the Atlanta regional with Georgia Tech, Jacksonville and Georgia Southern. Interesting. Kovanda grounded out, and Stephens strikes out. Burkhart up now.

There is some controversy now. It looks like Burkhart hit a home run, but some of the umps are calling it a ground rule double. It looked to obviously be a home run to me, we'll see what the umps say after they confer. It hit the top of the yellow line. WHy hold him up at second? If that isn't a home run, isnt it a live ball?

After the conference, he gets the homer. 9-5 Minny. Hopefully thats the shot in the arm the Buckeyes needed.

Dew hits a solid single to left now. The crowd seems to have awoken a little. Lots of LETS GO BUCKS now. Miller grounds out though to end the rally.

Two innings left now for the Scarlet and Gray.
Minny 9 15 0
OSU 5 11 2

To the eighth we go!

Jake Hale taking the mound for Ohio State. That should keep Minny from scoring any more runs at least. Knudson leading off with a single.

O'Shea grounds into a double play. Eric Decker up, and he bunts himself on with an infield single, then advances on an error.

Gominsky strikes out to end the top half of the 8th. two hits, one error, one left on for the Golden Gophers.

6:13-Arp leading off. This dude needed a hit in the worst way, and he gets one with a single to right field.

Another single for Engle. 1st and 2nd, nobody out for Matt Streng. Minny pitcher and catcher are talking it over. Real big at bat here.

Scott Matyas comes into the game to pitch for Minny. Full count on Streng...then he strikes out swinging.

Hurley strikes out looking. Kovada needs an RBI here.

And he delivers! Clutch single there for Kovada. 1st and 2nd again, 2 outs for Stephens. 9-6. LETS GO BUCKS is being yelled everywhere.

Aaand Stephens quickly goes down swinging. Matyas was awfully strong that inning. 9-6 Minny heading into the ninth.

6:28 Geason goes down looking. Matt Nohelty up now, who grounds to short.

Pettersen is plunked in the back. McCallum now, who grounds to second.

Do or die time folks, because its the bottom of the ninth. THhe Golden Gophers still have a 9-6 lead.

6:35 Dan Burkhart leading off. If anybody can deliver a big hit today, its prob this guy.

Burkart flies out to shortstop. Ryan Dew up to the plate. Dew hits a nice shot, but its grabbed by the center fielder for out number two. Ohio State's chances for playing again tonight in front of their home crowd now rest on Justin Miller.

Miller smacks a shot to left field for a stand up double. Arp now up at the plate.

Arp is just kinda flailing at the ball right now. 0-2.

Arps pops up, and thats all she wrote folks. The Gophers get a rematch with Indiana in an hour for the Big Ten title. Ohio State is eliminated, and will wait to see where in the country they will be shipped for regional action.

It is hard to pin the blame on any one thing here. Outside of a few isloated innings, Ohio State never really hit particularly well. Of special concern was their inability to get extra base hits. Part of that could be chalked up to impatience at the plate. OSU didn't draw many walks, and swung at a *lot* of first pitches.

However, this loss isn't the end of the world. OSU wouldn't have had much pitching left for the Big Ten Final, and winning today was unlikely to change their seeding all that much. OSU now has a few extra days to hit the cages, rest up, and get ready for next week. So far, I think its been obvious that Indiana has the most to play for. OSU and Minny have spots basically locked up. Illinois might be on the wrong side of the bubble (bet they're rooting for the Gophers tonight!), but Indiana absolutely has to win tonight to extend their season.

Should be interesting to see what the crowd will be like for the title game, since Ohio State won't be around. I doubt we see any more than the two dozen or so (loud) Minnesota supporters show up, and Indiana didn't have a huge delegation either. What will the "curious baseball fan" market be?

Day 3 in the books, Championship Saturday is upon us

2009-05-23T13:02:00.005-04:00

Photo courtesy the-ozone.net

A lot occurred Friday at Huntington Park, of which I'll get to after I grab a quick lunch before I back down to the Arena District for day 4.

Most notably Indiana will be playing tonight at 7:05 in the Big Ten Tournament championship game. The Hoosier's are seeking a berth to the NCAA tournament for the second time in program history. The first being in 1996, the last and only time the Hoosiers won the Big Ten Tournament.

But before Indiana takes the field Minnesota and Ohio State will be playing at 3:35 to determine which team will take on Indiana, and which team will head home and wait for Monday's NCAA Tournament bracket release and find out where they will be playing at next weekend. For those unaware, Ohio State and Minnesota are not on the bubble and will be in the field of 64 tournament title or not.

Indiana's only hope is courtesy the auto-bid, which they are in solid position to gain having not lost yet in the double-elimination tournament. For Ohio State or Minnesota to win they will have needed to win 3 games in 24 hours. Two today and tomorrows winner takes all.

For today Ohio State will send Sunday starter Eric Best to the mound. Unlike Indiana and Minnesota the 3:35 game will be just Ohio State's third game in the tournament and they have the luxury of rolling out a weekend starter. It will be both Minnesota's and Indiana's fourth game of the week and not definite word on who will be on the mound for the Gophers and Hoosiers.

IU's coach Tracy Smith did mention ace Eric Arnett is available to pitch and depending on the situation, do not be surprised to see him on the mound at some point.

Day 3 box scores & post game comments

2009-05-23T10:50:00.005-04:00

Game 6 Minnesota 12 Purdue 3

Purdue coach Doug Schreiber

On Tom Buske's pitching:

“We really have to tip our hat to Buske. That's his second complete (game) on us on this year. It was a great performance as far as we had them on the ropes again in the first three innings. Again, we had a chance to probably have a little knock-down punch and didn't get it and then from there, we couldn't shut their offense down and he (Buske) came back strong and shut us down.”

On the tournament experience:

“Hopefully we can build off this experience. In your worst year, you hope that you finish sixth and get into the tournament. And, then, in one of your better years, you have a chance to compete for a championship. Again, we like to think of this as, not rock bottom, but it's not our goal to be the No. 6 seed and just making it to the tournament. We want keep building and keep trying to compete and win this thing.”

On Derek McCallum’s home run:
“We talked it about it before the game that if there was one guy that we didn't want to beat us – if we didn't have to have beat us – that was McCallum … but, again, tip your hat to him. He is a great hitter. He came up again in the clutch for them and Minnesota's a good team.”

Game 7 Minnesota 13 Illinois 4

Minnesota coach John Anderson:

On the win over Illinois:

“To advance in this tournament, No. 1, you need good starting pitching, and we had that today. No. 2, I was concerned about our team and how we lost our last game of the regular season and some of the travel we’ve been on and so on and so forth. I thought we lacked a little energy Wednesday and I talked to the team after the game about trying to find some of that energy and bring that to the ball park today and obviously we did that.”

On the team’s overall performance:

“I thought we played with great energy today, and in all phases of the game I thought we executed on offense, defense and pitching. I thought we looked like the Minnesota team I’ve see all season.”

Illinois coach Dan Hartleb

On chances of qualifying for NCAA Championship:

“The last few games we’ve been struggling, so if we can play hard I think we are a team that can play well at a regional and I think we can be a team that can go in and represent well. On the other hand, you have to finish strong and we did not do that, so we will have to wait and see. If the right teams win their conferences – those teams that are already in – then we might have an outside chance.”

Game 8 Indiana 13 Ohio State 3

Indiana coach Tracy Smith

On the win over Ohio State:

“As I said yesterday, it is so important to stay in the winner’s bracket. We knew Ohio State, with the crowd, was going to be a tough contest. But the pivotal play was the bases load, nobody out that we were able to get out of (in the fifth inning) and then we were able to score some runs.”

On his team’s chances to win the tournament:

“We are taking nothing for granted. I am glad our guys are confident and on a big roll, but it can all change in a hurry.”

On the performance of starter Blake Monar:

“One thing Blake did was he battled and he competed. That was not his best performance, but he battled and competed and he gave us a chance to win. We got what we needed out of him today.”

On the status of Eric Arnett:
“We will probably not start him, and a lot depends on the situation of the game. He has a bright future in this game and we want to be smart about it. But, rest assured, if the right situation presents itself you will see Arnett tomorrow.”

Ohio State coach Bob Todd

On his team’s performance:

“The game of baseball never ceases to amaze. I am not sure there is much I can positively say about our ballclub. I was not happy with the way we swung the bats, I was not happy with our defense, and there is not much to say about the way we pitched. But that is not to take anything away from Indiana, because they are one of the hottest teams in this tournament right now.”

On the team’s attitude heading into Saturday:

“We talked about it afterward and we have the mindset that we will do as well as we can to try and win this tournament. I am packing a lunch and plans to be here all day. Eric Best will start for us and we will do everything we can to play tomorrow night.”

Lafayette Journal & Courier: Gophers send Purdue baseball team home

2009-05-23T10:45:00.002-04:00

Lafayette Journal & Courier

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Minnesota collected 17 hits and eliminated Purdue from the Big Ten Baseball Tournament with a 12-3 victory Friday.

After Purdue jumped out to a 3-1 lead through three innings, Minnesota scored 11 unanswered runs over the next five innings to put an end to Purdue's season at 25-26.
Tom Buske (9-3) gave up just three hits over the final six innings to shut down Purdue.

Derek McCallum's 16th home run of the season, a three-run shot to right in the fourth, handed Minnesota the lead for good.

Brandon Haveman wrapped up his Boilermaker career by extending his hitting streak to 20 consecutive games. He was 3-for-5 with a double and a run scored. He finished with a Big Ten-leading .422 batting average.

Haveman's classmate, John Cummins, hit his first home run of the season, a solo blast to deep center in the third.

Junior Dan Black, who went 0-for-2 , tied the conference season record for walks when he drew his 62nd of the year in the first inning.

The News Gazette: Illini take lumps in Big Ten ouster

2009-05-23T10:42:00.002-04:00

By The News-Gazette
Friday, May 22, 2009 9:06 PM CDT

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Illinois baseball team ran out of chances to stay alive in the Big Ten tournament Friday.

Now, the Illini are left wondering about their damaged chances to get into the NCAA tournament. Coach Dan Hartleb's team will find out Monday, when the 64-team field is announced.

"I think we're really a bubble team," Hartleb said after No. 24 Minnesota pummeled Illinois 13-4 in an elimination game at Huntington Park. "Things have to go well (in other conference tournaments). If too many teams that aren't expected to jump in and win tournaments, we're really on the bubble.

"There is an outside chance."

The fourth-seeded Illini (34-20) finished 1-2 in the league tournament, extending a late-season slump during which they lost six of their last eight.

Second-seeded Minnesota (37-16), which defeated Purdue earlier Friday in an elimination game, had Illinois on its heels from the first inning when it scored three runs off Ben Reeser (3-1). The senior right-hander was replaced at that point, but his successors did little to stop the Gophers. Minnesota led 7-2 after five innings, then put the game out of reach with a five-run outburst in the sixth.

Nick O'Shea (two home runs) and Michael Kvasnicka (one homer) led the Gopher onslaught with five RBI apiece.

Meanwhile, Illinois was limited to six hits.

"We weren't very good on the mound, and that snowballed a little bit," Hartleb said, "and we weren't able to get much going offensively where we could get back in the game. Every time we'd inch back, we'd give up a lot out of the bullpen. So it was a frustrating day."

Columbus Dispatch: Buckeyes blown out by Hoosiers' hot bats

2009-05-23T10:38:00.003-04:00

Let me first say that I checked out the Minneapolis Star Tribune and the Bloomington Newspaper hoping to post therir stories on their teams, and found nothing. It's a shame that no coverage was provided. Yes Ohio State is the "home team" but even during the season a breif recap would be provided for road series. No excuse for IU and Minnesota to not be covered. Especially when a lot is on the line: Minnesota regional hosting, Indiana regional bid.

Saturday, May 23, 2009
By Mark Znidar

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

As remarkable as Ohio State has been in this magical season, there have been many days when games turned into batting practice for opponents because of a pitching staff that is youthful and paper-thin.

Unfortunately for the Buckeyes, that happened in the second round of the Big Ten tournament.

Starter Dean Wolosiansky gave up 12 hits in four-plus innings, including five straight to open the fifth, as Indiana roughed up Ohio State 13-3 tonight in Huntington Park.

Thanks to Buckeyes fans -- who were loud and present en masse -- the crowd count was 4,019.

The loss was painful for the hometown fans.

"It is embarrassing to lose a game like this," third baseman and co-captain Justin Miller said. "The best thing is we get to strap it on (again). The next game is for pride."

Ohio State (40-16) must win three games to capture the tournament championship, starting with second-seeded Minnesota (37-16) at approximately 3:35 today.

It looked as though Wolosiansky was on the mark when he struck out the side in the second inning after allowing a leadoff double to Alex Dickerson, the conference freshman of the year.

But Indiana batters adjusted the second time through the lineup and scored three runs in the fourth inning and seven in the fifth to lead 10-2.

The problem for the Buckeyes went beyond pitching. They made three errors, and the bats went silent to the tune of six hits.

"The game of baseball never ceases to amaze me," Ohio State coach Bob Todd said. "I wasn't happy with the way we swung the bats. I wasn't happy with the way we played defense or pitched. That's not taking away anything from Indiana. Our players might be emotionally drained and need to recharge" after the drive to the regular-season championship.

Todd said the turning point came in the top of the fifth inning when Ohio State had the bases loaded with no one out and did not score.

"Then the next half-inning, we just couldn't stop the bleeding," he said.

The Hoosiers have won 10 of their last 11 games and are one victory away from completing an impressive four-year rebuilding job under coach Tracy Smith.

However, Smith isn't about to think that the Big Ten championship and the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament that come with it is in the bag.

"I'm taking nothing for granted," he said. "I'm excited. The guys are confident. They are on a roll. Literally, I make out the lineup and get out of the way. The work was done in January and February."

First baseman Jerrud Sabourin said Indiana began the turnaround last season by finishing third in the Big Ten tournament despite being the sixth seed.

"Now, we have a little bit of momentum," he said. "It's the way we're swinging the bats. We're taking pressure off our pitchers. They know we're going to score runs."

Day 3 in video

2009-05-23T10:21:00.006-04:00

The day kicked off with Minnesota and Purdue squaring off in an elimination game. The Gophers would take command after Purdue took an early 3-1 lead. The Gophers had 3 home runs on the day. Purdue's John Cummins had a 2-run home run but it wasn't enough as they fell 12-3.

Highlights

Purdue Coach Doug Schreiber's post game press conference

With the Minnesota victory they advanced to play Illinois in elimination game 2 of the day. The Gophers' bats did not cool down. More home runs flew out of Huntington Park, Minnesota's Nick O'Shea with a pair. Minnesota won 13-4.

Minnesota's head coach John Anderson addresses the media after the game...

Illinois' head coach Dan Hartleb and his post game comments...

The offensive shows and lopsided victories did not stop in the night cap. Indiana pounded out 13 runs against Ohio State to win 13-3 and move into today's championship game.

Indiana defeats Ohio State 13-3, advance to BTT championship

2009-05-22T19:29:00.016-04:00

An impressive crowd once again is on hand, 70% of course pro-Buckeye. The Hoosiers have a nice contingent though.

Freshman Blake Monar is on the mound for the Hoosiers.
Top 1

LF Zach Hurley gets a leadoff single for the Bucks moves to second on a passed ball.
2B Cory Kovanda strikes out.
CF Michael Stephens grouns out, Hurley moves to third.
C Dan Burkhart rips and rbi-single up the middle.
DH Ryan Dew strikes out.

Ohio State is sending Dean Wolosiansky to the mound. Wolo as he is called is 11-1 on the year.

Bottom 1
RF Chris Hervey grouns out to short.
1B Jerrud Sabourn flies out to right
C Josh Phegley strikes out looking. Has a few words for the ump. Prob not good when youre the catcher.

Top 2
3B Justin Miller draws a walk.
Rf Mike Arp grounds out.
SS Tyler Engle singles reaches 2nd on an error. Miller scores.
1B Matt Streng strikes out.
Cf Hurley flies out to center.

Bottom 2
DH Alex Dickerson gets a leadoff double.
LF Kipp Schultz, SS Vince Gonzalez, CF Brian Lambert all get struck out by Wolosiansky.

top 3
Kovanda and Stephens ground out to short. Burkhart strikes out.

bottom 3
2B Tyler Rogers singles on a shot to short.
Dunning follows with a 6-4-3 twin killing.
Hervey grounds out to 2nd.

top 4
Dew flies out to left
Miller grounds out to short
Arp grounds out to second

bottom 4
Sabourin singles to left.
Phegley doubles to left
Dickerson rbi single to left.
Schultz rbi fielders choice.
Gonzalez walks
Lambert singles to left
Rogers strikes out
Dunning rbi single to second
Hevery flies out to 1st

top 5
Engle HBP
Streng single to left
Hurley walks
Kovanda 5-2-3 GIDP
Stephens flies out to right.

bottom 5
Sabourin single leftfield
Phegley single rightfield
Dickerson rbi single center
Schultz singles left field
Gonzalez singles left

Ohio State replaces Wolo with Jared Strayer
Lambert HBP, rbi
Rogers 3-rbi triple
Dunning sac fly
Hervey strikes out
Sabourin single right field
Phegley strikes out

top 6
Burkart walks
Dew grounds into a fielders choice
Miller walks
Arp grounds into a fielders choice
Engle flies out to center

bottom 6
Dickerson strikes out
Schultz flies out to left
Gonzalez reaches on an E6
Lambert strikes out

top 7
Streng walks
Hurley flies out to deep right
Kovanda singles
Stephens rbi fielders choice
Burkhart flies out to left

Sorry for the break. Ended up hopping into the press box to catch up on a few releases I had missed and to get read to recap the game.

Final

Ohio State 3-6-3
Indiana 13-16-1

Minnesota eliminates Illinois 13-4

2009-05-22T15:57:00.059-04:00

Lineups:

Illinois

Bonadonna CF 0-2, BB, R
McMurray LF 0-3
Wikoff SS 2-3, RBI
Altobelli 3B 0-3
Johnson C 0-3
Argo DH 2-3, K, HR, R, RBI
Dittman 1B 1-2, 2B
Cappeta RF 0-2, K
Parr 2B 0-2

On the mound is Ben Reeser.

Minnesota

Nohelty DH 1-2, 2 BB, SB, 2 R
Petterson SS 1-3, Sac, 2 R
McCallum 2B 1-2, 2 BB, 2 R
Kvasnicka RF 3-4, K, 2 R, HR, 4 RBI
Knudson C 0-3, CS
O'Shea 1B 2-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 5 RBI
Decker CF 1-3, 2 K, HBP, SB
Gominsky LF 0-3, K
Geason 3B 1-3, K

Seth Rosin is on the mound for Minnesota.

Top 1

Rosin gets the first two batters to go down quickly.

A scary moment as Brandon Wikoff fouled a balled directly off of his knee. Hits the groung in obvious pain. Wikoff walks it off and steps back into the batter's back and sends a single up the middle.

Altobelli ends the inning with a ground out to short.

Bottom 1

Nohelty leads off with a single for Minnesota. Steals second. Petterson in a sac bunt attempt reaches via an on Parr. Nohelty comes around to score.

McCallum strikes out looking.

Kvasnicka hits his second home run of the day. A shot to right-centerfield. 3-0 Gophers.

Altobelli commits the 2nd error of the inning for Illinois, a high throw to first allows Knudson to reach first.

O'Shea sends a lazy fly to right. 2 down.

Knudson is caught stealing to end the inning.

Top of 2

Johnson grounds out to Petterson at short. 1 down.

Argo with a single to leftfield.

Balk moves Argo to 2nd.

Dittman with an out to McCallum at 2nd. Argo to 3rd.

Rosin strikes out Cappetta to end the inning.

Bottom 2

Ben Reeser who is coming off of a back injury is only able to go 1 inning. Freshman right Bryan Roberts has relieved Reeser.

Eric Decker beats out an infield single up the middle.

Gominsky grounds out to Altobelli at 3rd.

Geason flies out the center.

The lineup turns over and Nohelty grounds out to second.

Top 3

McCallum makes a good play going to his right to rob Josh Parr of a hit.

Bonadonna draws a walk.

McMurray with a deep fly out to Decker in center. Bonadonna tags and goes to second.

Wikoff singles to rightfield. Kvasnicka comes up firing. His throw home beats Bonadonna but Bonadonna slides to the back half of home, touching home with his lefthand avoiding the tag of Knudson. Illini on the board.

Altobelli ends the inning grounding into a fielder's choice.

Bottom 3

Petterson pops out to Altobelli who catches the ball in foul territory.

McCallum singles to right.

Kvansicka sends a looping single just above the glove of the leaping John Parr at second.

Knudson pops out to short center. Wikoff snags it in his backpedal.

O'Shea with a towrring 3-run HR to leftfield, above the bleachers. Gophers jump to a 6-1 lead.

Decker strikes out looking to end the inning.

Top 4

Johnson leads off with a high pop out in the infield.

Willie Argo sends a deep shot to left, near where O'Shea's HR landed.

Dittman doubles to center.

Cappetta grounds out to short.

Parr grounds out. Inning over.

Bottom 4

Gominsky lines out to his counter in right.

Geason singles to left. Wild pitch moves him to 2nd.

Nohelty walks on 4 pitches.

Petterson flies out to center. McCallum daws another 4 pitch walk from Robets. Bases are loaded for Kvasnicka who already has two home runs today.

Roberts gets a big out, striking out Kvasnicka to end the threat.

Top 5

Bonadonna flies out to Decker in center. McMurray flies out to right. 2 quick outs.

Wikoff grounds out to 2nd. Rosin has in trouble in the 5th.

Bottom 5

Knudson leads off and grounds out to Wikoff at short.

O'Shea with his 2nd HR. This one is in the same location, just in the 5th or so row of the bleachers, not over them.

Decker strikes out as does Gominsky.

Top 6

Altobeli flies out to the deepest park of the park. Decker right in front of the 405 sign catches the ball on the warning track. Johnson grounds out to 2nd. Rosin is really dealing now. The last 5 batters have been up and out in a hurry.

Argo waves weakly at a ball on the outer half of the plate, striked out. Rosin with another solid inning.

Bottom 6

Geason becomes Roberts third strikeout victim in a row.

Nohelty picks up his second consecutive 4-pitch walk.

Petterson rips a liner to left. Runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out, McCallum up to the plate.

And that will be it for Roberts. Corey Kimes is in to relieve Roberts. Kimes has a 2-1 record, 5.84 ERA, in 22.1 IP.

McCallum draws a walk. Kvasnicka u with the bases loaded, a 2-RBI single makes it 9-2.

Kimes has a short outing. Sophomore right Nick Chmielewski is the next pitcher to be sent out by Hartleb. Chmielewski on the year is 3-2 with a 7.52 ERA, 2 saves.

Knudson draws a walk. Bases are loaded for O'Shea who has 2 HR's this game.

O'Shea is literally inches away from his 3rd HR and a granny at that. A long foul ball is the end result.

O'Shea sends a dribbler up the third base line, the throw comes home but isn't caught cleanly, but McCallum and Kvasnicka score. E5 Runers on the corners. A wild pitch scores O'Shea from 3rd.

Decker gets hit by a pitch.

At 12-2 it appears he game is a bit one-sided, to say the least. Updates will be few the remainder of the game unless a huge event happens. I'm going to take some time to get ready for the IU-Ohio State nightcap.

Well I told you updates would be far. And they were. Game over. Minnesota wins 13-4

Illini 4-6-3
Minny 13-12-0

Minnesota eliminates Purdue, will play Illinois

2009-05-22T15:28:00.004-04:00

This is Chris Webb your regularly schedule blogger. Thanks to Matt again for handling game 1 as I had a late night.

Minnesota has just defeated Purdue 12-3 to advance in the Big Ten Tournament. Purdue has been eliminated, whle the Gophers will play Illinois at 3:45.

Minnesota senior Tom Buske took the mound for the Gophers and stayed on the mound. The righty threw a complete game, which Coach John Anderson has to love, turning right around and having a bullpen that was not used. Buske in his 9 innings allowed 7 hits, 3 ER all in the first 3 innings, walked 2 and struck out 4.

Leading Minnesota offensively were numbers players, Nohelty, Petterson, McCallum, Kvasnicka, O'Shea, and Decker all logged multi-hit games. Minnesota touched up Purdue pitching for 6 doubles, a triple, and 2 home runs. McCallum with 3-for-5 having on eof the doubles as well as home runs, driving in 4.

The bulk of the offensively output came against Purdue's Matt Morgan. Morgan in 4.2 IP allowed 8 hits, 6 runs all earned, walked 4 and struck out 4. Leading Purdue at the plated was 1st teamm All-Big Ten centerfielder Brandon Haveman. Havemen went 3-for-5 scoring a run. First basemen John Cummins hit a 2-run HR in the bottom of the 1st to account for 2 RBI, Cummins scored 2 runs to close the scoring for the Boilermakers.

A fuller recap will be later, as well as quotes from both teams players and coaches.

We're 10 minutes for Illinois-Minnesota.

During that game I can catch up the world on yesterday's action. Mainly me just posting video from the Big Ten Network, I apologize for hardly doing any of my own writing, blogging can become quite the fulltime job, and everything intended doesn't always get done.

Columbus Dispatch: With time, Big Ten baseball can thrive here

2009-05-22T11:40:00.002-04:00

Friday, May 22, 2009 3:13 AM
By Bob Hunter

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

After first-round games of the Big Ten baseball tournament attracted literally hundreds of spectators to Huntington Park on Wednesday, one of the lucky few in attendance offered a blunt assessment.

"You have to be realistic," he said. "It is what it is. It's college baseball. It's Big Ten college baseball."

The conversation had long since ended when my brain caught up to the discussion.

Exactly. College baseball is a terrific product. Many of these guys will sign pro contracts. Some of them will play in the major leagues. The college game draws huge crowds in many places in the South, even if it's mostly a rumor in much of the Midwest.

Maybe an event such as this -- a televised tournament in a downtown setting in a classy triple-A ballpark -- will cause more people to realize it. Maybe eventually things will start to change.

Some might think it's silly that the Purdue-Michigan State game yesterday was played in a 10,000-seat stadium before a crowd of 609. I don't. I think if the Big Ten decides to continue playing the tournament here -- and right now, this is just a one-year trial -- interest will gradually build.

Many of the adventurous who took in these games will go home and tell their friends about their experience. Local companies might realize what a terrific event this is and buy tickets for their employees. In three or four years, that lunchtime Purdue-Michigan State game might draw 1,609. In five years, it might draw 2,609.

It might not sound impressive, but what are the chances of that happening if the game is played on a campus stadium at Penn State or Minnesota or even Ohio State? Under the previous format, that's what happened. The Big Ten champion played host to the tournament, regardless of whether its home park is a beautiful facility or a cow pasture.

"Right now, I've been very, very, very impressed," Purdue coach Doug Schreiber said. "And I'm even more happy for our players because they're able to play in a first-class facility and they're getting treated first class."

If I were a Big Ten coach, I would be as excited as Schreiber is, especially if the conference decides to extend its stay here. Think a coach might not use this beautiful new ballpark as part of his recruiting pitch? Finish in the top six in the league, son, and you'll get a chance to play in a post season tournament in the park in these pictures. You don't have to play in the SEC or Big 12. Big Ten baseball is first class.

Let's be honest. This is going to take some work. In the Midwest, you can't just throw open the doors for a college baseball game and expect the seats to fill up. Local officials can hope Ohio State gets the No. 1 seed as it did this year and hence gets to play a night game that draws a huge crowd. They can hope the Buckeyes are always playing in the championship game Saturday or Sunday. Or they can work hard to make sure the games draw no matter who is playing.

"Every day we're taking notes," Greater Columbus Sports Commission executive director Linda Logan said. "We charged for the practice day, just based on what some of the other conferences are doing, but we won't do that next year, if there is a next year. Another thing we may look at is lunchtime games. Could we sell tickets by the (day) instead of by games? We're looking at all options. We want people here."

Last night, there were lots of people there for the Ohio State-Illinois game. Someday, with a little patience and plenty of promotion, lots of people may be there for all of the games.

Big Ten baseball can't afford to let this experiment die after just one season.

It is what it is, just as that fan said. But what it is can change.

Bob Hunter is a sports columnist for The Dispatch

Live Bloggin' Part Two

2009-05-22T11:31:00.044-04:00

11:31 Morning Big Ten Nation! Its another perfect day for baseball here at Huntington Park in Columbus. We'll be treated first to a do or die game between #6 Purdue and #2 Minnesota.

I'm very curious to see how the Gophers respond to their beatdown at the hands of Indiana last night. It would be quite a disappointment for them to not advance farther in the tournament, given their strength of their pitching staff and their regular season performance. Purdue is pretty much playing with house money, and that can be dangerous.

It is pretty empty around here, including up here in the press box, although thats to be expected for the day game. I'm excited about the prospect of getting here early enough to snag one of these sandwiches before the rest of the media eats them (I'm looking at you, Big Ten Network).

I'm going to be here for the first game today, but Chris Webb will be around later in the afternoon, after he's done crunching the numbers from yesterday's action.

11:55- We are getting close to game time. Minn beat Purdue all three times they played in the regular season, (4-3, 3-1 and 5-2), although that was back in late April. Purdue's bats have certainly come alive since then.

12:02, I'm sure you guys wanted to know, but I was in fact able to secure one of the sandwiches. I'm a sucker for free food. If you want to write about anything...basketball games, city council meetings, your cousin's bar mitzvah, if there is food...I will be there.

Anyway, I've been exploring the stadium a little bit before game time. The employees I spoke to said that the outfield seats in the AEP Power Pavilion are the most popular...so remember if you guys come out to catch a game here. I recommend it.

Game is about to start here. Morgan is taking the mound for Purdue, Tom Buske for Minny. There seem to be a lot of people in the press box liking Purdue in this game. We'll have to see. Play ball!

12:10 We're starting to get some cloud cover now, and its a bit cooler than yesterday. Weather.com says we only have like a 10% chance of rain today though. Good.

I think its really important for the Gophers to get some hits early after that debacle. As soon as I finish typing the word debacle, Matt Nohelty rips a single.

12:12- A renegade Gophers fan just ran up to the Wendys Hamburger Balcony and threw a Minnesota flag over it. High drama! Nohelty steals second and advances to 3rd on a bunt. 1 out.

McCallum rips a grounder to second for an infield hit, and the Gophers take a 1-0 lead. They have more hits in the first inning than they had in what, the first 7 yesterday? The two dozen or so Gopher fans are going nuts right now. I don't think I see any Purdue people.

12:20 Purdue ready to pick up the bats for the first time. Gophers steal another base in the top frame but can't knock in the run.

12:22 Poor defense by Minny to start of the game. A shot goes right over the first baseman for a double, and then the SS bobbles a grounder for an infield hit. Lot assigning an error there was awfully generous. Runners on the corners, nobody out.

12:30, Minny gets a double play to end the inning, but not after allowing a ton of baserunners, and 2 runs. The Gophers had this problem yesterday....if you keep giving extra outs, you're going to put tremendous pressure on your starting pitching. 2-1 Purdue.

12:35-Just read Bob Hunter's piece on attendance. I think he's right, eventually, we can get more people here. Right now, the event is a little too expensive, and could have used some slightly better marketing. The product (and the venue) are both good though. I hope the Big Ten looks at using this place again next year.

In game news, the Gophers are 3-3 on base stealing attemps. 1st and 2nd, 1 out...and now based loaded with 2 outs...aaaaand a strikeout ends the inning.

12:51-The Gophers give up a leadoff double off the wall, but then settle down and get the next three batters. I think the pitchers are starting to settle down now and dig in.

You might not think about this, but foul balls can be a real hazard when almost all the seats are empty. Those shots can take some funny bounces off the seats and go who knows where. I saw two guys pretty much duck after a foul ball was hit into their section, and I have to admit, I can't really blame them. McCallum just ripped a double into deep center field.

1:09- looks like I spoke too soon, as Purdue rips a solo home run (Cummins). The middle of the order has been very productive for Purdue lately. Lets see what Black and Madia do today as well. 3-1 Purdue. The rest of the order goes quietly

1: 13-The press box is pretty quiet today. Part of that is because it isn't nearly full yet, but I also suspect food coma might be playing a role. I just popped back inside so I can charge my laptop for a few min. One small flaw with Huntington Park...lack of outlets in the open air press area. I don't really like watching the game from inside the actual box, since your vision is obstructed. I have to keep an eye on the Big Ten Network TV to get a full picture of the playing field.

1:18 The Gophers have done a good job with being patient at the plate, and their speed has helped get them runners in scoring position. They need to start stringing some hits together though.
*again*, as soon as I type that, Pettersen smacks a single to left field. Runners on the corners, with one out for McCallum.

1:20 WOW. McCallum got ALL of that pitch, sending it towering way OVER the famed HAMBURGER BALCONY. He flat our crushed it. The Gophers take the lead 4-3, and the smattering of Gopher fans are going crazy.

Kvansicka rips a line drive right at Matt Morgan's head, but somehow he managed to snag it for the out. I think he threw up the glove to protect his face, and somehow managed to come up with the ball. Those last 3 min were some of the most exciting I've seen so far.

1:26 I've been pretty prophetic with my typing so far, as far as predicting what the Gophers are going to do next. I wonder if it will work if I type "Buske needs to bring me a cold Dr.Pepper...."

Waitwaitwait, why is Purdue wearing camouflage jerseys?

1:33-the clutch hitting is starting to open up now for Minny. Decker rips a triple to bring the score to 5-3. One out now. Morgan has pitched fairly well, but I wonder how much longer he'll be in the game. Gophers now have 8 hits, and Minnesota has hit him hard the last two innings. He gets a flyout for out number two....and is pulled.

Man. I am good at this. I'm still waiting on my Dr.Pepper though. 4 walks, 4 strikeouts, 8 hits during Morris' tenure I believe....by my unofficial count. Sestalk in for Purdue, and Nohelly doubles in Decker. 6-3.

1:39-Purdue has a man on second, 1 out...but their killer middle of the order is up. I'm going to put off another snack run to see what Cummins/Black/Madia can do

1:50 Purdue threatening big here. Bases jacked with 2 out. Manager comes out to talk to Buske but leaves him in. Eric Charles at the plate...big chance to make some noise here for the Boilermakers.

And a great barehand grab and throw by Greason ends the inning and saves the lead for Minnesota. To the 6th we go, with the Golden Gophers still winning, 6-3.

Pitching change for Purdue...Collins is now throwing. 1st and 2nd, nobody out for Kyle Knudson.

2:05, Well, the laptop is all charged, and a Clippers employee just took the cookie tray out, so I think its about time for me to leave the press box and head back out in the open air. The 6th inning just ended, but not without the Gophers knocking in another run. 7-3. 12 hits for Minny today.

Kvansnicka just launched an absolute moonshoot to deep center, smacking the Mount Carmel sign on the score board to make it 10-3. When you consider how the ball has been dying a little in the air when its been hit to deep center...that home run becomes even more impressive. When you combine that homerun with McCallum's, the combined distance could get us to Canada.

2:28 and here we go to the top of the 8th. Illinois and Minnesota ought to be a pretty interesting game.

2: 43- 12-3 Gophers. 3 more outs from being over folks.

Bottom of the 9th for Purdue. Last chance, bottom of the order.

Haveman is the last batter for Purdue. I imagine the Boilermakers had higher expectations for their squad this season. The Gophers now face a pretty good Illinois team also on the brink.

But thats all for me everybody. I'll see you tomorrow!

Day 2 in the books.

2009-05-22T00:10:00.001-04:00

Big thanks to Matt for stepping up and helping out today.

I was out of commission until 530 with class and various errans and Matt stepped up to the plate and provided live blogging throughout the 3 games.

A lot happened today obviously, I'll probably be up all night recapping and doing game summaries. Bear with me, a lot to cover but it will get done.

Live Bloggin' from the BTT.

2009-05-21T14:50:00.087-04:00

Helping out with reporting today is Matt Brown, a Columbus writer who has contributed for the Newark Advocate and Columbus Monthly. He is also a senior at Ohio State.

COLUMBUS-1:30 PM- I’m just now starting my walk from my office downtown (I have a Clark Kent job there) towards swanky Huntington Park, home of the AAA Columbus Clippers. There isn’t a cloud in the sky, and its maybe 80 degrees, an absolutely perfect day to sit around and watch baseball. Its times like this that I actually feel sad that I’m moving away in a few weeks. Columbus really isn’t a bad town. The Arena District has two great stadiums, a great place to catch concerts, and several good bars and restaurants. The only thing that would make it better would be if the Crew Stadium was here instead of by the fairgrounds in the middle of nowhere. Not to mention the Short North, Campus, Clintonville, German Village…I’m telling you, upon further review, Columbus is underrated.

2:20 PM. Bottom 6th of the day game, with Purdue beating Michigan State 8-6. The Boilermakers end a possible rally with their second baseman making a leaping catch to steal a hit. I’m still kind of taken aback by the quality of the facilities here. This park might sit 10,000 people, and its brand new. There are luxury boxes, and bars…its just so big league. I’ve come a long way from covering JV Newark girls basketball, and getting splinters in the Northridge High Press box. I bet this place even has WiFi.

2:31 PM: Not only does this place have WiFi, it has like three different networks. I didn’t even get cell service at some of the high schools I covered. Michigan State is struggling with pitching control now. Top of the 7th, and the bases are loaded with two outs….so they’re making a pitching change (Tony Bucciferro). This game could get away from them in a hurry, since MSU isn’t exactly known for being able to make up runs in bunches.

2:34: Bucciferro gets the grounder, and out of the jam. The organ is playing Take me out to the ball game now, and there are so few people in the stands that I can’t actually hear the words. Okay, so maybe not everything is so different from my last sports reporting gig.

2:42, MSU goes down 1,2,3 in the bottom 7th frame. (LF) showed some good hustle trying to snag a fowl ball in the stands. It was a little bit easier considering that the entire section was empty. Jaffee up.

2:48 I get up for like, 5 min to try and get lineups and media guides for everybody, and naturally, miss Purdue’s Brandon Havemen knock in an RBI single, and then advance to second on a wild pitch. 9-6 Purdue. In unrelated news, whoever fills out the lineup card for Purdue has really bad handwriting. Somebody in their AD needs to start typing that stuff out. Just sayin’

2:49 Charles strikes out to end the top of the 8th.

2:57- Lost some more time trying to figure out this newfangled blogger software…ended up missing the first few batters of the inning. Eli Boike is batting for the Spartans, two ours, with a runner on third.

2:58 Boike came *THIS CLOSE* to absolutely crushing some hapless guy’s laptop off a foul ball. He then followed that up with smacking a sharp grounder up the middle that was mishandled by Purdue’s 1st basemen. Boike goes to second, runner scores. Shindler up. 9-7 Purdue.

3:00 Shindler flies out to end the inning. The Spartan faithful were getting pretty riled up over over what they perceived to be some questionable strike calls. For what its worth, this is def. a Spartan crowd.....(get it? Cause...like....there aren't very many people here)

3:04 Cummins rips a single to start the 9th for Purdue. Black up.

3:05 Full count now on Cummins. Reason number #43 why I love Huntington Park so far....we have the Wendy's Hamburger Balcony. Not quite sure what that means, but I like it.

3:07 Sparty mishandles a grounder from Black, but recover in time to get him out at first. Cummins to second.

3:13 I get up for a second again, getting back to my seat just in time to see Serrato rip a double to right center, scoring two runs for the Boilermakers. 2 outs, runner on second for Alex Jaffee. It is 11-7 Purdue.

3:14 Jaffee knocks a sharp grounder down the third base line that takes a high, funny bounce. It barely stays fair, giving him a double and an RBI. 12-7 Purdue.

3:18 I am loving Huntington Park, but now I think I've found my first flaw. That giant scoreboard is a little heavy on pizazz, and a little light on critical infomation. Maybe I'm just sitting in a bad spot, but from my seat, I can tell if Alex Jaffee remembered to brush his teeth on team picture day (he did!), but I have a harder time reading the pitch count. I also can't really see who is pitching, and I've been all over the place during this game. I'm sure the UM/IU game will be a lot smoother.

Last chance for Sparty. Down 12-7 in the bottom of the ninth. Lets see how Purdue's bullpen answers the call.

3:23Jeff Holm up for the Spartans. 1 out, runners on first and second. I gotta step away from the laptop though.

4:03-Naturally, the second I step away from the computer, MSU rips a double and makes it a 3 run game. I'll just go ahead and give you guys advance notice that I have to step away from the computer, so you'll know when something big is coming. It must be the Murphy's Law of sports journalism. Purdue over Michigan State, 12-9.

I'll work on getting a cleaner write-up soon. In the meantime, #3 seed Indiana and #2 seed Minnesota will be starting in a little bit. The ballpark is still mostly empty, but its defiantly starting to fill up. Chris was right, the Gopher fans do travel awfully well, for such a long trip.

4:17 Handran will get the start for the Gophers. IU's lineup today is Lambert, Sabourin, Phegley, Dickerson, Schulz, Crawford, Gonzalez, Rogers and Dunning.

The Gophers Media guide tells me Handran is from Montana and likes camping. I like this guy. As soon as I type that though, he gives up a first pitch single.

4:21-Josh Phegley up for the Hoosiers with two on and nobody out (Sabourin was hit by a pitch). Biggest different between games so far? Noise. The Hoosier fans (and team for that matter) are pretty vocal. I don't think I heard much of a peep from any of the MSU or Purdue players when they were on the field.

4:23 Actually, I take that back. I think all that yelling might be one Hoosier Mom. Phegley knocks a single up the middle. Runners on the corners for Alex Dickerson. 1-0 Indiana.

4:27, After a Dickerson strikeout, Schulz knocks in another runner with a single. 2-0 Hoosiers. Evan Crawford (Reynoldsburg represent!) is up for Indiana.

4:31, Handran settles down, strikes out Crawford and gets a pop out. 2-0 IU. Bashore hits the mound of Indiana. Minny will send out Nohelly, Pettersen, McCallum, Kvasnicka, Knudson, O'Shea, Decker, Gominsky and Geason.

4:40-I'm not the only one who is singing the praises of Huntington Park today. Purdue Head Coach Doug Schreiber raved about the area at the post game press conference. Coach Schreiber admitted he hadn't been to the Arena District before, but said he was "very very impressed" with the facilities. "It's been very well planned and organized, and the manpower has been unbelievable. I think its important that our kids get a chance to play at such a first class stadium and get treated first class". His only complaint? When he sees a Purdue pitch knocked over the fence. "Then I wonder...is that fence too close?"

As for the game, runners on 1st and second for Minny, with two outs. Kyle Knudson at the plate.

4:44-A few more press conference notes for ya'll. Schreiber was pleased with "how we hit the ball better. We were consistent in our scoring, even though we never really got that big inning. We left 15 men on base, and we'll have to improve that." Coach Boss of Michigan State admitted that the little by little scoring by Purdue really hurt his team's chances today.

"We just couldn't stop the bleeding early. They just kept chippin' away, and before you know it, they've put 12 on the board." Todd added, "We also walked 12 guys, and its tough to win when you do that."

Minny grounds out to end the inning. Rodgers leading off for the Hoosiers.

4:50-Dunning leads off with a standup double, and is followed by a double by Lambert. 3-0 Indiana.

4:56 Indiana's bats are really working today. They've strung four hits in a row now to take a 4-0 lead. Runners are on 3rd and 2nd.....wait, make that 6-0, since Dickerson's sharp ground ball was mishandled and he turned it into a double. The Gophers better stop that bleeding quick.

5:00-Gophers do in fact stop the bleeding and get out of the inning. O'Shea is up for the Golden Gophers.

When asked how his tournament experience will impact his team next season, Coach Boss for Michigan State wanted to talk defense. "When you play well on defense, and when you make those routine plays, good things will happen. Today, we gave some things away, and those miscues are really magnified in the tournament. When you do the little things, you'll be okay." He then added, "However, despite those miscues, we gave ourselves a chance to win today. I'm really proud of our kids."

5:06=The Gophers go down 1-2-3, and Gonzalez leads off with yet another double. I'm a little surprised to see the Minny pitching staff get shelled like this so early in the game, even though Indiana is quite a good hitting team.

5:15-quiet 3rd inning after the previous offensive explosion. Minny has yet to get a hit as we head into the top of the 4th. Even the random loud Indiana fan has taken a break. I think she was trying to do her best Dave Chappelle as Lil' John impression. After every other pitch, I'd hear some "WHOOOOWWAHHHAAAT? OOOOKKAAAAY! YYEAAAH!" coming from section 9. I was half expecting a "GET CRUNK" at the end. It looks like she's done though. Peace has been restored.

5:25 Gophers seem to be getting into a pitching grove, as they get out of the 4th without giving up a hit. I've walked out of the confines out the press box to watch the game from the open air area on the 3rd level. On one hand, its an absolutely awesome day, and I can get a *much* better view of the action. On the other hand, I have to live with the crushing fear that i might accidentally knock the laptop off this tiny desk and send it flying down a dozen rows of bleachers. Also, somebody just brought brownies to the press room.

5:39-Nick O'Shea breaks the offensive drought for the Gophers in the bottom of the 5th with a leadoff single. Eric Decker now batting.

Also, winner winner pasta dinner! Man, when I worked high school sports, a good night for me is when somebody bought an extra hot dog and gave it to the press guy out of pity. These guys have a full catered spread. Another reason to love this place.

5:46 Two outs now, but runners on the corners for Minny. DH Matt Nohelty is up, trying to make something happen.EDIT-aaaaaand he's caught looking. To the 6th we go!

6:00 7-0 IU now, after some timely hitting. Gophers make a pitching change. Also, Chris Webb is in the house.

6:20 IU has really opened it up, taking a 9-0 lead. Looks like we'll see Minny and Purdue tomorrow. The crowd is slowly starting to get bigger as OSU fans start to filer in. I was expecting a few more people. Maybe the ten dollar ticket prices are turning people away? I don't know if I would pay ten dollars if I didn't have a press pass.

7:18 Kinda turning in and out here. Indiana beats Minny 12-3. Minny was two hit until the 7th inning...wasn't really close most of the way. The stands are really starting to full up now with the scarlet clad Buckeye faithful. Its too bad Explore Columbus didn't get in on this, and give OSU Students a discount or anything. Coupla bucks, go see OSU, drink in the Arena District....I'm just sayin'.

The Buckeyes just took the field for stretching and warm ups, and the crowd goes wild. You gotta be excited for the guys playing today, stepping out onto such an awesome facility, getting this kind of crowd support...everybody likes playing under the lights.

7:52: Is it game time yet? I'm all hyped up ready for the game. I don't know if thats the energy from the ballpark, or the fact that I've had about 4 free pops from the press box and I'm not sure where the bathroom is.

7:57- You know what would be really funny? There is some green space in deep center field...maybe, in a nod to the old Cooper Stadium, we can throw up some fake gravestones. Just a thought.

7:59- Chris- "Is there anything less helpful in coach speak than the phrase "It is what it is? Why did your pitching stink? Well...you know, it is what it is..."

8:01- So everybody just stood up, thinking we were going to sing the national anthem after player introductions.....surprise! We didn't! It sure was good to get that first inning stretch in though.

8:04- And we're off! Wimmers is lighting up the radar gun already, hitting 93, 94 MPH. Guess somebody is a little pumped up to play today. 1, 2, 3 goes Illinois.

8:12 Strack getting the ball for UI today. Kovanda is the first guy to get in the box score with a single up the middle. Stephens grounds into a double play though to tend the first.

8:17 Aaron Johnston strikes first blood with a monster 2 run shot to left field to give Illinois a 2-0 lead. That will prob land outside the 614.

8:23-Wimmers recovers to end the inning without any more damage. Meanwhile, the PA is blasting Bruce Springsteen's Hungry Heart. I'm a *huge* Bruce fan, but is this really baseball pump up music? I don't have an urge to get up and clap and scream now. Maybe sway.....

8:28 I was a few feet from maybe getting hit with a foul ball. Don't worry, we're all okay here.

8:30, Buckeyes get one back with a double from Arp (another Reynoldsburg Represent. Also, I want you guys to know that the guy next to me is screaming like a little girl every time the Buckeyes do something. He is at least 50. And I mean...seriously. Like a girl.

8:37-Does anybody know what the ball completely dies in the air when it gets hit into deep center here? I've seen several shots that were hit hard enough to get out of the park, but something in deep center just keeps the ball in play. Further research required.

8:49 Buckeyes get a double play thanks to some OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE (or just blocking the catcher from throwing a dude out). Also, I saw my first stadium O-H-I-O at a baseball. Its not saturday in the shoe, but it was still pretty impressive. This crowd is pretty quiet, but you can tell they're into it as soon as some actual action happens. The guy next to me is still pretty much yelling 24/7 though.

Buckeyes are swinging at a lot of first pitches. They're getting their hits, but they also have five first pitch outs. Some more patience at the plate will likely get them some better at bats. Only two batters have seen more than three pitches in their at bat! Thats not a good stat.

Top 5 coming up, UI up 2-1. That insight brought to you by Chris Webb

9:03, Bucks trying to get out of a jam after walking the first two batters...by striking out the next two. I've also just noticed that there are people everywhere here...in all of the stands, the restaurants, Neil ave...everywhere EXCEPT the AEP Power Pavilion. Not one person! I mean, there are even people in the Hamburger Balcony! Next time I work a game here, I'm reporting LIVE from the Power Pavilion, even though that prob isn't actually in the stadium.

9:19 Johnson is on fire. He's 3-3 with all three RBI (and Illinois only has 4 hits). Illinois now up 3-1 here in the 6th. This is becoming a tough inning...4-1. Bottom 6.

Big at bat here for the Buckeyes. Two on, nobody out for Ryan Dew. Did you know that Dew is the all time leading rusher at Worthington KIllborne? Now you do!

Dew eeks out an infield single. Everybody is safe now for Justin Miller. Bases Jacked, no outs, and the crowd is going nuts. Girl man is reaching a whole new level.

Miller gets a sac fly. Runners on the corners, 4-2. Arp gets an RBI line out...should have been a double play, but Illinois made a mental error. Another grounder ends the inning. 4-3. Not bad, not bad.

9:44 game might be getting away from Wimmers. He just gave up a double Good D prevented the run, but now he's got 2 and 3 with only 1 out. (yup, and Wimmers is headed out of the game. 6 hits, 4 runs, 6 and a third)

Great Defense gets the Buckeyes out of the jam.

9:57, Don't look now, but the Buckeyes have two men on (thanks to back to back walks), and nobody out. Cory Kovanda is up to bat, and LETS GO BUCKS is being yelled everywhere. Girlie Man is oddly pensive at the moment. He's channeling his inner Phil Jackson or something.

Kovanda lays down a sick bunt single. Thats just Bill Todd baseball right there sports fans. Bases jacked. Nobody out. All Stephens has to do is hit the ball. Chris says he will make fun of him in Communications if he doesn't. Strack is hitting the showers. PARTY IN THE HAMBURGER BALCONY

10:02- Just so you know, May 31st, Curious George will be making an appearance at Huntington Park. No word on whether he'll stop by the Hamburger Balcony. ,It is what it is.

Stephens with an RBI grounder. Tie game.

10:04-Dan Burkhart is getting intentionally walked to re-load the bases. Only in college baseball do you walk a guy to get to a .400 hitter. Madness.

Its Dew time sportsfans. Dew gets an RBI grounder, and the Buckeyes have taken the lead for the first time, 5-4. Runners on second and third. For a team with as much firepower as the Buckeyes, its weird to see them rely on little numblers. Miller has fouled off like 4 balls in a row. He's battling.

10:09- Miller strikes out. 5-4 Bucks heading into the 8th. 1, 2, 3 goes Illinois. Engle rips an RBI single, and given Ohio State's closer situation, I think its looking good that they're getting a win!

Hurley is ruthlessly gunned down trying to get an inside the park home run, but you gotta applaud the effort. 7-4 Los Buckeyes!

Time for the ninth inning! I've been blogging for like 9 hours now. Eat your heart out Bill Simmons.

10:28 Lead off walk, then a rather dramatic strike out. The umpire was def doing his best impression of the ump in The Naked Gun. Yeeeeeeer OOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUTTTT

One out left, runner on second. Crowd on their feet. I would stand, but that would make typing difficult. It is what it is.

10:34 Heater down the pipe, hitting 93 mph. 0-1.

10:35 foul ball. Oh snap, its 0-2. The natives are getting restless.

10:36 awwwwwwww that was clooooooooosssse. Pretty anticlimatic moment there. 1-2.

10:37 another foul ball down the line.

10:38 Another laser beam foul ball. This one cleared the nets and maybe took out at least three fans who were talking on their cell phones.

10:39 Another ball, near the dirt. 2-2. Lets get this over with.

10:39 Another ball low, 81 mph. Full Count. Hale has a flair for the dramatic.

10:40 STRIKEOUT!!! The team mobs Hale, and the Buckeyes are in the winner's bracket. Stay tuned for more updates and recaps. Until next time, I'm Matt Brown. Keep supporting the Buckeye Nine.

Thoughts on Day 1 before Day 2 starts

2009-05-21T09:26:00.002-04:00

Day 1 has came and gone in the Big Ten Tournament. To briefly summarize...

There is a HUGE gap between the top 4 Big Ten teams and the bottom 6. With the closeness of the final standings at the top, most could have easily come to this conclusion. Seeing the #3 team take on the #6 directly following the #4 team play the #5 and it's obvious. The top of the conference's pitching, hitters, and defense are a notch above.

Huntington Park is incredible. The finest ballpark I have been to MLB, Minor League, Collegiate, whatever. Nothing is missed in the stadium. The Big Ten made the correct move.

The weather in Columbus was amazing. Perfect. My arms are beyond red, but I'd take this weather any day.

Eric Arnett is one of the top 5 Big Ten pitchers I've seen in the last 5 seasons.

Nolan Moody deserved better. Moody is a solid pitcher, fastball sits in the low 90s, throws three pitches for strikes. His defense let him down. If he plays for one of the top 4 teams, he's first team All-Big Ten pitcher.

Huntington Park plays weird. Really weird. Spoke to OSU CF Michael Stephens during the game, he made a few references to where the ball carries and dies, the outfield is huge by the way. During the IU-Purdue game Michael's sentiments came true. A shot that seemed certain to be a home run and off the scoreboard, dies mid air and drops on the warning track leaving to IU fielders puzzled and it drops between them.

The Big Ten is doing an incredible job with this tournament. Service and everything you could ask for is first-rate.

Illinois bottom of the order is beyond solid. In fact 1-9 Illinois might have the best collection of consistent hitters. No easy outs or players to pick on.

Three of the for competing coaches, Indiana, Illinois, Purdue, spoke about and are not hesistant to throw today's starter later in the weekend if needed.

Today should be an incredible day of baseball with 3 evenly matched games and 6 teams with everything, NCAA bids, NCAA Regional hosting, elimination, all on the line.

Wimmers the co-Big Ten Pitcher of the Year will try to respond to Arnett's gem and put on a show in prime time.

Big Ten Network Indiana-Purdue video

2009-05-21T08:22:00.002-04:00

Indiana-Purdue highlights

Eric Arnett's post game comments

Indiana's Chris Hervey's post game comments

Big Ten Network Illinois-Michigan State video

2009-05-21T08:15:00.007-04:00

Illinois-Michigan State highlights

Michigan State's Head Coach Jake Boss and Captain Eric Roof reflect on the loss vs. Illinois

Illinois head coach Dan Bartleb and players Willie Argo and Pete Cappetta post game interview

Columbus Dispatch: Big Ten baseball tourney: Watkins' Arnett shines for Indiana

2009-05-21T07:49:00.001-04:00

Thursday, May 21, 2009 4:07 AM
By Ken Gordon

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Every time Eric Arnett let loose with a pitch yesterday in Huntington Park, a forest of radar guns sprouted behind home plate. Down went the arm, up went the guns.

That's life right now for the Indiana right-hander, a Watkins Memorial graduate and the ace of the Hoosiers' staff.

He pitched seven innings of four-hit shutout ball yesterday, and Indiana trounced Purdue 9-1 in an opening-round game of the Big Ten tournament.

Third-seeded Indiana will play No. 2 Minnesota today. Top seed Ohio State will meet No. 4 Illinois, which pounded out 18 hits in a 16-5 win over Michigan State.

The focus, though, was on Arnett. The 6-foot-5, 225-pounder was lifted after 94 pitches, at which point the sea of major-league scouts scattered.

The win raised his record to 12-1 and lowered his ERA to 2.58. He struck out 10 and walked one.

Arnett was still throwing in the low 90-mph range in his final inning.

"If you look back on how this season started, he wasn't on the radar screen of a lot of people," Indiana coach Tracy Smith said. "And as the season has progressed and he has matured as a pitcher and his velocity has crept up there, it's been interesting, because every weekend, it's like a showcase.

"I give him a lot of credit for how he has handled it."

Smith said he thought Arnett's experience playing basketball for the Hoosiers last winter helped him mature. First-year coach Tom Crean, inheriting a depleted squad because of NCAA violations, asked Arnett and fellow baseball player Kipp Schutz to walk on.

Arnett was in uniform for games but did not play. Still, Smith believes he benefited.

"Being in that environment when you're swarmed and there's 17,000 people looking over you and things like that, 30 or 40 scouts probably isn't that big a deal," Smith said. "So I really think mentality-wise, that helped him tremendously."

Arnett, a junior, did admit to some jitters pitching in front of a large group of friends and family.

"It was a blast," he said. "You kind of get extra nervous out there because you're back in front of everyone you know again. But it was good to be able to come back home and pitch in front of people you haven't seen in a while."

Illinois overcame an early 4-0 deficit after Michigan State's Eric Roof hit a grand slam -- the first in Huntington Park's short history.

The Illini scored five runs in the fourth inning and seven in the sixth to make it a runaway.

Ohio State took two of three from Illinois in Champaign two weeks ago, but the Illini are a confident-looking group.

"Ohio State is a very good team," Illinois coach Dan Hartleb said. "But I think our team believes they are as good as anybody here."

College Baseball Today's Eric Sorenson

2009-05-20T23:13:00.003-04:00

For those familiar and loyal readers of the Buckeye Nine you know who Sorenson is.

For those who don't, shame on you, but here's the B9's 9-Innings with Sorenson, providing some detail. Q&A with Sorenson

Well unlike most national writers, Sorenson does a great job covering ALL of college baseball, including us in the north. So with Ohio hosting the A-10, Big Ten, and MAC tournaments, all within less than 80 minuts of each other, Dayton, Columbus, Chillicothe, Sorenson has traveled from the left coast to the heart of it all and is in Columbus this weekend catching the finest ball the Midwest has to offer.

Was able to catch up with Sorenson and talk about quite a few subjects, no real material here to post, but just thought it was cool he took the time and came out here, and again wanted to promote Sorenson's site for those unfamiliar. The guy does a great job and deserves it. Check out the site and read about his trip here and all things Big Ten and college baseball.

College Baseball Today

Pressue Sorenson enough and hopefully he'll plug the Buckeye Nine a bit more, maybe even have oyurs truly feautured with a Q&A to honor the home and home contract?

Big Ten Tournament Game 1 Recap Illini 16, MSU 5

2009-05-20T22:08:00.008-04:00

This probably won't be my finest work, I apologize in advance. I'm fighting a slight headache, combined with arms that are sunburnt, knowing I have to wake up at 6am for work, and have put off 2 papers that are due. Needless to say I'm all over the place mentally but I'll do my best.

First off the weather in Columbus was spectacular. Maybe two clouds all day, temperature was in the low 80s. Looking back it was probably too perfect as my arms are nearly as red as my scarlett Ohio State gymshorts.

Second, Huntington Park pound for pound is as nice of a baseball stadium there is. Outside of Yankee Stadium, which speaks for itself, Huntington Park is the nicest stadium I've ever been in. They did not miss anything in building it and should be commended. For those who are able to, but did not travel down, hopefully you with sometime this weekend to check out the gem. Perfect location as well.

The picture above honestly does no justice.

Now to the games.

Game 1 Illinois 16 Michigan State 5

This game started out with all of the makings of a pitcher's duel. Phil Haig for Illinois was cruising through the first two innings. The same for State's Nolan Moody.

When God, or the Illini bats, decided a pitchers duel wasn't in the cards for today and decided to put some runs on the board... they didn't stop coming.

Ironically in the one-sided Illinois victory, it was not the guys in the white, orange, and blue that delivered the first blow.

In the third Michigan State's Bo Felt and Brandon Ecklere lead off the inning with singles. Ecklere's was a hard luck as it was a sac bunt attempt that Haig stumbled off of the mound to get after and couldn't get the out at first in time. After a sac bunt successfully by Eli Boike, Haig hit AJ Shindler with a pitch. Facing a bases loaded no out jam, Haig induced an infield fly off of the bat of Chris Roberts to get the second out. Needing just one more out to get out of the inning with no harm, on a 1-0 pitch MSU captain Eric Roof promptly sent the ball over the 365 sign in right-center for a Grand Slam, dashing Haig's hopes of escaping unharmed.

As Illinois looked to be in a big hole, and Sparty on its way to victory. The tides changed. In a big way.

Illinois rightfielder Pete Cappetta was quoted as saying

“We are pretty comfortable playing from behind. We know we have the bats to get back
in it. Plus, it was pretty early, only the third inning. So it definitely wasn’t time to panic.”

Yeah Illinois can play from behind alright.

Though he was impressive through 3 innings with 5 strikouts, State pitcher Nolan Moody couldnt keep the Illini bats down, and unfortunately the defense behind him made it easy for Illinois to mount a comeback.

In the bottom of the 4th, facing the 0-4 hole, Illinois would score 5 runs to take the lead and not look back. The inning started off with catch Aaron Johnson reaching on an infield single to third. DH Willie Argo followed with a double, placing runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs. 1B Matt Dittman flew out to leftfield, not able to advance the runners. Up next was Cappetta who doubled down the right field line and plated two. 2B Josh Parr singled to continue the rally for Illinois.

As the line-up turned over and the top of the order was coming to the plate, Illinois leadoff CF Joe Bonadonna sent a ball to 3B AJ Shindley for what appeared to be a routine 5-4-3 GIDP in the making. After receiving the relay at 2nd for 1 out, 2B Chris Roberts throw to first was high pulling Jeff Holm off the bag, unable to turn two. Though it was not an error, just a fielder's choice, the inning by all means should have been over.

With the extra out Illinois followed with 3 singles in a row off the bats of leftfielder Casey McMurray, SS Brandon Wikoff, and 3B Dominic Altobelli, before Moody was able to get Johnson, who leadoff the inning to ground out.

The damage was done though, 5 runs on 7 hits, sealed Michigan State's fate.

We'll get to the official errors later, especially the ones that lead to 7 unearned Illini runs, but here is what Michigan State coach Jake Boss Jr. had to say about his team's defensive performance...

"“I know we had three errors in the score book, but I feel like at least three, maybe four more plays that we could have made that would have really helped us in this ball game. We're disappointed, but the good thing is it's over with and we have a chance to play tomorrow."

Ya think the failed 5-4-3 DP is one of those plays Boss is referring to? I think so.

Unfortunately Michigan State could not respond to the Illinois offensive outburst and they would not score again until a run crossed the plate in the 8th.

Illinois on the otherhand did not stop. 2 runs in the 5th were plated, RBI's by Parr and Bonadonna off of doubles and sac flies respectively, then in the 6th the floodgates opened.

In the 5th A.J. Dunn replaced the hard-luck Moody and came back out for the 6th. The first at-bat was a sign for things to come. Wikoff reached 1st courtesy an error by SS Jonathan Roof who's throw was high and wide. Altobelli popped out. So there should be two outs. Then Johnson stepped to the plate and reached on a fielding error by Roberts. That should have been 3 outs. Key word being should, instead Illini had runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out.

In order to save time and writing just know Illinois would score 7 runs. All unearned. Argo single, RBI. Dittman double, 2-RBI. Parr single, RBI. Cappetta double, RBI. McMurray single, RBI. Wikoff single, RBI. A pitching change was in there, Kurtis Frymier replaced Dunn but it did not matter.

Illinois would finish the scoring with 2 runs in the bottom of the 7th a Parr 2-RBI single would mercifully close the book on scoring.

Boss would say about Moody...

“I thought he probably deserved better to be honest with you. When we started to kick it around a little bit, we obviously didn't help him out a lot. But at that point his pitch count got pretty high and he started to get a little tired and to Illinois’ credit, they took advantage of every opportunity to put a big number up on the board.”

On the counter Illini coach Dan Hartleb had this to say about his teams performance in game 1.

“That’s a good way to start off a tournament. Obviously we’re in the winner’s bracket. We got a very well-pitched game by Phil (Haig). We started off a little rougher and had some missed opportunities, but if you look at our box scores, we’ve come from behind several times this season, so our guys are used to coming from behind."

The closing line for the starting pitchers

Moody 4.1 IP, 10 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 3 BB, 5 K
Haig 7.0 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 4 K

Hartleb also had this to say about Haig..

“We wanted to put Phil in a position to not allow his pitch count to get too high. That would allow us to bring him back on Sunday. Not that you want to look that far ahead, but we had a lead and we could afford to take him out at that point in the game.”

Pulling pitchers and saving them for later in the weekend is a theme that continued in game 2.

All in all, game 1 showed that there is a big gap in the top 4 teams, and the bottom 6. Pitching, hitting, and most especially defense and fielding is what propelled Illinois to victory.

Michigan State will face Purdue tomorrow at 12:05 in game 3, loser's season ends as they are eliminated from the Big Ten Tournament.

Illinois will face #1 seed Ohio State in game 5 at 7:05.

Box Score Courtesy Fighting Illini.com

Illinois Athletics Recap

Michigan State Athletics Recap

Indiana dominates in-state rival Purude 9-1

2009-05-20T15:42:00.012-04:00

So I decided that after sitting in the sun for game 1 and receiving sun burn, instead of blogging from my phone, I'd get in the shade plug in my laptop and get rolling.

Eric Arnett is on the mound for Indiana and has a quick 1-2-3 inning. Arnett in the first is already reaching 97 with the fastball.

Purdue counters with Matt Bischoff.

Appears more fans are in attendence for game 2. Both Indiana and Purdue are shorter drives to Columbus than East Lansing and Champaign. Throw in local boy returning home Arnett toeing the rubber and Indiana has a solid contingent.

Chris Hervy with a leadoff HR for Indiana. 1-0 Indiana

Sorry for 2 innings of MIA, chatting it up with a few fans, Eric Sorenson of College Baseball Today is in attendence, spoke to him, more of that later, and caught p with a few Ohio State players. Back to it

Bottom of the 4th, Bischoff in a bit of trouble.
A walk, two outs, an error, and a double scored a run. Runners on the corners 2 outs. Bischoff K ends the inning.

Top 5 Arnett is in control. Sitting hitting the high 90s, dropping it to 81/82 with the offspeed, Slider is nasty. Dominating the Boilermakers.

If you can, watch it on the Big Ten Network. Arnett is showing why he was co-Big Ten Pitcher of the year.

There are nearly 20 scouts with radar guns here to watch Arnett deal.

Bischoff is replaced in the top of the 5th. His line 4 IP 7 hits, 4 ER, 5 runs 3 K's, 2BB.

Bottom of the 5th Indiana puts 5 on the socreboard.

My covering of this game is awful I know I apologize. The stadium is incredible, the weather is perfect, kind of hard to sit in one place.

Final
Purdue 1-7-4
Indiana 9-15-1

Illinois topples Michigan State 16-5

2009-05-20T12:10:00.018-04:00

Sitting here at beautiful Huntington Park in downtown Columbus.

Game is just getting under way. Phil Haig is on the mound for the Illini. Nolan Moody is throwing for Michigan State.

Not a cloud in sight, sunny and 75.

Game as all are on the Big Ten Network.

Top 1, Haig has an easy inning. E3 results in MSUs only baserunner, but the threat ends with Haig forcing Roof to send a weak grounder to first.

Bottom 1, Moody makes quick work of the Illini. 3 pitch strike out, fly out to left, grounder to third.

Top 2, Haig continues to roll, fly out to center, two grounders.

Moody K's the side in the Illini half of the 2nd.

Moody is really pitching well, fastball is hitting 91, offspeed drops to 78. Hitting his spots. Has 4 strikeouts through 2.

Michigan State jumps on the board in a huge way. Two singles to start the inning, a sac bunt, HBP, and infild fly loads the bases with 2 outs. Spartain captain Eric Roof comes to the plate and rudely sends a Phil Haig pitch above the 365 sign in right center field to make the score 4-0 MSU.

Moody again has no trouble with the Illini batter, with help courtesy rightfielder Eli Boike on a diving catch, Moody surrenders just a BB in the 3rd. Picking up his 5th strikeout.

Haig comes back and makes easy work of the Spartan, 2 weak grounders to the left side of the infield. Then strikes out Bo Felt looking.

Bottom of the 4th Illini get their 1st two runners aboard. F7 gets one out, but Moody couldn't avoid trouble. Cappetta with a 2-run double in the right field alley. A FC follows but McMurray gets a rbi-single to make it 4-3. With runners on the corners 1st team All-Big Ten SS Brandon Wikoff gets a seeing-eye single to knot it at 4. Another 1st teamer Dom Altobelli follows with a single as well through the right side. 5-4 Illini.

Haig has a 1-2-3 top of 5.

Moody walks the first batter in the bottom of the 5th. A scary collision in right field between Boike and Roberts but both are fine. Moody appears to be fighting himself. Falling behind the hitters now and his offspeed doesn't have the same bite.

Just looking around the beautiful stadium 12 or so scouts are to my left, with the Minnesota staff a few rows behind them. To my right were the 3 Ohio State seniors, Hale, Arp, Miller before leaving for practice. A decent crowd is on hand. The unusual sight of the day is the 3 mount Columbus Policemen and their horses outside of the stadium looking through the fense on Nationwide Blvd above the rightfield power ally.

Moody is replaced after an RBI-double makes it 6-4. 1 out, runners on 2nd and 3rd, AJ Dunn in for MSU.

Spartans get runners on in the top of the 6th but can't make anything happen.

MSU commits 2 errors in the bottom of the 6th, the extra outs allow Illinois to score 4 runs, highlighted by a Matt Dittman 2-run double. Cappetta picks up an RBI again with a double to deep center. All 4 runs are unearn

Illinois strike for a total of 7 runs. All unearned. Ouch.

Illinois has now jumped out to a 16-4 lead. Peppering balls all around Huntington Park.

The Columbus Fire Deparment has replaced the mounted policemen standing on Nationwide Blvd waatching the game through the fense, joining them are a dozen passerbys.

Michigan State does get a run in the 8th. A fine double play made by SS Wikoff scouping the ball out of the dirty to start the 6-4-3 with his glove and flipping it to 2B Parr all in one motion.

Final Box
MSU 5-7-3
Illini 16-18-1

Recap to come.

Columbus Dispatch: First-year ballpark presents challenge

2009-05-20T10:52:00.000-04:00

Wednesday, May 20, 2009 3:14 AM
By Mark Znidar

The Columbus Dispatch

Ohio State right fielder Michael Arp pointed to the outfield in Huntington Park and spoke as if it were a baseball version of the Grand Canyon.

"It's big out there," he said. "In batting practice, you just run, run, run and run out there. It looks like the center fielder is a long, long way away from you. This is going to be a challenge. There's a lot of room to hit the ball."

The six teams playing in the Big Ten tournament all face the same challenge: trying to get a quick read on the first-year ballpark, so the environment itself doesn't prove costly.

The tournament begins today at the new home of the Clippers, with fourth-seeded Illinois playing fifth-seeded Michigan State at 12:05 p.m. Third-seeded Indiana and sixth-seeded Purdue play at approximately 3:35.

Regular-season champion Ohio State (39-15) will play the lowest seed remaining from the first two games at 7:05 Thursday.

The lack of foul territory, relatively close 365-foot power alleys and many angles and heights of the outfield walls got the players and coaches thinking during batting practice yesterday.

"You just hope your team doesn't have that play that brings out the nuances of the stadium," Purdue coach Doug Schreiber said. "There is no comfort zone for any of the teams. The infield is crowned (for drainage) and the grass is higher. (The ballpark) is possibly going to be a factor."

For years, Big Ten coaches lobbied to have the tournament played at a neutral site. They finally persuaded athletic directors and university presidents to give it a one-year trial.

Ohio State coach Bob Todd said a neutral site is hardly unique.

"The Big Ten men's and women's basketball tournaments are at neutral sites," he said. "This pretty much was a unanimous vote by the coaches to come here. Other cities were talked about, but none seriously.

"I think this will mesh -- I really do."

The conference baseball tournament was played in Battle Creek, Mich., in 1993 and '94 with poor results at the gate.

Coaches say Columbus should be a better site because of its population and because it's a Big Ten city.

The goal, Minnesota coach John Anderson said, is to make Big Ten baseball more visible on a national scale. The Big Ten Network will televise the games.

"One of the concepts is to make Big Ten baseball better," he said. "We'll see if we can turn this into a better event for the Big Ten and for our teams. What we did in the past wasn't working."

In the past, the regular-season champion served as host.

Anderson and Schreiber said it is too difficult to run a quality tournament at the champion's field on sometimes as little as three days' notice.

Fourth-year Illinois coach Dan Hartlieb said his players had their best experience ever at a Big Ten tournament before the first pitch.

"There always seems to be someone waiting ready to help you," he said. "Everything has been first-class."

Ohio State players did a lot of looking around during batting practice.

"You take one look and your jaw just drops," left fielder Zach Hurley said. "This is a top-notch facility. I don't think we'll have any advantage because we haven't played here just like the other teams. We do get to sleep in our own beds."

All-Big Ten Teams, Buckeyes and Hoosiers Sweep Awards

2009-05-19T18:19:00.000-04:00

FIRST TEAM
1B – Mike Dufek, MICH
2B – Derek McCallum, MINN#
SS – Brandon Wikoff, ILL
3B – Dominic Altobelli, ILL
OF – Kipp Schutz, IND
OF – Ryan Durant, IOWA
OF – Brandon Haveman, PUR#
C – Josh Phegley, IND*
C – Dan Burkhart, OSU*
DH – Ryan Dew, OSU
SP – Eric Arnett, IND#
SP – Chris Fetter, MICH
SP – Alex Wimmers, OSU#
RP – Jake Hale, OSU

SECOND TEAM**
1B – Jerrud Sabourin, IND
2B – Cory Kovanda, OSU
SS – AJ Pettersen, MINN
3B – Justin Miller, OSU
OF – Pete Cappetta, ILL
OF – Ryan LaMarre, MICH
OF – Michael Stephens, OSU
DH – Alex Dickerson, IND
SP – Matt Bashore, IND
SP – Seth Rosin, MINN
SP – Dean Wolosiansky, OSU
RP – Scott Matyas, MINN

THIRD TEAM
1B – John Cummins, PUR
2B – Eric Charles, PUR
SS – Justin Toole, IOWA
3B – Jordan Steranka, PSU
OF – Willie Argo, ILL
OF – Mike Kvasnicka, MINN
OF – Alex Jaffee, PUR
C – Aaron Johnson, ILL
DH – Matt Nohelty, MINN
SP – Will Strack, ILL
SP – Tom Buske, MINN
SP – Matt Bischoff, PUR
RP – Chris Squires, IND*
RP – Ryan Ignas, PSU*

ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
1B – Nick O’Shea, MINN
2B – Eric Charles, PUR
SS – AJ Pettersen, MINN#
3B – Jordan Steranka, PSU#
OF – Willie Argo, ILL#
OF – Justin Gominsky, MINN#
OF – Tyler Spillner, PUR
C – Dallas Burke, IOWA#
DH – Alex Dickerson, IND#
SP – Will Strack, ILL
SP – Blake Monar, IND#
SP – Tony Bucciferro, MSU
RP – Austin Lubinsky, MINN

BIG TEN INDIVIDUAL HONORS

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Dan Burkhart, OSU

CO-PITCHERS OF THE YEAR
Eric Arnett, IND
Alex Wimmers, OSU

FRESHMAN OF THE YER
Alex Dickerson, IND

COACH OF THE YEAR
Bob Todd, OSU#

SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD HONOREES
Dominic Altobelli, ILL
Jerrud Sabourin, IND
Justin Toole, IOWA
Kenny Fellows, MICH
Nolan Moody, MSU
Matt Nohelty, MINN
Jake Wilson, NU
Cory Kovanda, OSU
Ryan Boonie, PSU
John Cummins, PUR

* Denotes ties
# Denotes unanimous choice

Scouting the Field: Indiana

2009-05-19T17:42:00.000-04:00

As with Illinois, I was able to catch up with another Big Ten blogger, this time Behind the Plate, an Indiana baseball blog. BtP has done an outstanding job following the Hoosiers this season and provided and excellent season recap and season preview to handle Indiana's scouting the field report. Hop over and check out Behind the Plate, and thanks to them for submitting the information.

After limping to a 7-14 record (including a stretch where they lost 8 of 10) heading into conference play, the Indiana University baseball Hoosiers did their best Mark Teixeira and Ryan Howard (notorious slow starters) impressions and finally turned things around during the Big Ten portion of the season. The Hoosiers dropped the conference opener at home to Minnesota but from there went on to win 10 of their next 13 Big Ten games, enabling the team to come out on top in four consecutive weekend series before dropping 2 of 3 at rival Purdue. That series against the Boilermakers, who were just 5-9 in conference play at the time, likely cost IU a chance at its first Big Ten title of any sort since 1996, when the Hoosiers took home the tournament championship. Nonetheless, this year’s squad finished 28-25 overall and 16-7 in Big Ten play, good for a 3rd place finish in the final regular season standings, the highest the Hoosiers have finished since the 1996 campaign when they finished 2nd.

This year’s Hoosier squad featured one of the top offensive attacks in the conference in addition to one of the league’s best 1-2 pitching combos in RHP Eric Arnett and LHP Matt Bashore. Preseason All-American catcher Josh Phegley, who tied for the Big Ten led with 17 homeruns in the regular season, built on what was already a very impressive career at IU, and freshman newcomer Alex Dickerson established himself as a force to be reckoned with given his ability to hit for both power and average from the left side. Centerfielder Evan Crawford led the Big Ten with 27 steals, while his counterpart in left, Kipp Schutz, overcame early season injuries to finish among the top 10 (8th to be exact) conference batting average leaders after a short stint with the IU basketball team this winter. Chris Squires found himself a home out of the pen as the team’s closer.

Those are just a few of the storylines out of Bloomington from the 2009 IU baseball team. Looking back on the regular season that was, there was a lot of good to go around. Namely, the Hoosiers built on last year’s 6th place Big Ten standing to finish 3rd this year and make the program’s second consecutive conference tournament appearance on the heels of four straight years (2003-2007) in which IU finished no better than 10th in the Big Ten. In addition to actually wining a lot of games in conference action, the Hoosiers finished second among all Big Ten teams in team batting average (.322), slugging percentage (.483), on-base percentage (.400), hits (605), homeruns (59), and total bases (908). The team’s trio of weekend starters (Arnett, Bashore, and FR LHP Blake Monar) went a combined 21-8 in 248.2 innings of work with a 3.73 ERA and 240 strikeouts against 95 walks while holding opposing batters to a .245 average.

All the good didn’t come without any bad, though. Poor play in the field plagued the Hoosiers all season long as the team committed the second most errors in the Big Ten (86) and were third to last in team fielding percentage (.959). Although the Hoosiers have gotten more quality innings out of key relievers of late (SO RHP Joey O’Gara, SO RHP Matt Carr, and FR LHP Matt Igel), the bullpen has also been a weakness all season. In retrospect, the 2009 campaign was somewhat of a disappointment for IU in many ways. While the Hoosiers were right in the thick of things until season’s end in terms of competing for the regular season conference title, the team struggled mightily in nonconference games, going just 12-18 against teams outside the Big Ten. In a season in which many experts predicted IU would be in a position to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, the squad’s poor performances in midweek and early season games (many of which were against what I would consider inferior opponents) likely cost the Hoosiers a shot at landing an at-large invite.

Nevertheless, the Big Ten Tournament is an opportunity for the Hoosiers to overcome a weak non-conference tournament resume and punch a ticket to the NCAA’s field of 64 by taking care of business this weekend in Columbus. Win the whole thing and all of a sudden those poor midweek and early season defeats no longer make any difference. With wins in 6 of the last 7, IU heads into Wednesday’s opening round tilt against Purdue with as good a chance as any at taking home the title. Arnett and Bashore will be very, very tough to beat in the first two games, and while Blake Monar has struggled of late, the former Yankees draft pick is certainly more than capable of shutting down any team in the tournament when he’s got his good off speed repertoire working and is throwing all his pitches for strikes. Although having to play at least four games to win the tournament is certainly a disadvantage, I really think this IU team has what it takes to bring home the title. There is a ton of experience back from last year’s squad that made an improbable run deep into the tournament, and the team undoubtedly possesses the offensive firepower and quality starting pitching needed to make another deep run this time around.

As with any team, there are a number of questions surrounding the Hoosiers that must be answered in the affirmative in order for IU to have a shot at taking home the hardware this weekend. Will the defense make plays? Will guys like 2B Tyler Rogers, 3B Vince Gonzalez, and SS Jake Dunning (all of whom have struggled at the plate in Big Ten play) contribute at the bottom of the order? Will Blake Monar rebound from his recent struggles and return to his early season form? Will Arnett and Bashore continue to dominate on the mound? Will the lineup come through with clutch hits in key situations? If the answers to all those questions are “yes,” then I like IU’s chances at winning it all this weekend. I am confident the Hoosiers will take Game 1 against Purdue behind a well-rested Arnett (did not pitch last weekend against MSU), and then I think they can take Game 2 from Minnesota behind Bashore, who has been throwing as well as any pitcher in the conference of late. After that it is hard to predict how things will shake out. Ever the optimist, though, I will go ahead and predict the Hoosiers will take home the tournament championship. They have the hitting, pitching and intangibles to do so. Now they just need to put it all together out on the field in Columbus. It should be an exciting weekend! Go Hoosiers!

Again the Buckeye Nine thanks Behind the Plate with taking the time to do this, and further promoting Indiana and Big Ten baseball.

Out of Leftfield....Pt I

2009-05-19T11:36:00.000-04:00

Out of Leftfield will be a daily post on random non-sense, weird occurrences, or humorous happenings relating to the Big Ten Tournament. Hope you enjoy.

If the Big Ten Tournament was an 80s soundtrack...

Purdue Boilermakers... Bon Jovi "Livin' on a Prayer"

The Boilermakers enter this year's tournament with a sub-.500 conference record. Only one 6th-seed in tournament history has gone on to win the tourament. Awaiting Purdue in game one is Indiana's Eric Arnett, if not the top pitcher in the conference one of the top two. Awaiting Purdue if they get by the Hoosiers? Ohio State's Alex Wimmers, the second of two elite Big Ten pitchers. Purdue's chances to win the trophy is slim at best. But hey you're in our prayers. Good luck.

Michigan State Spartans: Journey "Don't Stop Believing"

Kudos to Head Coach Jake Boss Jr. and his Spartans for advancing to their first Big Ten Tournament since 2004. Michigan State overcame improbably odds, having to nearly replace an entire line-up and rotation of departed seniors. Michigan State started the season 2-14, but kept believing in themselves, and kept their goals in focus. Sparty has an uphill battle to win the Big Ten Tournament, but as Kevin Garnett made famous "Anything's possible". Don't Stop Believing State, hold on to that feeling

Illinois Illini: David Bowie & Queen "Under Pressure"

The Illini find themselves in a predicament that they were in 4 seasons ago. After winning the 2005 Big Ten regular season championship, and winning 40 games in the process, the Illini were unable to capture the Big Ten's automatic bid, and fell short in their goal of reaching the NCAA Tournament due to an unimpressive resume. Fast forward to May 8th, 2009, the Illini fresh off of a win over nationally ranked Ohio State, by all accounts are on their way to Regionals, auto-bid or not. The Illini would go on to lose 4 of the next 5 Big Ten games and are squarely on the proverbial bubble. A solid run in the tournament and the Illini are NCAA bound, an exit before the championship game, it's dicey. The Illini are under pressure.

Part II coming later... when I'm out of class.

Scouting the Field: Illinois

2009-05-19T00:52:00.000-04:00

Photo Courtesy The Illinois Baseball Report

In continuing the series of scouting the field, recapping and previewing the six competing Big Ten Tournament teams, the next time up is the 4th seeded Illinois Illini. For those that do not know, the Illini have a presence of the internet wit a blog dedicated to their program. Thomas Nelshoppen does an icredible job with the Illinois Baseball Report, any Big Ten or regular college baseball fan should pay the IBR a visit and make it a favorite.

With Nelshoppen having more knowledge on Illinois baseball than I, I turned over this scouting the field edition to him to let him provide insight on his Illlini. Thanks and much appreciation to Thomas and his efforts.

Season Overview:
Overall, the Fighting Illini exceeded most people’s expectations for the 2009 season. Coming off their 2008 campaign when they snuck into the Big Ten Tournament, Illinois were big players in the conference this year.

The first real indication of Illinois’ winning ways was their trip south to LSU when they took two of three from the #1 team of the nation. Illinois used their focus on speed, fielding and pitching to win. A Big Ten home opener sweep against Michigan State started the Illini’s conference season out on the right foot.

A month later, they swept Penn State and Northwestern in consecutive weeks, the first time they had two consecutive Big Ten sweeps in ten years. By then, they had established themselves as the team to beat in the conference.

Everyone was paying attention when Ohio State paid Illinois a visit the next weekend. Both teams were ranked nationally and both were contending for the Big Ten championship. In front of over 5000 fans, Illinois fashioned a remarkable comeback to win 5-4. Unfortunately for Illinois, the Buckeyes’ offense was too great for the last two games.

Going into the last weekend, Illinois was one of the four teams in contention for the conference title. Playing Purdue, Illinois was only able to win one contest and sunk to fourth place.

Offense:

In 2009, Illinois perfected their version of the “slap and dash” offense. With a combination of speed (tied for lead in SB with 78) and hitting (.319, good for third in the conference), the team scored 379 runs only outdone by Ohio State. While not known as a slugging team, they weren’t slouches with the long ball either. They hit 40 dingers putting them in the middle of the pack.

The Illini fielded a team that was productive up and down and each had the potential to be the offensive hero of the game. Indeed, six players were named Big Ten Player of the Week.

A look at Illinois will show a good balance between veterans and youth. Senior 3B Dominic Altobelli, the cleanup hitter, led the team in hitting (.379) and really came on towards the of year. He had a hit streak of 16 games as well as a streak of 12 multi-hit games. Shortstop Brandon Wikoff, who seems to have gotten on every list possible, quietly had an excellent year. Playing in every game, he led the conference in hits and triples, hit .375 and played flawless defense. Joe Bonadonna, who had a rough early season, really hit his groove just in time for the Big Ten opponents. As for catcher Aaron Johnson, well, he loves base runners… both to throw out and to drive in when he’s up to bat.

Illinois has a good crop of youngsters on the team too. Pete Cappetta, who is often compared to pro Mark DeRosa for his ability to play just about any position, ended the season hitting .364. Casey McMurray has deceptive speed on the bases and plays excellent defense in left. We will be seeing a lot more of #9 hitter Josh Parr in coming seasons. A freshman, Parr looks like our future leadoff hitter (.402 OBA, 13 SB). Finally, fellow freshman Willie Argo probably has the most raw talent of them all. Argo made headlines when he homered in his first 3 career at-bats in LSU. While Argo has power (team-leading 11 homeruns, he’s got speed too (10 SB).

Pitching:

Illinois pitching began the season simply lights out with an ERA that was for a while a half point to a point lower than any other team. They eventually came down to earth but still did a good job keeping the team in the game. With some injuries/tiredness affecting the staff, Illinois was fortunate to have a deep rotation bolstered by incoming freshmen.

Phil Haig, our Friday starter had an excellent start to the season. Like the Illini he started out super-human but a mid-season injury stilted his overall season (3-3, 6.52 ERA). Senior Ben Reeser, who led the team in ERA (2.92, 3-0) had been affected with a bad back and missed a few games. Illinois was lucky to have two freshmen in our rotation who really came through them. Will Strack was 6-0 with a 3.48 ERA and Bryan Roberts was 5-4 with a deceptively high 6.34 ERA. Roberts had two shutouts in 2009.

The relief corps had its ups and downs throughout 2009 but senior Aaron Martin (3-2, 3.19) could usually be counted on out of the pen. Lee Zerrusen put in a lot of quality innings as a long reliever and spot starter.

Tournament Preview:
Going from first place to fourth in the final two weeks won’t help the Illini in the Tournament. There’s no doubt that Illini fans had real hopes of going in with a bye. If there is a silver lining, it’s that Illinois will be starting off against Michigan State. MSU is tough but Illinois swept them in 2009 and I’m sure the players haven’t forgotten that.

For most part, Illinois is going in healthy. Ben Reeser is questionable with his bad back. I’m not sure if we’re going to see him. But as I’ve said before, the Illini rotation is deep.

The only other question is Aaron Johnson who missed the last two starts of the regular season. Johnson was healthy enough to make an appearance as a pinch hitter so it’s very possible we’ll see him in some manner.

How will Illinois do in the Big Ten Tournament? I’m a bad person to ask because I’m incredibly biased. That said, I understand how competitive the Big Ten is especially having gone through the horse race we just finished. If they can win against the Spartans and gain some momentum, maybe they can go far into the Tourney.

Illinois will take the field in game 1 at Huntington Park to kick off the Big Ten Tournament against Michigan State, Wendesday at 12:05. The Illini will probably send Haig to the mound to square off against Spartan pitcher Nolan Moody.

Again the Buckeye Nine thanks Thomas for his time and dedication in covering the Illini, and providing us with great content.

The Big Ten Network Previews the Big Ten Tournament

2009-05-18T14:33:00.000-04:00

Don't forget each and every game will be televised live on the Big Ten Network.

Scouting the Field: Michigan State

2009-05-18T10:09:00.000-04:00

Photo Courtesy the-ozone.net

In his first season as Head Coach at Michigan State, Lansing native Jake Boss Jr. returned home in a big way. With a program that saw the last two seasons end with chances to reach the Big Ten tournament in the final weekend fall short, in 2009 Boss and his Spartans didn't let another chance slip away. On the strength of a 13-11 conference mark, Michigan State has qualified for their eighth Big Ten Tournament and first since 2004.

In Big Ten Tournament play Michigan State is 7-14 overall with a high finish of runners-up twice, first in 1988 and again in 1992. If Michigan State is going to capture their first Big Ten Tournament, it would come with the odds against them. Michigan State went just 2-10 this season against the other five qualifying teams. The Spartans did not play Minnesota, but were swept by Illinois and Ohio State, and lost series to Indiana and Purdue in the final two weeks of the season. But give Sparty its due. A quality of good teams is beating the teams you're supposed to, in going 11-1 against the bottom 4 Big Ten teams, Michigan State did what was needed to reach Huntington Park.

Lets go inside the numbers to see how Michigan State fought their way to Columbus.

Hitting:

This certainly isn't the driving force behind MSU's success. The Spartans enter the Big Ten Tournament, hitting a collective .284, only Northwestern's clip of .264 was worse in the Big Ten. To say the Spartans are not an explosive bunch is a bit of an understatement. Michigan State finished in the bottom two in nearly every offensively category. They finished last in the conference in doubles with 75, home runs with 26, and slugging percentage at .360. Sparty finished next to last in hits (494), RBI (267), runs (303), triples, (7), and total bases at 661.

Even with the collective struggles, Michigan State does have a few potent bats that can cause opposing pitchers fits. Leading the way is one of three captains Eric Roof. Roof started all 52 games for Michigan State, some in the infield, some at catcher some at DH, showing how important his bat is. In 192 at-bats, Roof lead Michigan State with a .339 batting average. His 65 hits, 13 doubles, 2 triples, and 37 RBI, .505 slugging percentage, and .435 on-base percentage were all team highs.

The only other Michigan State regular that hit over .300 was outfielder Eli Boike. Batting .309, Boike's 7 home runs paced the Spartans as did his 36 base on balls. Boike's .423 on-base percentage bolds well for Michigan State as Boike can be a force when he gets on base, stealing 12 bases in 16 attempts. Jeff Holm, (.298) Johnny Lee, (.294) and Chris Roberts (.293) round out Michigan State's top 5 hiters.

Pitching:

With the Spartans bat's not being as prominent as the other Big Ten Tournament teams, Michigan State will have to get it done from the pitching mound. Which suits them well as they finished third in team pitching to close out the regular season with a 4.97 team ERA. Only Minnesota's 4.50 tops the Spartans in the tournament field. Spartan pitches limited opposing hitters to a .289 batting average against, second-best. Spartan pitchers are not overpowing the 289 strikeouts ranked only 8th as did the 227 free passes they issued. The Green and White saw 84 doubles hit against them, 9 triples and 41 home runs.

The Spartan pitching staff is lead by Senior righty Nolan Moody, the teams Friday night starter who acheive one remarkable feat, tossing a no-hitter against Northwestern earlier in the year in a 2-0 victory. Moody on the season compiled a 6-4 record along with a 4.04 and 52 strikeouts in 89 innings. Moody's pitching set the tone for one of the Big Ten's best weekend rotations.

Following Moody in the rotation is the last of the three captains A.J. Achter. Achter went 3-5 on the year with an impressive 3.48, stirking out 53 batters in his 77 innings pitched. Though he did issue a team high 53 walks, opponents hit just .241 off Achter limiting damage done.

As the weekend goes on, the Spartan's ERA continues to drop. Rounding out the rotation is Sunday starter Freshman Tony Bucciferro. Bucciferro went 5-2 during the regular season, boasted a more than solid 3.15 ERA struck out 59 batters in 68.1 innings, walking just 10 all season. Bucciferro should be in the running for Big Ten freshman of the year.

A trio of Spartans have collected saves this season, but Peter Wolff leads the way with 4. Wolff has a 6.87 ERA in 17 appearances.

Outlook:

In a year that surprised many of the experts, myself included, Michigan State found a way to qualify for the Big Ten tournament, riding their solid starting pitching and quality coaching of Boss. For Michigan State to make a run, their pitching staff needs to continue to perform at the level they have all season, and they need to execute small ball to perfection with some of the offenses they will face. Michigan States 70 successful stolen bases finished just behind Big Ten leaders Illinois' 78 and the team will need to be aggressive on the bases maximizing each and every scoring chance.

Michigan State will kick off the 2009 Big Ten Tournament, facing Illinois is game one. First pitch is at 12:05 at Huntington Park. Expected to take the mound for Michigan State is Nolan Moody, Illinois is schedule to counter with Phil Haig.

9-Innings Double Play

2009-05-18T02:10:00.001-04:00

Photo Courtesy Michigan State Athletics

For those familiar with the Buckeye Nine, when I get the chance I ask 9 questions to a player, writer, contributor, that they answer in a series called 9-Innings. With Michigan State reaching their first Big Ten Tournament since 2004, and just the 8th appearance in school history, The Buckeye Nine sought to give just a bit more and give some much deserved credit to the Michigan State program.

The Buckeye Nine was able to catch up with two of the Spartans tri-captains, senior pitcher Nolan Moody, and Senior catcher/DH Eric Roof. Moody a senior RHP from East Lansing, is the teams Friday night starter and made national headlines with the no-hitter he through April 4th against Northwestern. Moody received National Player of the Week honors form Louisville Sluggerfor the performance and the solid pitching didn't stop there. With a 6-4 record and 4.04 ERA, while recoring 52 strikeouts, Moody anchors a Spartan pitching staff that ranks third in the Big Ten in team pitching.

Just as Moody leads the Spartan pitchers, Roof is the driving force behind the Spartans at the plate, both offensively and defensively as the teams primary catcher. On the season Roof is leading Michigan State batters with a .339 batting average, the mark jumps to .349 in Big Ten play. Roof has 5 home runs, 2 triples, 13 doubles, and a team high 37 RBI.

Thanks to the two for taking the time to supplement the Buckeye Nine's coverage of the Big Ten Tournament.

1st Innings

B9: First, you're from East Lansing can you tell us what it means to be able to play for Michigan State and be a part of the hometown team?

Moody: Playing for Michigan State is an unbelievable opportunity that I feel very lucky to have gotten to do. I grew up rooting for MSU and its not very often people get to play for the school they cheered for their whole life so its really special to me that I am able to do it.

B9: First, you're playing on a team with your brother, sophomore Jonathan, was it something you grew up dreaming out, what has the last 2 years been like?

Roof: Actually I've played with my brother all my life. I'm from a small town and small high school so we played together for three or four years then. But it has been a sweet experience and has been cool to watch him grow in two years.

Second Inning

B9: Were you expecting to enter the season as the teams ace?

Moody: Yes. Coach Boss asked me in the fall if I would start, I of course really wanted to (as all pitchers do) and he told me he wanted and expected me to be the ace from then on.

B9: You were drafted last year in the 46th round by the Detroit Tigers, what were the reasons you turned down a chance to go pro and return for Michigan State?

Roof: Well I came back to finish off my degree and to use another year to get better all around.

Third Inning

B9: As two of three tri-captains what goals did you have set for yourselves going into the 2009 season?

Moody: Personally I did not set a specific goal other than to pitch as well as I could. As a team we had 4 goals. Win at home, win against in state teams, make the conference tournament and get a ring. (regular season or tourney) So far we are 3 for 3 and hoping to make a run at it this weekend.

Roof: Obviously our main goal was to get to the Big Ten Tourney, win the Big Ten, win all the home games, and win all the in-state series.

9 up 9 down

B9: The new McLane stadium was finished this season. What is it like moving in and playing in the new stadium? Has the atmosphere changed?

Moody: Playing at McLane Stadium was something me and all the seniors felt really fortunate to have been around just long enough to get to do. The atmosphere is very different with a brand new stadium. More people came out to watch, we won there on a consistent basis and more fans got in to following our season and coming to our games. I think it made a big difference and is part of the reason why we played so well at home this year (15-4 at home) and certainly that contributes to our success in making the tournament

Roof: It has been awesome. It's also cool to play in a stadium with a lot of people and finally all those people are rooting for us. I think with the stadium sitting on top of the field really creates a home field advantage for us and it's unlike any other stadium. They are still fixing the outfield fence this summer so it will look even cooler this time next year.

Through 4

B9: Did the previous two seasons where Michigan State had a chance to qualify for the Big Ten Tournament in the final weekend before falling short, provide any offseason motivation?

Moody: It definitely is motivating when you get disappointed like that on the last weekend of the year two times in a row. You have a bad taste in your mouth and want to get rid of it. I think it made us want to get there even more each year.

Roof: I think it definitely did. When you work so hard to accomplish your goals and then fall short it makes you want to work twice as hard. So that the next time you have that opportunity you can capture them.

6th Inning

B9: The season got off to a rough start going 2-14 out of the gates. You guys have responded by finishing 21-15 since, what sparked the change? Is anything different now than at the start?

Moody: I think our season turned around on the Friday game at our place vs. U of M. We erased two 2-run deficits in the 9th and 10th innings to win. I think we realized we were a pretty good team and started gaining confidence in ourselves which really got the bats going and we rounded in to a very good overall team from the pitching hitting and defensive aspects.

Roof: I think everything is clicking for every guy. The more and more at-bats you get or more and more innings you pitch you start getting comfortable and also more confident. One person who has helped me out tremendously in the last month and a half has been Steve Shindler, third basemen AJ Shindler's dad. He has made some adjustments with my swing in the cages and told me some tips that I had never really noticed. He moved my hands back slightly and I think that has helped out my power lately.

7th Inning Stretch

B9: How is the team feeling and preparing for the Big Ten Tournament? Is there any pressure to win and advance to the NCAA's or are you guys relaxed and just having fun?

Moody: Our team is very excited for the Big Ten Tourney. I think everyone will go in loose and ready to play. We aren't supposed to win but I think our team believes we can so the only pressure we have will be the pressure we put on ourselves.

Roof: I think we have practiced extremely hard since the end of the season. Everyone has got the same goal in mind and are making sure we do everything we can to make that possible.

Last At-bat for the home team

B9: What has Head Coach Jake Boss Jr. in his first year as the Michigan State coach meant and brought to the team?

Moody: I can't say enough about how important coach Boss has been in the success of our team. He is a great coach and an even better man. He came in and gave guys confidence and the chance to play when they do the right thing and play hard. As a player its all you can ask for and we have responded really well to his coaching.

Roof: Coach Boss and the rest of the coaching staff has brought a great positive atmosphere to the program and I think you're starting to see it take off. They do a great job of coaching, get on you when they need to, and they are the first ones to tell you what a great job you did when you do something right. So it's nice to have coaches that are there for you and truly care about you and the rest of the team.

Closing it out

B9: In 5 words describe the no-hitter you threw against Northwestern.

Moody: Incredible day I'll never forget.

B9: In 5 words that describe the life of a catcher.

Roof: Extremely tough but (the) best position {sorry had to use 6}

Again thanks to Nolan and Eric for taking the time to sit down and answer the questions. Good Luck to them and the Spartans as they try to capture the first Big Ten Tournament in program history.

Scouting the Field: Purdue

2009-05-17T10:29:00.000-04:00

Photo courtesy the-ozone.net

It came down to the final the day of the regular season, but the Purdue Boilermakers were able to lock up the Big Ten's 6th and final Big Ten Tournament seed. The tournament appearance is the Boilers' 13th in program history, and 6th in the last 7 seasons. As a program Purdue has an 11-24 record in Big Ten Tourney play, with a high finish of 2nd place, two times occurring in 1987 and 2008, both times falling to host Michigan in the championship games. Head Coach Dan Schreiber's Boilers look to take it one step further than last years BTT runners-up.

The 2009 edition of the Boilermakers come into postseason play with a 11-12 Big Ten record, and an even 24-24 overall record. Purdue against the Big Ten Tournament field this season went 6-9. Purdue was swept by the tourney's top two seeds, Ohio State and Minnesota respectively in back-to-back Big Ten weekends in late April. But rebounded in a strong way over the last month, collecting 2-1 series wins over Indiana, Michigan State, and Illinois in order. Needless to say Purdue comes into the tournament pretty hot and should be a 6-seed to not take lightly.

As a team, in 48 games, Purdue batted .318, 4th best in the Big Ten scoring 350 runs, 6th best, also finishing in the half of the Big Ten in hits 555 (5th), doubles 102 (4th), triples 14 (4th) and free passes 227 (2nd). Purdue's 38 home runs was 7th best in the Big Ten, as was their 61 stolen bases in 83 attempts. Purdue's .457 slugging percentage was 5th in the 10 team conference, while their .406 on-base percentage paced the Big Ten.

Offensively Purdue is lead by the Big Ten's batting champion, outfielder Brandon Haveman, who on the strength of 70 hits, posted a robust batting average of .412 on the year. Haveman collected 23 RBI, and lead the team with 16 doubles.

Purdue's power threat resides in their stout third baseman Dan Black. Though he was walked a Big Ten high 59 times, and was hit by 13 other pitches, Black still managed to hit 14 home runs, and 13 doubles in his .303 batting average to lead Purdue with a .648 slugging percentage.

Eric Charles at .390, Alex Jaffee's .343, and Nick Overmyer's .317 batting average, gave Purdue 5 players with a .300 or batter batting average in qualified at-bats needed. Ben Wolgamont lead the team with 9 successful stolen bases in 11 tries. Charles had 7 swipes while Haveman had 6.

Purdue's hitting ability and offensive prowess was the force behind the Boilers reaching the Big Ten's postseason. As their pitching unfortunately wasn't able to consistently produce at a high level, accustomed to their hitting.

Purdue enters the tournament with a 5.75 ERA, seventh best during regular season play, and the highest of the six tournament teams. Purdue's ten saves are tied for fifth best. Purdue did allow the second-fewest hits with 525 on the year, but of those 525, 27 were for home runs, and 93 for doubles, both again fifth-most in the conference. The .305 opponents batting average against was third worst, but Purdue limited the damage that could be done, hitting a Big Ten low 27 batters, and the 188 base on balls issued were 4th lowest. Purdue pitchers struck out 331 hitters, which ranked sixth. Some of Purdue's pitching numbers are a bit skewed relative to others as in playing only 48 games, Purdue pitches pitched a total of 421 innings which tied Northwestern for the fewest.

The Purdue leaders from the mound include Friday night starter and team ace Matt Bischoff. Bischoff who was a 1st team All-Big Ten selection in 2008, went 4-4 on the year with a 5.38 ERA. In 87 innings Bischoff allowed 99 hits, and 52 earned runs. Struck out 77 batters while walking 20. Opponents batted .283 of the junior righty Bischoff did encounter problems in the form of extra-base hits, allowing 26 doubles, 2 triples and 6 home runs. The rest of the Purdue rotation is rounded out by Soph. Matt Morgan 6-4, 4.32 and Jr. southpaw Matt Jensen 4-6, 6.52. Junion Kevin Cahill has been Purdue's most decorated closer, collecting five of the team's ten saves, posting a 6.46 ERA, and 3-2 record in the process.

Defensively Purdue committed the third-most errors in the Big Ten this season with 82, resulting in the second lowest fielding percentage at .956. The Boilermakers turned 41 double players always ranking next to last, as was their 73.9% successful stolen bases against. Purdue catchers threw out 23 runners on the bases while allowed 65 stolen bases.

Purdue begins their quest to receive the Big Ten's automatic NCAA bid, and the program's first Big Ten Tournament championship, Wednesday in game two versus in-state rival Indiana. First pitch will be 30 minutes after the conclusion of game 1. Tenative game time is 7:05. Purdue is expected to send Bischoff to the mound. Indiana will counter with Eric Arnett.

Big Ten Tournament Info & Bracket

2009-05-16T20:11:00.001-04:00

On Dec. 18, 2008, the Big Ten Conference and Greater Columbus Sports Commission announced that Huntington Park, the home of the Triple-A Columbus Clippers, would serve as the host site for the 2009 Big Ten Baseball Tournament.

The 2009 event marks the first neutral-site Big Ten baseball tournament since 1994 and just the third in history not held at the site of the regular-season champion or the champion from a pre-selected division.

The tournament bracket will be announced on the evening of the final day of regular-season competition. The Big Ten Baseball Tournament is a double-elimination event that awards byes to the top two teams. The Big Ten Champion is the winner of the regular season, while the Big Ten Tournament Champion receives the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Championship.

Five different teams have been named Big Ten Tournament Champion in the event's 28-year history, with Michigan, Minnesota and Ohio State owning the most titles with eight each. Illinois has won the tournament three times, and Indiana has taken home that crown once. Having won the last three regular-season championships, Michigan has hosted the last three tournaments, while the event was last held in Columbus in 2001. The 2009 tournament will be the sixth overall played in the city of Columbus.

The Big Ten release the tournament bracket

The Big Ten Conference announced on Saturday the bracket for the 2009 Big Ten Baseball Tournament, held May 20-23 at Huntington Park in Columbus, Ohio. The Big Ten title was decided during the final game of the last day of the season when an Ohio State win, combined with a Minnesota loss, gave the Buckeyes their first conference championship since 2001.

Ohio State earns its first No. 1 seed since that 2001 championship season and is a top-two seed for the first time since 2004. The Buckeyes finished the conference slate 18-6 and are making their 13th consecutive appearance in the Big Ten Baseball Tournament. Ohio State will receive a bye in the first round and will start tournament competition on Thursday at 7:05 p.m. ET, facing the lowest seeds of the winners of Games 1 and 2.

Minnesota takes the No. 2 seed in this year’s tournament, finishing the conference season with a 17-6 mark. The Golden Gophers are making their Big Ten-leading 25th appearance in the tournament, having advanced to 11 of the last 12 events. Receiving a first-round bye, Minnesota will begin Tournament play on Thursday at 3:35 p.m. ET and will take on the highest seeds of the winners from Wednesday’s games.

In the No. 3 seed, Indiana (16-7) is making its second consecutive tournament appearance and the team’s seventh overall. This year marks the Hoosiers’ highest seed since the tournament expanded to six teams in 2000 and the squad’s best placement since 1996 when it was the No. 2 seed. The Hoosiers will play in-state rival No. 6 Purdue in Game 2 of the tournament at 3:35 p.m. ET on Wednesday. The Boilermakers (11-12) earned the final spot in the tournament on the last day of the season with a win over Illinois. Purdue is making its second straight trip to the tournament and its fifth in the last six years.

The No. 4 seed, Illinois (16-8) earned its fifth straight invitation to the Big Ten Baseball Tournament and the program’s 17th overall. The Fighting Illini are the tournament’s No. 4 seed for the second consecutive year, tying the team’s highest placement since 2005 when the they were the tournament’s top seed. Illinois will open the 2009 tournament at Noon ET on Wednesday, going against No. 5 seed Michigan State. The Spartans (13-11) are making their first tournament appearance since 2004 and the program’s eighth overall showing.

The 2009 Big Ten Baseball Tournament is the conference’s first neutral-site baseball tournament since 1994. Every game of the event will reach a live, national television audience with complete coverage provided by the Big Ten Network.

Printable Bracket

The B9 sits down with the Greater Columbus Sports Commission

2009-05-16T13:35:00.000-04:00

With the Big Ten Tournament coming to Columbus next week in partnership of the Big Ten and the Greater Columbus Sports Commission, the Buckeye Nine was able to catch up with Linda Logan the executive director of the GCSC to ask a few questions about the upcoming tournament.

The mission of the Greater Columbus Sports Commission is to provide leadership, guidance and marketing expertise in attracting regional, national and international sporting events and activities to benefit Greater Columbus economically and socially. The Buckeye Nine would like to thank Ms. Logan and the GSCS for taking the time to answer a few questions.

B9: First tell us how exactly did the chance to host the Big Ten Tournament come about? Did you contact the Big Ten once Huntington Park was complete or in the works? Did the Big Ten reach out to Columbus and the Greater Columbus Sports Commission?

LL: Ken Schnacke (Clippers) & Linda Logan (GCSC) met with OSU Coach Bob Todd close to two years ago to discuss the possibility of bidding on the tournament. Linda Logan contacted the Big Ten. They were not going to open up a bidding process anytime soon. Ken & Linda began to do some homework on other major conference tournaments and traveled to Oklahoma City to see the Big 12 Tournament a year ago. (Logan used to work for the Big 8 in the 1980's during the period when they decided to go to OKCITY with their tournament). The GCSC and Clippers submitted a bid to the Big Ten. There were not guarantees that the Big Ten would consider the tourney bid without the formal bidding process. Administrators and Coaches had to agree to this request for a 3 year bid. There is more to the story, but in the end, they agreed to a one year pilot program.

B9: After the parties were in communication with one anyone, can you provide insight into what aspects about Columbus, Huntington Park, and the Arena District you really tried to promote and push to the Big Ten in the bid?

LL: We wanted to create a special environment for the student athletes and fans. We want to do those special touches that create a great tournament atmosphere...great hotels, restaurants, baseball movies at the Arena Grand, fantastic new ballpark, big league experience.

B9: I've seen advertising in print from the Columbus Dispatch, over the radio on WBNS, WTDA, etc, what approaches are you taking in promoting the event and what are you expecting in regards to attendance? Are you trying to target a particular age group? Is there an emphasis on family fun and bringing families downtown? Has there been a push to attract local college students?

LL: Limited budget; grassroots to baseball groups; corporate ask; local organizing committee with a volunteer sales forve, facebook, smiling & dialings, alumni & friends of Big Ten Schools

B9: Can you tell us a bit about how the idea came to have a different restaurant in the district be a bit of a headquarters for the 6 competing schools? And which establishments will be linked to which school?

LL: Big Ten Restaurants

(A corresponding Arena District establishment has been designated as a "base" for each of the 6 competing schools. Family, friends, alumni are encouraged to meet, eat, relax at the assigned host, the link provided by Linda list the 6 schools and businesses)

B9: In regards to the players and baseball programs of the 6 schools, what is the message or experience is at the forefront? Is there a "big league" feel you're trying to generate? Are there any special accommodations the programs will have that are atypical of college baseball?

LL: We want the athletes to walk from their hotel (Crowne Plaza) to the ballpark in their streetclothes and have their uniforms pressed and hanging in their lockers for that major league experience.

B9: If you could have the Big Ten, the fans, students, and programs leave Columbus with one impression, what ideally would you like that to be?

LL: We want to them to have a memorable experience that will last a lifetime.

Hopefully Linda's responses provides a bit of an insight into how the Tournament came to Columbus and what to expect next week. Also provided is the mission statement and list of goals the Big Ten and GCSC would like to achieve.

The mission of the Big Ten Local Organizing Committee is to sell tickets to the Big Ten Baseball Tournament, to raise awareness of the event and to provide outstanding hospitality to Big Ten officials, players and fans while showcasing Greater Columbus.

Goals to meet the mission statement are:

• Average 3,000 tickets each session of the eleven game tournament
• Produce the best Big Ten Baseball Tournament as recognized by athletes, coaches and fans
• Saturate market with event awareness and exposure
• Develop awareness, participation and support in Greater Columbus for the sport of baseball
• Leverage hosting of Big Ten Baseball Tournament to attract future high profile events

The GSCS will be having a special event taking place during the tournament.

Breakfast & Baseball

Get into the baseball mood before the game at the Arena Grand, located less than a block from Huntington Park. Come enjoy breakfast and a complimentary showing of the baseball classic The Natural before heading over to the tournament. Just show your tournament ticket at the door to get in FREE. The movie will play at 9:00 a.m. ET on both Thursday, May 21 and Friday, May 22. Please see the Arena Grand Web site for location: Arena Grand

Again thanks to Linda and the Greater Columbus Sports Commission for taking the time. Also check back to see the Big Ten POV and their answers to how Columbus became home for the 2009 BTT and other issues.

If possible please head out to Huntington Park next week, not only to support our Buckeyes but to support the city of Columbus as well as the Big Ten. It wouldn't hurt either if the Bucks could capture a Big Ten record 9th Big Ten Tournament Championship.