Around the Big Ten (Baseball): March 1
We are week two in the Big Ten baseball season and while some teams are off to a great start, others face-planted at the starting line. Let’s take a look at what has been going on around the conference.
The Iowa Hawkeyes are one of those teams that are enjoying themselves. After their 3-0 start, they had a bit of a hiccup against Sam Houston, getting shutout 6-0. With No. 1 LSU on deck the very next day, it’d be interesting to see how the Hawkeyes would respond.
They pounced on the Tigers from the very start and didn’t look back. The Hawkeyes dominated and came away with a huge 12-4 win against the top-ranked team in the country. Iowa pitchers combined for 15 strikeouts and only gave up four hits.
Wins against Kansas State and Loras improved their record to 6-1.
After dropping their opening series against the Miami Hurricanes 2-1, the Penn State Nittany Lions got back on track sweeping their doubleheader against Northern Illinois. Daniel Ouderkirk struck out 11 batters in game two.
Penn State was going to have a game with Maine, but mother nature wasn’t too friendly and it was called off. But the weather was much nicer for their matchup against Monmouth, and Penn State blew the doors off winning 11-3.
The Purdue Boilermakers also had a doubleheader, taking on NJIT for a four-game series. They got off to a good start with a 6-5 win in game one, but then dropped the second half of the doubleheader 5-1. The two other games they played against NJIT also saw a split. Both teams won two games each during the series.
Illinois fought it out with No. 18-now-No. 25 Southern Mississippi and handled business fairly well. The Fighting Illini started the series out strong with a statement 13-5 win, but in game two they’d fall in extra innings 14-13. But they came back strong in game three to take the series with a 9-4 win.
The Michigan Wolverines were supposed to play Cal State Fullerton for a five-game series, but three of those games would be postponed. The two games they did play resulted in a doubleheader sweep for Michigan.
The Wolverines had a difficult day at the park against UC Irvine, losing 15-3, but hope to get back on their feet against No. 17 UCLA.
Michigan State saw three different opponents and only came away with one win. USC Upstate was their first opponent, and the MSU Spartans handled the USC Spartans well winning 13-6. They would go on to lose against Gardner-Webb and Presbyterian in the following days.
After going 0-3-1 to start the year, the Nebraska Cornhuskers corrected their mistakes by sweeping South Alabama in three games, most convincingly with a 15-3 win in game two of the series. They will have a tough test against No. 7 Vanderbilt on Mar. 3.
The Indiana Hoosiers traveled to Austin, Texas for a three-game set against the Texas Longhorns. The Hoosiers dropped the first two games but were able to salvage the series and avoid the sweep. Indiana went back home to Bloomington and crushed Butler 13-2 on Tuesday.
Maryland had its hands full against No. 4 Ole Miss and took the 9-2 upset in game one. But the Rebels played their game and took the next two from the Terrapins in dominating fashion. Maryland played the Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens and was able to get back into the win column.
Ohio State went back and forth between matchups against Gonzaga and Grand Canyon and lost three of the four games total. The one win came against, Gonzaga due to a great day at the plate for Buckeye hitters and a nine-strikeout performance from the pitching staff.
The Rutgers Scarlet Knights beat George Mason in extra-innings in the Swig and Swine Classic 5-4. However, they would drop the next two games against Ball State and Boston College after the classic.
Northwestern continues its winless season as the team watched its record worsen to 0-6, and the Minnesota Golden Gophers were swept by Saint Louis to fall to 0-7 on the year.
Anthony Desher is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email acd5698@psu.edu.
