Around the Big Ten (Baseball): April 5
It is just about the halfway point through the NCAA baseball season and the Big Ten is beginning to get into conference play.
A few of the best teams in the Big Ten went on the road this past weekend to try to keep momentum going.
The Indiana Hoosiers played a three-game series against Penn State in Happy Valley. Indiana looked like it was going to have a rough weekend after losing 7-2 in the first game of the series.
But Indiana swept a double header and ended up winning the series. The Hoosiers’ 4-1 win in the first game was a product of the pitching staff.
Junior Seti Manase was pulled after 3.2 innings pitched but only gave up one earned run on three hits.
Sophomore Ryan Kraft relieved Manase and continued to shut down the Nittany Lions. Kraft pitched the last 5.1 innings and only gave up one hit.
The second game on Sunday was the exact opposite of game one. Both teams’ bats exploded and Indiana won 22-11.
Five Hoosiers had at least two RBIs while seven had multiple hits.
Sophomore catcher Brock Tibbitts and sophomore Josh Pyne had a great weekend. Tibbitts had seven hits and five RBIs against Penn State and Pyne also had seven hits.
Indiana lost 4-0 against Indiana State Tuesday and will host Iowa over the weekend.
The Hawkeyes dropped a home series against Maryland last weekend after losing two of the three games.
Iowa was unable to keep Maryland’s offense silent. The Hawkeyes gave up 25 runs on the weekend.
But Iowa’s bats were still awake. It was able to match Maryland’s run total on the weekend and 12 of those runs came in Iowa’s win on Sunday.
Graduate utility player Brennen Dorighi continued his hot season. He was able to get at least a hit and a walk in every game on the weekend and had six runs.
For Maryland, junior infielder Matt Shaw had seven hits of his own. Shaw hit particularly well Friday where he went 4-for-4 and had six RBIs.
The victorious Terrapins started a four-game home stand Tuesday night with a 13-3 loss to William & Mary. Maryland has a three-game series against Rutgers over the weekend.
Michigan State won its series at Rutgers this past weekend and was able to do it defensively and offensively.
The combination of Joseph Dzierwa, Andrew Carson and Wyatt Rush held Rutgers to two runs and only gave up two walks in the 3-2 win.
In the second game, redshirt sophomore catcher Bryan Broecker tallied three hits and six RBIs. Four of those RBIs came off a grand slam in the fifth inning.
The Spartans host the Ohio State Buckeyes this upcoming weekend. Ohio State dropped its most recent series against Minnesota by losing two games.
The Nebraska Cornhuskers played a double-header in Abilene, Texas last Saturday.
The 12-1 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi was led by junior infielder Brice Matthews and graduate outfielder Casey Burnham. The duo combined for six hits and six RBIs.
But Nebraska dropped the second game against Abilene Christian 5-3. Juniorinfielder Max Anderson had a two-run home run and had all three RBIs for the Cornhuskers.
Nebraska will visit Michigan for a three-game weekend series. This will be its first Big Ten road series of the season.
Jayson O’Connell is a fourth-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jbo5216@psu.edu.
