bobby brosnahan

The Hawkeyes come to Ann Arbor this weekend to close out the first half of Big Ten play. The Hawkeyes started the year with an inflated RPI by losing almost every game they had to some of the best teams in the nation, but since returning north, they've struggled offensively and fallen to #169 of 301 (Boyd's Pseudo RPI).

Full preview after the jump:

Michigan travels to Illinois this week to take on the Illini in what has been a pretty even series over the last few years. Michigan is just 19-20 against the Illini since 2000, having won just one series in 2008. That said, they've only lost 3 series in that time due to several four game splits, but the Illini have continuously been a throne in Michigan baseball's side. This year looks to be no different.

Just a reminder, Q&A with Illinois Baseball Report happened. Preview is there.

Abbreviated thoughts after the jump:

Michigan moved to 18-11 and 4-2 in Big Ten play this weekend with a series win over Purdue at Ray Fisher Stadium, 2 games to 1. Ryan LaMarre was the big story of the weekend exploding for a 9/13 batting average in the 3-hole for your Wolverines.

UPDATE: Ryan even earned POTW honors in the Big Ten:

LaMarre earns his second career Player of the Week honor and his first this season after leading Michigan to a series win against Purdue over the weekend. The outfielder hit .692 and slugged 1.077 on the strength of three doubles and a triple vs. the Boilermakers. He also recorded three hits in every conference game, extending his hitting streak to 10 games dating back to last season. Against Central Michigan on Wednesday, LaMarre made his first start since suffering an injury at Texas Tech on Feb. 20. He went 1-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI in a 13-7 win. In eight appearances this season, LaMarre has four multi-hit games and is hitting .519 with a .704 slugging percentage.

Full recaps and series thoughts after the jump:

[Ed: These games are at home, and while tonight's promises to be chilly the weekend day games should be beautiful spring weather in the 60s. If you're around, I suggest going.]

It's been a long time since Michigan has faced off with Purdue in Ann Arbor. With the Boilermakers being the team rotated off the schedule the last two years, they haven't been to Ray Fisher since the 2007 season. The two teams have faced off three times since that series, twice in Ann Arbor for the 2008 Big Ten Tournament, Michigan winning both games, and once as a side game in the Big Ten/Big East Challenge of 2009, Michigan winning 4-3 in 10 innings.

This year's matchup is a bit less intense than the Big Ten Tournament, but it's not without it's own importance as Purdue can be dangerous if their starting pitching (as mentioned in yesterday's Q&A) can get in a groove against our aggressive hitters.

Match ups, concerns and more after the jump…

LaMarre back on the field, picture by Aaron Ferguson, IU Athletics

Michigan went into Bloomington this weekend for a three game set to open conference play. The first two games were high intensity with plenty of drama, the last game was a huge let down. Despite that let down, Michigan currently sits tied for first place with 4 other Big Ten teams as we emerge 2-1 on the weekend.  That's more important than how badly the team face planted on Sunday.

So for full recap, take the jump. My thoughts on the series come after the individual game recaps.

Having done the pretty thorough Q&A already (and returning the favor here), I'm not going to focus a ton on previewing Indiana in this post; instead, I'll focus just on a few thoughts.

They come after the jump: