Baseball eliminates 1 seed Minnesota in B1G Tournament

Submitted by Wolverine Devotee on

We sent Minnesota packing in the elimination game the last time we played them in this park for the B1G Tournament.

We have to do it again.

5 Michigan vs 1 Minnesota in a B1G Tournament Elimination Game on BTN right now.

Oliver Jaskie gets the start for Michigan.

LET'S GO BLUE!!! We need to win this game to lock up an at-large bid. 

EDIT: MICHIGAN WINS!!!

 

Wolverine Devotee

May 26th, 2016 at 2:11 PM ^

Minnesota leads off with a single but nothing more as the next 3 are retired. We are the home team in this game.

Also: 2 Nebraska was eliminated this morning by 3 Indiana. In Omaha.

B1G is gonna find out why selling the freaking tournament to Omaha for 2018 to the early 20s was a terrible idea. If Nebraska is knocked out or doesn't make it in, the attendance will be garbage.

Fifth Third Field in Toledo is the perfect spot for this tournament. Middle of the B1G footprint, not a huge stadium like this one is. But I digress.

ak47

May 26th, 2016 at 2:57 PM ^

Lol at thinking anyone is traveling mid week to games in toledo for big ten baseball.  You put the games where there is the possibility for the most local support or at campus sites.  Omaha clearly is a better place for baseball tha toledo.

Wolverine Devotee

May 26th, 2016 at 3:12 PM ^

Right, look at the huddled masses at the game right now. Or last year's in Minneapolis.

Should be the regular season champion hosting it every year. People at the B1G offices are too inept to understand that concept even though that's how the format was for the first 25 years of the event. 

If you have to do neutral sites, do it at smaller venues so it doesn't look ridiculous. Another thing the B1G doesn't understand. See the hockey tournament. 

Jpnets54

May 26th, 2016 at 2:13 PM ^

Even without Nebraska fans I don't think attendance would be much better some other neutral site.

Reality is that outsider of the Huskers there is nothing close to a strong baseball fan base in the Big Ten.




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Wolverine Devotee

May 26th, 2016 at 3:17 PM ^

Minnesota gets a leadoff double and the runner advances to third, but Jaskie gets out of the inning with a K and a flyout.

Wolverine Devotee

May 26th, 2016 at 3:48 PM ^

Another leadoff double but Michigan escapes again with a flyout in foul territory and two groundouts.

Gotta get the bats going now. 7th inning stretch. 

Wolverine Devotee

May 26th, 2016 at 4:05 PM ^

Bryan Pall replaced Jaskie on the mound and to the surprise of no one, Minnesota gets 3 hits in 4 ABs this inning. 

Down 1-2. 

Wolvie3758

May 26th, 2016 at 4:10 PM ^

but for 3 years now weve seen Bakich do the same STUPID thing..We have a pitvcer pitching well and were tied or in the lead and he pulls the starter for NO REASON only to IMMEDIATELY give up runs and LOSE the game late...If this strategy were working then fine but for 3 years its REPEATELY FAILED so why keep doing it?

ak47

May 26th, 2016 at 4:11 PM ^

Well considering pretty much every available statistic shows that for anything but elite pitchers anything after the 5th inning and 3rd time through the order is gambling with a loaded handgun and most of the statistics oriented mlb teams are using their pens much more I'd argue he is further along in the undertanding of baseball strategy than you are. 

Alton

May 26th, 2016 at 4:16 PM ^

Jaskie hadn't thrown 100 pitches.  I understand that Bakich loves his LaRussa-style bullpen, and that's how almost all of the top teams in the NCAA manage their bullpens these days, but sending the starter back out for the 8th inning after only giving up 4 hits in 91 pitches seems like it would have been the right move (as long as he was feeling okay).

LaRussa-style bullpens work great when you have a staff that is working well, like Michigan was last season.  When you don't really have the bullpen depth, it's a different story.

Wolverine Devotee

May 26th, 2016 at 4:21 PM ^

YES YES YES!!!!

Engelmann with a sacrifice but the throw is OVER THE HEAD OF THE 1B!!!

Brdar and Engelmann both in scoring position with no outs. 

Alton

May 26th, 2016 at 4:40 PM ^

Interesting; Evan Hill out to close this game.  He has been our #3 starter for a while (and so I was assuming that he would start tomorrow if we closed this one out).  I guess the logic is that he wouldn't get a chance to pitch tomorrow anyway unless we win today.

EDIT:  3 lefties in a row--obvious choice here for Michigan.

By the way, I haven't been able to watch.  Why did Benedetti come out of the game?  Is he okay?

 

tlo2485

May 26th, 2016 at 4:43 PM ^

So, with a mid 30's RPI we are pretty much locked into the 2/3 regional seed, correct? I don't think the B1G is strong enough to provide much of a boost to an improbable 1 seed if we magically run the table?

Alton

May 26th, 2016 at 4:49 PM ^

Michigan is certainly not getting a #1, even if they win 4 in the next 3 days.  Michigan will almost certainly not get a #2 even if they win 4 in the next 3 days.  Look for a #3--a high 3 if they win two more, a low 3 if they only win 1 more, and a bubble if they lose tomorrow.

I think Michigan did a lot to secure a bid today, but I think they need a win tomorrow to be comfortable.  They don't have any wins against the top 25 RPI teams, and they are only 5-8 now against the top 50.  That's the sort of team that occasionally finds itself skipped over on selection Monday.

Raoul

May 26th, 2016 at 6:44 PM ^

Currently, there's no one Michigan played who's in the top 25, but Oklahoma State is just outside (27), so I guess hope they make a deep Big 12 tourney run. (Michigan went 1-2 vs. them.)

Michigan moved up 4 spots with the win today to 33 (tops among Big Ten teams).

Alton

May 26th, 2016 at 7:04 PM ^

It's looking a lot better than it did a day ago.

But remember, last season the NCAA left #30 RPI North Carolina (34-24 overall record) off the list of invitees, so a top-30 RPI doesn't guarantee you a spot.  North Carolina went 6-9 over their last 15 games, and record in last 15 is one of the factors the NCAA baseball committee is supposed to take into account.

Unless Michigan wins the Big Ten Tournament, they will also end up with a 6-9 record over their last 15 games.  I will be nervous until Michigan wins on Sunday afternoon or until they put Michigan's name on the screen on Monday.

Raoul

May 26th, 2016 at 7:14 PM ^

I'm no baseball bracketologist—just throwing a couple more data points out there. Does the baseball committee take how you did recently into account? I thought in basketball at least they've deemphasized that in recent years.

Alton

May 26th, 2016 at 7:27 PM ^

"The committee may consider comparative data of individual teams, including, but not limited to, overall record; Division I record; overall RPI rank; nonconference record and RPI rank; conference regular-season record and conference tournament results; road record and RPI; last 15 games’ record; its record against teams ranked 1-25, 26-50, 51-100, 101-150 and below150 in the RPI; head-to-head record; common opponents’ record; and input from regional advisory committees."

That's pretty much everything, so who knows what they consider at any time or what they don't.  I can tell you that there are only 2 reasons on that list that they might have skipped #30 North Carolina last season:  either their "last 15 games' record" (6-9) or their "conference regular season record" (13-16).  If it was because of the last 15 games' record, that could end up being bad for Michigan.