Big Ten Tournament open thread
Nebraska beat Ohio 7-6 and MSU beat Illinois 2-1 earlier today. Right now, Iowa is up on Indiana 1-0. Michigan plays Minnesota tonight.
They should really hold these events on campus. I think that there are about 12 people in the stands.
in our conference footprint though so there really are no excuses.
/s
Per the game notes, the probable starters for Michigan (not in lineup order, of course):
C #46 Cole Martin (B/R, 5-11, Sr.)
1B #34 Kyle Jusick (L/L, 5-11, Jr.)
2B #12 Eric Jacobson (R/R, 6-1, Jr.)
SS #9 Travis Maezes (L/R, 6-0, So.)
3B #2 Jacob Cronenworth (L/R, 6-1, So.)
LF #43 Carmen Benedetti (L/L, 6-2, Fr.)
CF #27 Jackson Glines (L/L, 6-0, Jr.)
RF #22 Kevin White (R/R, 6-0, Jr.)
DH #41 Dominic Jamett (R/R, 6-3, Jr.)
P #17 Trent Szkutnik (R/L, 6-0, Jr.)
The stands were full for nebraska, obviously.
LOL ohio couldn't even fill the place when it was held at the Clippers home stadium in their own freaking city.
Death to non-campus neutral site anything in every sport but Football or Men's Basketball.
Here's your B1G Hockey Tournament held in Saint Paul-
if they'd played it on campus at OSU. Attendance wouldn't have been any better.
They did in 2010. Ray Fisher Stadium was full when it was hosted there in 2008.
I won't be able to watch the game live because apparently The Americans and Survivor are on at the same time. I need to show the wife who's boss, I think.
Hey. There is something to be said for looking at Keri Russell's sweet ass for an hour on The Americans.
True - she's a dime
Actually she's a kopek
True dat!
Don't discount Agent Beaman's wife. Glad we finally got to see a bit of her in action.
The Amercians ?
Iowa ties it at 2. I'm hoping for an extra inning game or an Iowa win.
9:00pm CDT, BTN
baseball
Or is that not specific enough for you?
Indiana guy is a HR short of the cycle - wow.
Remember when the conference champions were actually rewarded and hosted the postseason tournament? What a novel concept. Rewarding someone for being the best, it is.
I've been going to Michigan baseball long enough to remember when the conference champions were actually rewarded with the conference championship.
Tool thrown out at the plate o.O
Interesting to see Jackson Lamb back in the lineup.
Michigan's lineup for tonight's game vs. Minnesota. pic.twitter.com/0HiBnxGkSL
— Michigan Baseball (@umichbaseball) May 22, 2014
How many B1G teams have a chance of making the NCAA Tournament? I would think Indiana would get an at-large even without winning the conference tournament. Do any other teams have a shot at an at-large bid or would Indiana need to get knocked off to make it a 2-bid league?
Indiana's in and Nebraska and Illinois are on the bubble.
That sucks.
Let's go Blue!!!!!
And as I say that, beanball
Dammit - come on, Blue. 2-0 Minn bottom of 5th
You generally don't want that in the opening game of a double elimination tournament: Szkutnik doesn't make it out of the 5th inning; Bourque in at p.
Really there seem to be 2 strategies during the early rounds of these huge double elimination tournaments: either (1) hope your starter can go deep into the game and save your long relief for the next day, or (2) use a "staff" approach and don't let anybody go much more than 60 pitches or so, hoping they can come back and pitch again if you make it to the weekend.
It looks like Bakich is going with option #2. Thanks to the quick hook, Szkutnik could probably pitch again on Saturday if we make it that far.
3-run homers!!!
A one-out, 3-run bomb off the bat of Travis Mavis in the top of the 7th gives Michigan a 3-2 lead.
Go BLUE!!
Michigan's 17th home run of the season, and Maezes' third. Which ties him for the season lead on the team.
I stand corrected (though I was trying to fix it before anyone noticed...)
A 1-2-3 inning with 2 strikeouts in the bottom of the 7th. Michigan bats in the top of the 8th with a 1-run lead.
Bourque has retired 7 of the 8 batters he has faced, although I'm guessing Cronenworth spends the top of the 8th warming up in the bullpen, and that he is brought in at the first sign of trouble.
Minnesota threatens with 2 runners on in the bottom of the 8th, but Cronenworth comes in to get the groundout. One inning to go, with both teams sending up their 7-8-9 batters in the 9th.
Michigan gets the 3-2 win. Bourque with the win, Cronenworth the save. Michigan takes on nationally ranked Indiana Thursday night at 10:00, not long after the softball game ends. Evan Hill will almost certainly get the start for Michigan.
Wednesday's results:
Michigan State 2, Illinois 1
Nebraska 7, Ohio State 6 (Nebraska scores 4 in bottom of 9th to win, with a hit batter, 4 walks, a single and a sac fly)
Indiana 5, Iowa 2
Michigan 3, Minnesota 2
Thursday's games:
Illinois v Ohio State, 10am EDT (loser eliminated)
Minnesota v Iowa, 2:00 EDT (loser eliminated)
Nebraska v Michigan State, 6:00 EDT
Indiana v Michigan winner, 10pm EDT
If Michigan beats Indiana, they will have 2 shots at making the championship, playing Saturday at 2:00 and if necessary at 10pm Eastern. If Michigan loses, they will need to win Friday at 8:30 and then twice on Saturday to advance to the 1-game championship.
I also figured Bakich would go with Hill today, but Michigan's press release today says it'll be freshman Brett Adcock (7-3, 2.51 ERA).
as I finally had to call it a night at 12:30. Alarm just went off, and my first task as I started the coffee was to check for a happy final score. GO BLUE!
The start tonight is 10 pm? The tournament schedule makers don't want me to get any sleep, do they??!
Looking forward to tonight's game. Go Blue!
Huge win to get into the winners bracket. DVRing the game tonight and the softball game tonight and tomorrow.