B1G Baseball Weekly Update (4/8 - 4/14)

We are about two months into the season with about two months left. Here is where everyone stands as of now:

Standings	Conference	Overall
Michigan St	5-1-0	23-6-0
Minnesota	4-1-0	19-10-0
Nebraska	7-2-0	22-11-0
Indiana	4-2-0	18-13-0
Maryland	4-2-0	18-15-0
Michigan	3-2-0	22-9-0
PSU	5-4-0	19-14-0
Iowa	5-4-0	16-15-0
Illinois	4-5-0	14-16-0
Ohio St.	2-4-0	21-11-1
Rutgers	2-4-0	15-17-0
Northwestern	2-7-0	9-24-0
Purdue	0-9-0	4-25-0

Illinois (14-16, 4-5) RPI: 104

04/09/16 at Iowa L 3-4
04/09/16 at Iowa W 10-4
04/10/16 at Iowa L 3-4
04/12/16 ILLINOIS ST. W 7-1

Lost a close series at Iowa but rebounded with a win against Illinois St. Will have an easier schedule next week to try and pad the resume.

Up next: 4/15 - 4/17 St. Louis; 4/19 @ Eastern Illinois

Indiana (18-13, 4-2) RPI: 161

04/08/16 PURDUE W 10-9
04/09/16 PURDUE W 3-2
04/10/16 PURDUE W 7-6
04/13/16 BALL ST. W 4-3

Didn't drop a game this week although considering the competition didn't help the RPI much either. Still, a sweep over a rival is always a good thing.

Up next: 4/15 - 4/17 Iowa; 4/20 @ Xavier

Iowa (16-15, 5-4) RPI: 93

04/09/16 ILLINOIS W 4-3
04/09/16 ILLINOIS L 4-10
04/10/16 ILLINOIS W 4-3
04/12/16 AIR FORCE W 9-7
04/13/16 AIR FORCE W 22-2

Won a hard fought series with the Illini and swept Air Force in the mid-week match up. This helped the Hawkeyes jump up into double digits in RPI.

Up next: 4/15 - 4/17 @ Indiana; 4/20 @ Bradley

Maryland (18-15, 4-2) RPI: 39

04/08/16 OHIO STATE W 3-0
04/08/16 OHIO STATE W 2-1
04/10/16 OHIO STATE W 5-4

Swept the Buckeyes and in the process went up 20 spots in the RPI. The Terps will try and keep things going in the right direction with a tough test against the Gophers.

Up next: 4/15 - 4/17 @ Minnesota

Michigan (22-9, 3-2) RPI: 45

04/08/16 MINNESOTA L 1-8
04/08/16 MINNESOTA L 3-5
04/12/16 at Michigan State L 5-11
04/13/16 EASTERN MICH. W 19-3

Not a good week for the Wolverines. Lost the series to Minnesota breaking their home undefeated streak plus couldn't salvage the Sunday rubber match due to weather (again, go home Michigan weather; you're drunk). Then dropped a non-con match up(?) to MSU in a mid-week game. Did take out their frustrations though on the Eagles. They'll get a chance to bounce back with Nebraska coming to town.

Up next: 4/15 - 4/17 Nebraska; 4/20 Toledo

Michigan State (23-6, 5-1) RPI: 29

04/08/16 at Penn State W 7-0
04/10/16 at Penn State W 5-2
04/10/16 at Penn State L 6-7
04/12/16 MICHIGAN W 11-5
04/13/16 vs. Central Mich. W 7-3

Won the series against PSU which keeps them atop the B1G for now. Also showed the other mitten schools whose boss getting both victories against the Wolverines and Chippewas in mid-week match ups. Will try to extend their B1G lead at Purdue this weekend.

Up next: 4/15 - 4/17 @ Purdue; 4/19 Notre Dame; 4/20 Western Michigan

Minnesota (19-10, 4-1) RPI: 19

04/08/16 at Michigan W 8-1
04/08/16 at Michigan W 5-3
04/12/16 SOUTH DAKOTA ST. W 7-3

Short week for the Gophers only playing three but managed to win them all including on the road against formerly ranked Michigan. That helped their RPI by going up 20 spots which currently is the best in the B1G. Needs to keep that going with Maryland visiting this weekend.

Up next: 4/15 - 4/17 Maryland; 4/19 North Dakota St.

Nebraska (22-11, 7-2) RPI: 83

04/08/16 NORTHWESTERN W 3-2
04/09/16 NORTHWESTERN W 8-7
04/10/16 NORTHWESTERN L 3-11
04/12/16 at Creighton L 3-4

Not a bad week for the Huskers but not exactly great either. Did win the series against Northwestern which keeps them within striking distance of MSU but that lone loss to the Wildcats dropped them some 30 spots. Plus, letting CU win for the 1st time in three years is never cool (#spreadJaycism). Things don't get any easier with a tough road matchup against Michigan coming up.

Up next: 4/15 - 4/17 @ Michigan; 4/19 @ KSU

Northwestern (9-24, 2-7) RPI: 247

04/08/16 at Nebraska L 2-3
04/09/16 at Nebraska L 7-8
04/10/16 at Nebraska W 11-3
04/13/16 BRADLEY W 5-1

Managed to split the week taking one game from Nebraska (which improved them 30 spots) as well as a mid-week game against Bradley. Will try and pull the wins into double digit territory with PSU visiting this weekend.

Up next: 4/15 - 4/17 PSU; 4/19 @ Chicago St.

Ohio State (21-11, 2-4) RPI: 128

04/08/16 at Maryland L 0-3
04/08/16 at Maryland L 1-2
04/10/16 at Maryland L 4-5
04/12/16 MOREHEAD ST. W 1-0
04/13/16 MOREHEAD ST. W 7-3

Got the broom treatment by Maryland losing three close ones on the road but rebounded with a mid-week sweep of Morehead (heh) St. Also somehow managed to go up 20 spots on the RPI proving the point that RPI makes little to no sense.

Up next: 4/15 - 4/17 Rutgers; 4/19 Cincinnati

Penn State (19-14, 5-4) RPI: 105

04/08/16 MICHIGAN STATE L 0-7
04/10/16 MICHIGAN STATE L 2-5
04/10/16 MICHIGAN STATE W 7-6
04/13/16 BUCKNELL W 8-1

PSU got their eight game win streak snapped in a series loss to MSU but did get a mid-week win against Bucknell. The Nits have been slowly building that RPI the past few weeks and are threatening to get into double digits.

Up next: 4/15 - 4/17 @ Northwestern; 4/19 Bucknell; 4/20 @ Kent St.

Purdue (4-25, 0-9) RPI: 271

04/08/16 at Indiana L 9-10
04/09/16 at Indiana L 2-3
04/10/16 at Indiana L 6-7
04/12/16 EASTERN MICH. L 5-6

Dropping all four games this past week extends the Boilermakers losing streak to 14. Things don't get any easier with MSU coming in this weekend.

Up next: 4/15 - 4/17 MSU; 4/19 Ball St.; 4/20 Indiana St.

Rutgers (15-17, 2-4) RPI: 58

04/08/16 SAINT JOSEPH'S W 11-1
04/10/16 at Saint Joseph's W 6-4
04/12/16 at Seton Hall L 6-7
04/13/16 SETON HALL W 3-2

Pretty productive week for the Knights winning a weather shortened series with St. Joe's then splitting a mid-week match up with former Big East foe Seton Hall. Somehow still has a decent RPI with an under .500 record.

Up next: 4/15 - 4/17 @ aOSU; 4/19 Delaware St; 4/20 @ Wagner

Wisconsin

This would never happen in real life:

*cough* Bullshit *cough*

RPI as of 4/13/16 courtesy of d1baseball.com

Players of the Week

Player of the Week: Nick Riotto OF, Jr., PSU
Had a .545 batting average last week with four multi-hit games including six RBIs on 12 hits. This is his first Big Ten Player of the Week award.

Pitcher of the Week: P: Dalton Sawyer P, Sr., MINN
Was instrumental in the victory over ranked Michigan pitching six scoreless innings. That outing included 10 strikeouts while only allowing two hits. This is his first Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honor.

Freshman of the Week: Hunter Parsons P, MD
Got his first career win in the game against James Madison pitching seven innings and only allowing two hits and one run while striking out four. This is his first Big Ten Freshman of the Week honor.

What to Watch This Week

BTN is doing its part to broadcast more and more B1G baseball/softball games so here is what you can find for baseball/softball coverage this week. All times Eastern

Baseball

Friday, April 15 Nebraska - Michigan 6:00 PM
Sunday, April 17 Iowa - Indiana 3:00 PM

Softball

Sunday, April 17 Ohio State - Michigan 1:00 PM
Wednesday, April 20 Rutgers - Maryland 3:00 PM
Wednesday, April 20 Rutgers - Maryland 5:30 PM

Players of the week, schedule, and results courtesy of bigten.org & btn.com