B1G Baseball Update 4/7 - 4/13

STANDINGS	CONF.	PCT.	OVERALL	PCT.	HOME	AWAY	NEUTRAL	LAST 10	STREAK
Minnesota	6-0-0	1.000	20-8-0	.714	9-5-0	11-3-0	0-0-0	10-0-0	W11
Nebraska	4-1-1	.750	20-11-1	.641	10-3-0	7-2-1	3-6-0	8-1-1	W2
Michigan	6-3-0	.667	26-7-0	.788	13-2-0	7-3-0	6-2-0	9-1-0	W1
Maryland	6-3-0	.667	21-11-0	.656	12-1-0	5-8-0	4-2-0	6-4-0	L1
Purdue	5-4-0	.556	17-15-0	.531	3-3-0	14-12-0	0-0-0	5-5-0	L2
Indiana	4-4-1	.500	17-13-2	.563	5-4-1	10-7-1	2-2-0	4-5-1	W2
Iowa	3-3-0	.500	20-11-0	.645	11-1-0	3-7-0	6-3-0	8-2-0	W1
Michigan State	3-3-0	.500	18-11-0	.621	1-4-0	10-5-0	7-2-0	4-6-0	L1
Ohio State	3-6-0	.333	14-19-0	.424	4-8-0	5-6-0	5-5-0	5-5-0	L2
Northwestern	2-4-0	.333	12-20-0	.375	7-10-0	5-10-0	0-0-0	7-3-0	W4
Illinois	1-5-0	.167	12-18-0	.400	6-7-0	5-9-0	1-2-0	6-4-0	W2
Penn State	1-5-0	.167	12-20-0	.375	6-5-0	4-13-0	2-2-0	3-7-0	W1
Rutgers	0-3-0	.000	11-18-0	.379	2-4-0	9-14-0	0-0-0	5-5-0	W1

In the previous B1G baseball update it was noted that about half of the B1G was in the top 100 in RPI. That is still true but now some teams have moved up to where almost half are in the top 50. This means that if the NCAA tournament started this weekend about five teams would have strong case for heading to a regional. Now for the other P5 conferences that might be considered par for the course but for this "Northern schools" conference it's pretty great to see. RPI as of 4/13/17

Illinois 12-18 (1-5) RPI: 147

04/07/17 at Michigan L 8-9
04/08/17 at Michigan L 0-7
04/09/17 at Michigan W 7-5
04/11/17 at Illinois St. W 6-5

The Illini took a trip to Ann Arbor and understandably lost but did get the win on Sunday avoiding the sweep. The win also helped jump up 40 spots in RPI although they'll need to do a lot of work the second half of the season if they want to do anything after the B1G tournament (or even make the B1G tourney for that matter). Illinois will get a chance to improve their conference record in hosting the Wildcats this weekend.

Up next:
4/14 - 4/16 Northwestern
4/18 Western Michigan

Indiana 17-13-2 (4-4-1) RPI: 37

04/07/17 at Purdue L 5-6
04/08/17 at Purdue L 3-7
04/09/17 at Purdue W 14-9
04/11/17 at Indiana St. W 2-0

Lost the Hoosier state showdown with Purdue but the RPI is still intact considering a loss to the Boilermakers this year is not as detrimental as it would have been last year. Big matchup with the Gophers this weekend as Indiana tries to get back to within striking distance of the top.

Up next:
4/14 - 4/16 Minnesota
4/19 Butler

Iowa 20-11 (3-3) RPI: 95

04/07/17 at Northwestern W 14-2
04/08/17 at Northwestern L 5-7
04/09/17 at Northwestern L 5-6
04/11/17 WESTERN ILL. W 4-1

Things started off great Friday but when Rocky Miller Park wants ya, Rocky Miller Park takes ya as the Hawkeyes dropped the series to Northwestern. Not as huge of a hit in RPI as probably expected but the series loss still hurts conference standings-wise. Things don't any easier as Iowa travels next to Lincoln.

Up next:
4/14 - 4/16 @Nebraska
4/19 @Bradley

Maryland 21-11 (6-3) RPI: 32

04/07/17 at Nebraska L 1-3
04/08/17 at Nebraska W 8-5
04/09/17 at Nebraska L 4-8
04/11/17 WEST VIRGINIA W 7-6
04/12/17 at George Mason L 5-8

Lost a tight, entertaining series with Nebraska which caused them to drop out of the top 25. They did recover though in winning a mid-week bout with a surprisingly good Mountaineers team. The Terps are still in the hunt for the regular season crown and will look to improve their conference record hosting PSU.

Up next:
4/14 - 4/16 PSU
4/19 @William & Mary

#13 Michigan 26-7 (6-3) RPI: 39

04/07/17 ILLINOIS W 9-8
04/08/17 ILLINOIS W 7-0
04/09/17 ILLINOIS L 5-7
04/11/17 EASTERN MICH. W 2-1

Currently Michigan is the only B1G team ranked and that is mainly due to the fact that they just keep getting the Ws. They'll have a chance to climb further up the rankings latter as they face off in a huge matchup with #18 Oklahoma. Sadly this marquee matchup isn't being broadcast on regular BTN (on BTN Plus for Saturday's game).

Up next:
4/13 - 4/15 Oklahoma [edit:  won Thurs. 5-2]
4/18 Michigan State

Michigan State 18-11 (3-3) RPI: 54

04/08/17 vs. Fresno St. W 10-4
04/08/17 vs. Fresno St. W 9-5
04/09/17 vs. Fresno St. W 8-2
04/11/17 at Notre Dame L 1-2

Took a break from B1G play this week and grabbed a sweep of the Bulldogs before falling to the Irish. MSU is still in good shape right now in RPI and will look to improve on that as well as their conference standings hosting the Buckeyes this weekend. Then they'll do their wacky 'non-con but with a conference mate' mid-week battle with Michigan to try and improve the RPI.

Up next:
4/14 - 4/16 aOSU
4/18 @Michigan

Minnesota 20-8 (6-0) RPI: 46

04/11/17 at North Dakota St. W 6-1

Not a whole lot going on this last week for the Gophers since the series with Rutgers was canceled due to weather/travel issues. This outcome might play a huge role later on in the season when trying to decide the regular season winner considering Minnesota was favored to at the very least win the series and further its stranglehold on its B1G lead. Now that they got the week to rest up a bit Minnesota will have a key matchup in Bloomington where they'll try and stay atop the board.

Up next:
4/14 - 4/16 @Indiana
4/18 South Dakota St.

Nebraska 20-11-1 (4-1-1) RPI: 35

04/07/17 MARYLAND W 3-1
04/08/17 MARYLAND L 5-8
04/09/17 MARYLAND W 8-4
04/11/17 at Kansas St. W 6-1

Got the series win over a ranked Terps squad bringing up the RPI 20 spots which is a drastic change from about a month ago when it was almost in the triple digits. The Huskers will try to keep the momentum going this weekend in another home series this time against Iowa.

Up next:
4/14 - 4/16 Iowa
4/18 @Creighton

Northwestern 12-20 (2-4) RPI: 265

04/07/17 IOWA L 2-14
04/08/17 IOWA W 7-5
04/09/17 IOWA W 6-5
04/11/17 WESTERN MICHIGAN W 11-4
04/12/17 at Bradley W 6-2

Grabbed their first B1G series win of the season against the Hawkeyes and followed it up with some mid-week victories over the Broncos and Braves. Not a whole lot of movement regarding the RPI but at this point NW is doing it for pride and building toward the future (as long as that future does not bother the residents of a neighboring town).

Up next:
4/14 - 4/16 @Illinois
4/18 Milwaukee

Ohio State 14-19 (3-6) RPI: 142

04/08/17 at Penn State L 2-6
04/09/17 at Penn State W 5-2
04/09/17 at Penn State W 11-2
04/11/17 CINCINNATI L 1-7
04/12/17 EASTERN MICH. L 1-3

Rebounded from the home series loss to Purdue last week with a road comeback series win of their own over PSU. Those mid-week bouts did not help things though and the Buckeyes RPI numbers continue to go in the wrong direction.

Up next:
4/14 - 4/16 @MSU
4/19 Northern Kentucky

Penn State 12-20 (1-5) RPI: 188

04/08/17 OHIO STATE W 6-2
04/09/17 OHIO STATE L 2-5
04/09/17 OHIO STATE L 2-11
04/10/17 BINGHAMTON L 3-6
04/12/17 BUCKNELL W 5-3

Dropped the series to the Buckeyes as well as a mid-week showdown with the Municipal Workers causing the RPI to drop some 20 pts. Things won't get any easier with the trip to College Park up next.

Up next:
4/14 - 4/16 @Maryland
4/18 Pitt (is it!)

Purdue 17-15 (5-4) RPI: 93

04/07/17 INDIANA W 6-5
04/08/17 INDIANA W 7-3
04/09/17 INDIANA L 9-14
04/11/17 at Louisville L 2-13

The Boilermakers picked up a good series win over their rivals and keeps that RPI under 100 for now. Just last year we commended Purdue for winning 10 games on the season whereas currently they are approaching 20 and sport a winning B1G record which is great to see for the program. With all the improvement the Boilers are amazingly in the mix for the regular season crown and will look to keep that hope alive in their trip to NJ this weekend.

Up next:
4/14 - 4/16 @Rutgers
4/18 Ball St.
4/19 @Indiana St.

Rutgers 11-18 (0-3) RPI: 101

04/11/17 at Lafayette W 28-4

Due to the aforementioned travel issues Rutgers got the weekend off from B1G play which gave them a reprieve from being a punching bag for a few days. Even though they didn't play much the past week they sure made up for it making Lafayette their own punching bag and dropping a football score on the poor Leopards.

Up next:
4/14 - 4/16 Purdue
4/18 Seton Hall
4/19 @Seton Hall

Wisconsin -
N

Players of the Week

April 10th 2017

Player of the Week -
Ben Miller SR. Nebraska

Hit .600 on the week recording 12 hits, 6 RBIs, and scoring 5 runs. He also had a 3 run HR in the game against Creighton in which he was the winning pitcher. This is his second player of the week award.

Pitcher of the Week -

Jake Hohensee Jr. Nebraska

Got the win over Maryland last Friday in which he struck out a career high 8 batters and only allowing 3 hits and 1 run. This is his first pitcher of the week award.

Freshman of the Week -

Dominic Canzone Ohio State

Hit .462 this past week with 7 hits, 7 RBIs, 1 HR, and scoring 2 runs. This is his first player of the week award.

I Want My BTN

All times EST

BTN/ BTN2Go 2017 Baseball Schedule

Friday, April 14, 2017
Northwestern - Illinois 8pm

Sunday, April 16, 2017

Iowa - Nebraska 3pm

BTN/ BTN2Go 2017 Softball Schedule

Friday, April 14, 2017

Wisconsin - Purdue 6pm

Sunday, April 16, 2017

Michigan - Maryland 1pm

Tuesday, April 18, 2017

MSU - Michigan 6pm

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Minnesota - Wisconsin 4pm & 6:30pm

Schedules and players of the week courtesy of bigten.org

RPI courtesy of Boyd's World (http://www.boydsworld.com/baseball/rpi/currentrpi.html)