It’s a big weekend for Big Ten baseball. I won’t re-discuss the importance why since I did so a couple posts ago. Needless to say, the Illini and Northwestern need to win big for their own separate reasons.
Well, both teams had 3:00 games today, the Wildcats playing Penn State (who were one game back of the Illini) and the Illini playing last place Michigan State.
…and both teams got crushed by their respective opponents.
| Team | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois | 2 | 13 | 1 |
| Michigan State | 13 | 14 | 0 |
and
| Team | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northwestern | 0 | 10 | 3 |
| Purdue | 11 | 15 | 1 |
Two similarities without looking any further. Both the Illini and NU obviously couldn’t capitalize. A combined 23 hits (not to mention 4 errors) and they couldn’t muster more than 2 runs? The games have just ended so there aren’t any media reports out yet.
Both NU and Illini teams have 3 games left this weekend. More updates later…
Update: Here’s an update on the Illini-MS game from CSTV. The good news for the Illini is that both Iowa and Penn St lost their games too so they remain in 6th place. Michigan, who beat Iowa, jumps ahead of Northwestern and takes first for themselves.