Tom Shelton takes umm… batting practice before the Western Michigan game
For the last regular season weekend, we’re playing the Indiana Hoosiers. Note I use term “weekend” loosely since the series starts on Thursday. Given the teams playing, I’m expecting some wild and wooly games.
Indiana Hoosiers |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 20, 2010 | 2 pm ct | |||
| May 21, 2010 | 12 noon ct | |||
| May 22, 2010 | 12 noon ct | |||
| Sembower Field | Bloomington, IN | |||
| Program website link | Record | 25-24 (Big Ten 10-11) | ||
| Head Coach: | Tracy Smith | Key player: | Alex Dickerson | |
The one word that describes Indiana is OFFENSE. They have plenty of it and then some. Two of the top three hitters in the conference (Alex Dickerson and Jarrud Sabourin) are Hoosiers. And the homers! Indiana’s 73 homeruns lead the Big Ten by a significant margin (Purdue comes in at #2 with 52). Twenty-two of the 73 homeruns belong to Dickerson who most certainly is going to be on the A-list for the Big Ten Player of the Year.
With all the hitting you might wonder why Indiana is barely competing at a winning pace and even has a 10-11 conference record. Take a look at their pitching. Their ERA is dead last in the Big Ten. That said, starter Drew Leninger and his 7-3 record and 4.33 ERA seems to be someone to contend with.
Right now, the Hoosiers are in a four way tie for 5th place. Once again, it’s a horse-race for the Big Ten Tournament.
| Team | Record | Pct. | Record | Pct. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Minnesota | 13-8 | .619 | 25-27 | .481 |
| 2. Michigan | 12-9 | .571 | 32-19 | .627 |
| Purdue | 12-9 | .571 | 31-19 | .620 |
| 4. Northwestern | 11-10 | .524 | 22-29 | .431 |
| 5. Michigan State | 10-11 | .476 | 33-17 | .660 |
| Ohio State | 10-11 | .476 | 27-21 | .562 |
| Indiana | 10-11 | .476 | 25-24 | .510 |
| Iowa | 10-11 | .476 | 24-26 | .480 |
| 9. Illinois | 9-12 | .429 | 25-24 | .510 |
| 10. Penn State | 8-13 | .381 | 21-28 | .429 |
Sophomore Willie Argo needs one stolen base to tie the team record and one more to break it… and three games to do it. He stole #39 three games ago against Purdue.
Random Ramblings
In other news, former Illini Toby Gardenhire has been promoted to AAA. He’ll be reporting to the Twins’ Rochester club. His father, Ron, manages the Minnesota Twins parent club.
Fightingillini.com confirms what I already suspected. The orange jerseys are lucky. According to them, the team is 8-5 when they are wearing those particular unis. Don’t know why but I always had a good feeling when I see them wearing their bright oranges.