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Ohio State had two rough errors and walked guys late, and still we couldn't take advantage. We had Ks where we didn't swing the bat, awkward check swings, etc. 3 runs or fewer in 5 of 7 conference games, and it's not as if we have had series against UCLA and USC pitching. Disappointing start to Big 10 play.
 


It is crazy we have lost 14 straight conference games at Siebert Field dating back to last year. MCDevitt changed things up a bit today, but there are maybe 3 regulars who look comfortable at the plate right now. I did not think we would drop 3 straight conference series...but here we are.
 


No idea why we lifted Kruzan after 4 innings and 59 pitches but unless he is hurt that was a terrible move. Bullpen was terrible today and lineup cannot get the clutch hit with RISP to break the game open when we had the chance.

Wish I had the answers but I'm very concerned about where we're going with McDevitt. We don't seem to have any underclassmen we trust. Quinn was number 1 rated OF in Minnesota out of HS but can't even get a midweek look? Its gotta be transfer portal again.
 


DarrenTheGreek said:
No idea why we lifted Kruzan after 4 innings and 59 pitches but unless he is hurt that was a terrible move. Bullpen was terrible today and lineup cannot get the clutch hit with RISP to break the game open when we had the chance.

Wish I had the answers but I'm very concerned about where we're going with McDevitt. We don't seem to have any underclassmen we trust. Quinn was number 1 rated OF in Minnesota out of HS but can't even get a midweek look? Its gotta be transfer portal again.
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I didn't understand why Kruzan was pulled after 4 either...he was pitching well.

Lippe's .242 average is 3rd best on entire team in conference play. Ouch.

The pitching and defense numbers are encouraging (3rd in WHIP, 4th in BAA)... hopefully some guys can pick it up at the plate.
 

SomeGopherFan said:
I didn't understand why Kruzan was pulled after 4 either...he was pitching well.

Lippe's .242 average is 3rd best on entire team in conference play. Ouch.

The pitching and defense numbers are encouraging (3rd in WHIP, 4th in BAA)... hopefully some guys can pick it up at the plate.
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Pitching numbers have been good. The last two OSU games not so good. I am worried about Gregory and Sperry, both are going through a tough stretch. A very disappointing B1G season so far.
 

B1G weekend recap
Ohio State sweeps Gophers 3-0
Illinois takes 2 of 3 from Penn State
Nebraska sweeps Indiana 3-0
UCLA sweeps Iowa 3-0
Michigan takes 2 of 3 from Rutgers
Purdue takes 2 of 3 from Michigan State
Washington takes 2 of 3 from Northwestern
USC takes 3 of 3 from Maryland

Oregon takes 2 of 3 from UC-Santa Barbara

Purdue is squarely on the NCAA bubble. Illinois could get there if they fare well over the next 3 conf series (at Purdue, Oregon, Nebraska).

B1G Standings
TeamConfOverallRPI
UCLA12-025-23
USC10-226-313
Nebraska8-122-624
Oregon7-223-525
Purdue7-518-851
Illinois6-614-1274
Washington6-611-15197
Rutgers4-515-12129
Ohio State4-513-1399
Iowa3-612-1190
Michigan3-614-1356
Northwestern3-69-14-170
Penn State3-68-18233
Michigan State4-89-1784
Minnesota2-717-11136
Maryland2-712-1539
Indiana3-910-1787

 

B1G Schedule next weekend
Minnesota (2-7) at Iowa (3-6) - Disappointing start for both teams. Pretty much a must-win series to have any chance at Big Ten tournament

Illinois (6-6) at Purdue (7-5) - Very important series for both teams. Purdue is firmly on the NCAA bubble with a 51 RPI. Illinois isn't quite on the bubble yet but they have back to back tough series coming up against Oregon and Nebraska. They absolutely need a good showing here if they want to make some noise.

Rutgers (4-5) at Indiana (3-9) - Indiana is 0-6 against Oregon & Nebraska. This will be a good opportunity go build up the conference record.

Maryland (2-7) at Ohio State (4-5) - Don't let records fool you. Maryland has played Purdue, UCLA and USC....very tough slate. This series is up for grabs, IMHO.

Oregon (7-2) at Michigan (3-6) - Michigan has also had a tough schedule to start conference. I would favor the Ducks in this series but it isn't a lock by any stretch.

Mich State (4-8) at Northwestern (3-6) - The Cats seem to find a way to sneak out 1 win each weekend. Neither team is all that impressive.

Penn State (3-6) at Nebraska (8-1) - Nebraska has taken care of business against weaker competition. This weekend should be no different. It's a tune-up for their battles against Oregon and USC coming up right after. Nebraska is in for NCAA at this point....probably not in-line to host a regional but that could change over next 3 weekends if they stay hot.

USC (10-2) at UCLA (12-0) - This shaping up to be the series of the year in the conference.

Valpo at Washington
 






Gophers get back into the win column. Walks were a big story, as Iowa pitchers walked 10 and Gopher pitchers walked 0. Selvig was allowed to pitch through a jam in the 7th. Sperry with 2 scoreless innings in relief. Some good at bats with runners on today, and some nice plays in infield defensively.
 



Good win over Hawkeyes today. Finally a victory in game 1. Selvig had good stuff today but unfortunately was kept in one batter too long. Mitchell is too good of a hitter to try and pitch to 4 times.

Let's win the series tomorrow!
 

Solid in all phases today. The difference in two strike hitting from last Friday to this Friday was night and day, excellent job fighting off pitches, working counts, and getting the ball in play.
 

Missed opportunity. Offense non existent today. Before Ryerse's first pitch i told my wife "Iowa is walking this off in the 9th". I hate being right.
 


Lincoln gopher said:
One out with the bases loaded and hit a gift double play ball. No timely hitting, sloppy fielding. That was disappointing.
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I don't know the stats but it seems like Jameson Martin is the last guy you want up with less than 2 outs and RISP. Had a situation last weekend where I think he could've taken HBP on foot to tie Ohio State jumped out of way and a couple pitches later he hit into a double play.
Isaac Morton pitched really well but man a three base error on a comebacker to start the 6th right after taking the lead was absolutely brutal.
 

Their pitcher didn't exactly have dominating stuff, and still we looked feeble. The couple times they mentioned velocity on the broadcast, one was 85 down the middle Lippe took for strike 3, and Bello was very late on a full-count 87mph fastball in the upper third of zone he got a piece of.

I don't have anything else to add beyond what was said above, but since I don't want to let a rant go to waste: What is the point of video replay if they are not going to overturn that foul off the batter that Morton overthrew on the first error???
 

SomeGopherFan said:
Their pitcher didn't exactly have dominating stuff, and still we looked feeble. The couple times they mentioned velocity on the broadcast, one was 85 down the middle Lippe took for strike 3, and Bello was very late on a full-count 87mph fastball in the upper third of zone he got a piece of.

I don't have anything else to add beyond what was said above, but since I don't want to let a rant go to waste: What is the point of video replay if they are not going to overturn that foul off the batter that Morton overthrew on the first error???
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Clearly hit his back cleat. Don't know what they were looking at
 

Bats sleeping most of the game and a 9th inning rally ends up a run short 5-4.
7 B1G losses by a combined 11 runs.
 

I'm not a doctor but it looked like Lippe broke his leg on the caught stealing to end the game. He also looked safe to me.
 

Hoping for the best for Lippe, but it certainly didn't look good.

We have lost our first four series - three to teams with losing conference records, we can't win any conference games at home, and our two toughest series remain ahead. This season is getting long real fast.
 

B1G weekend recap
Iowa takes 2 of 3 from Gophers
Purdue takes 2 of 3 from Illinois (important for Purdue as they remain firmly on bubble IMHO)
Rutgers takes 2 of 3 from Indiana
Ohio State sweeps Maryland (after a horrific start, back to back sweeps puts Buckeyes on bubble)
Michigan takes 2 of 3 from Oregon (Michigan walks off game 3 in a thrilling fashion. This series really hurts Ducks chances to host a regional. They still have 3 series against Neb, USC and UCLA)
Northwestern takes 2 of 3 from Michigan State
Nebraska sweeps Penn State 3-0 (schedule has been weak but Huskers are rolling!)
UCLA sweeps USC 3-0 (Series was closer than scores indicate but UCLA showed just how strong they are. Impressive sweep)

Washington takes 2 of 3 from Valpo

In my opinion:
In the NCAA's: UCLA, Nebraska, USC, Oregon (UCLA will host; Nebraska and USC have a chance to host)
On NCAA Bubble: Purdue, Ohio State, Michigan (Michigan has a terrible record but their schedule has been incredibly difficult....they have played UCLA, Nebraska and Oregon. Now the soft spot of schedule begins and a chance to pile up wins)
Off NCAA Bubble: Illinois (They really needed to win that Purdue series. They have Oregon & Nebraska coming up)


B1G Standings
RankTeamConfOverallRPI
1UCLA15-029-21
2Nebraska11-126-627
3USC10-527-69
4Oregon8-424-835
5Purdue9-620-1077
6Ohio State7-517-1368
7Washington6-614-16158
8Illinois7-815-1583
T9Iowa5-715-1288
T9Michigan5-716-1440
T9Rutgers5-716-15162
T9Northwestern5-712-15-186
T13Indiana5-1012-19105
T13Michigan State5-1010-1999
T15Minnesota3-918-13121
T15Penn State3-98-21220
17Maryland2-1013-1869
 
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B1G Schedule next weekend
Washington (6-6) at Minnesota (3-9) - I can't figure out the Huskies. Not impressed with them at all when I've seen them but they still manage to win most series (Indiana, Ohio State and Northwestern). Gophers have their work cut out for them.

Indiana (5-10) at Maryland (2-10) - After years at the top of the conference Maryland has had quite a fall from grace. They have played a tough conference schedule though as all 4 series were against top 5 teams. Neither program is used to being this far under-500 though.

Iowa (5-7) at USC (10-5) - I'm not very impressed with Iowa at all, which makes our series loss to them all the more frustrating. This will be a big test though for USC to see how they respond after a very disappointing series against the Bruins. Prior to this weekend they've been lights-out.

Michigan (5-7) at Michigan State (5-10) - Sparty has won their last 3 Friday series and Michigan managed to beat Oregon & Nebraska on Friday. This means game 1 of this series will be a test for both clubs and likely dictate who will win the series. It's a big series for Wolverines if they want to play themselves into NCAA contention.

Nebraska (11-1) at Oregon (8-4) - The Ducks lost in agonizing fashion in game 3 to Michigan. Huskers are one of the hottest teams in the country, albeit with a fairly week schedule. Winner of this series could host a regional.

Purdue (9-6) at Northwestern (5-7) - Northwestern is the opposite of Washington. They are not impressive but they manage to sneak 1 win each weekend that they shouldn't. Purdue absolutely needs to win this series....a sweep if at all possible.

Penn State (3-9) at Ohio State (7-5) - Buckeyes are on a roll and look to stay not against a pretty weak Penn State team.

UCLA (15-0) at Rutgers (5-7) - It might be tough for Bruins to travel that far east but that's the only excuse for a trip-up this weekend. They are #1 for a reason.

New Orleans at Illinois
 


DarrenTheGreek said:
B1G weekend recap
Iowa sweeps Gophers 3-0
Purdue takes 2 of 3 from Illinois (important for Purdue as they remain firmly on bubble IMHO)
Rutgers takes 2 of 3 from Indiana
Ohio State sweeps Maryland (after a horrific start, back to back sweeps puts Buckeyes on bubble)
Michigan takes 2 of 3 from Oregon (Michigan walks off game 3 in a thrilling fashion. This series really hurts Ducks chances to host a regional. They still have 3 series against Neb, USC and UCLA)
Northwestern takes 2 of 3 from Michigan State
Nebraska sweeps Penn State 3-0 (schedule has been weak but Huskers are rolling!)
UCLA sweeps USC 3-0 (Series was closer than scores indicate but UCLA showed just how strong they are. Impressive sweep)

Washington takes 2 of 3 from Valpo

In my opinion:
In the NCAA's: UCLA, Nebraska, USC, Oregon (UCLA will host; Nebraska and USC have a chance to host)
On NCAA Bubble: Purdue, Ohio State, Michigan (Michigan has a terrible record but their schedule has been incredibly difficult....they have played UCLA, Nebraska and Oregon. Now the soft spot of schedule begins and a chance to pile up wins)
Off NCAA Bubble: Illinois (They really needed to win that Purdue series. They have Oregon & Nebraska coming up)


B1G Standings
RankTeamConfOverallRPI
1UCLA15-029-21
2Nebraska11-126-627
3USC10-527-69
4Oregon8-424-835
5Purdue9-620-1077
6Ohio State7-517-1368
7Washington6-614-16158
8Illinois7-815-1583
T9Iowa5-715-1288
T9Michigan5-716-1440
T9Rutgers5-716-15162
T9Northwestern5-712-15-186
T13Indiana5-1012-19105
T13Michigan State5-1010-1999
T15Minnesota3-918-13121
T15Penn State3-98-21220
17Maryland2-1013-1869
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Looks like they won the Friday game to me.
 


DarrenTheGreek said:
I'm not a doctor but it looked like Lippe broke his leg on the caught stealing to end the game. He also looked safe to me.
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I certainly thought he was safe as well, can't believe they wouldn't get together and look at it although with that group and some of the questionable calls this weekend it can't be too surprising.
The Lippe injury was sure ugly and just a freak thing. Will be interesting what they try first could see Sutherland or Hellum in the outfield, if Sutherland goes to primary RF then you got the DH spot open and I thought Akin had some good swings Sunday or its Mosh or Hunt.
 

Gophers fall behind early by 5 but got the bats going in reaching a season high in runs scored. Akin got his first hit as a Gopher. Neels and Sutherland each with 3 hits and combine for 8 RBI.

Washington next. Huskies have lost 3 in a row (dropped finale to Valparaiso and then swept in 2 game midweek home series vs. Gonzaga). Weather looks good for Friday, iffy for Saturday, ugly for Sunday.
 

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