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University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota - Ohio State Big Ten Tournament Blog
5/23/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
#20 Minnesota (37 - 16) is set to square off against #23 Ohio State (40 - 16) in a Big Ten Tournament elimination game from beautiful Huntington Park in downtown Columbus, Ohio at 2:37 PM (central). Minnesota is the tournament's second seed while Ohio State is the first. The winner will go on to face the third seeded Indiana Hoosiers at 7:05 PM. Minnesota is 2 - 1 this week. They have victories over Illinois and Purdue and a loss to Indiana. Ohio State is 1 - 1 with a win over Illinois and a loss to Indiana.
The blog is interactive so please feel free to send in questions and comments to gopherbaseballblog@yahoo.com. Blog host, Taylor Vander Aarde, will post fan queries and answer them throughout the game. This is your chance to have your opinion heard on gophersports.com!
Here are today's starting line-ups.
Minnesota 1) Matt Nohelty DH 2) AJ Pettersen SS 3) Derek McCallum 2B 4) Mike Kvasnicka RF 5) Kyle Knudson C 6) Nick O'Shea 1B 7) Eric Decker CF 8) Justin Gominsky LF 9) Kyle Geason 3B SP) Scott Fern
Ohio State 1) Zach Hurley LF 2) Cory Kovanda 2B 3) Michael Stephens CF 4) Dan Burkhart C 5) Ryan Dew DH 6) Justin Miller 3B 7) Michael Arp RF 8) Tyler Engle SS 9) Matt Streng 1B SP) Eric Best
2:37 PM - Eric Best delivers the first pitch of the game to Matt Nohelty for a strike.
2:38 PM - Minnesota faced Eric Best back in Minneapolis on April 5th. Best got the start and went 1.1 innings. He gave up six hits, six runs, walked one and struck out one. The Gophers went on to win that game by a score of 16 - 3. Minnesota 0, Ohio State 0, Top 1.
2:42 PM - The lefty Best went 7 - 3 on the year with a 5.35 ERA. In 67.1 innings of work, Best gave up 83 hits, 40 earned runs, 30 walks, and 52 strike outs. Minnesota 1, Ohio State 0, Top 1.
2:46 PM - Minnesota puts up four big runs so far in the first! It feels great to get a jump on the Buckeyes here in Columbus. Minnesota 4, Ohio State 0, Top 1.
2:50 PM - The Gophers four runs in the first inning are the most runs they have scored in the starting frame since Minnesota scored nine against Iowa on May 2 at Siebert Field. The four runs are the third highest first inning total put up the by team this year. They scored seven against TCU on March 15 in Fort Worth, TX. Minnesota 4, Ohio State 0, Bottom 1.
2:58 PM - Both teams brought their hitting sticks today as the ball is flying all over Huntington Park. Minnesota 4, Ohio State 3, Bottom 1.
Mike from New York City asks:
What assortment of pitches does Scott Fern throw? In general, how many pitches does a Division I pitcher need to succeed?
Does Coach Anderson call pitches from the bench or does catcher Kyle Knudson?
Thanks for the questions, Mike. Fern throws a fastball around 90 mph a 78 - 80 mph big breaking slider which is his best pitch. Fern also has a change-up. Typically, a D1 starter will have a three pitch repetoire. Occasionally, you will see a reliever with only a fastball and a breaking ball. That pitcher will always have a plus fastball which will be faster than 90 mph. Coach Anderson or pitching coach Todd Oakes do not call pitches from the bench. They trust the catcher to call his own game and this is something they work on in practice. Allowing the catcher to call the game can help speed up the game and prevent over-coaching. The Minnesota staff does a great job of letting the players play the game.
3:10 PM - Both Minnesota and Ohio State have terrific offenses. Minnesota enters the game hitting .316 and Ohio State .329. However, Minnesota possesses the conference's best pitching staff. They lead the league with a 4.50 ERA, a full run better than the Buckeyes. Minnesota 4, Ohio State 3, Top 2.
3:12 PM - Derek McCallum already has two hits on the day. McCallum is 6 - 11 during the Big Ten Tournament. Minnesota 4, Ohio State 3, Top 2.
3:15 PM - Today's match-up pits the Big Ten's two winningest coaches against each other. Minnesota's John Anderson has 1,003 career victories and Ohio State's Bob Todd has 995. Minnesota 4, Ohio State 3, Bottom 2.
3:18 PM - Minnesota finished second in the conference to Ohio State by a half game after the Gophers dropped a 10 - 8 decision to Penn State on the last day of the regular season. The Golden Gophers have finished second or higher 43 times in their school history. Minnesota 4, Ohio State 3, Top 2.
3:23 PM - Minnesota and Ohio State will most likely make the NCAA tournament even if they don't win this tournament and capture the at-large bid. Boyd's World, which simulates the RPI formula used by the NCAA has Minnesota at 21 and Ohio State at 31 coming into the season. Each has also boasts a fantastic win-loss record. Minnesota 4, Ohio State 4, Bottom 2.
3:30 PM - The Gophers cannot afford to leave many runners on base today. The ball is really flying out of this place and we will need all the runs we can get. Minnesota 4, Ohio State 4, Top 3.
3:31 PM - Eric Decker's emergence from a mid-season slump is welcomed by Gopher fans everywhere. Decker's talent is obvious but since he spends half the year playing football, he isn't able to spend as much time as the rest of the team practicing baseball. Baseball is all about repetition and the more reps Decker gets, the better he is going to be. Minnesota 5, Ohio State 4, Top 3.
3:45 PM - With that hit, Matt Nohelty is only one hit away from his 300th career hit. Only Robb Quinlan and Sam Steidl have had over 300 hits as a Gopher. Minnesota 5, Ohio State 4, Top 4.
3:55 PM - Here is some more information on the Gopher's NCAA hopes. The NCAA selection committee relies heavily on the RPI to determine which teams deserve bids. The RPI in a mathematical formula that takes into account a teams record, their opponents record, and their opponents-opponents record. It is designed to help determine which teams have the most quality wins. As stated above, Minnesota's simulated RPI is 21 coming into this tournament. Ohio State's is 31. Minnesota has several opponents in the RPI Top 100. They are TCU (8), Missouri (28), Dallas Baptist (36), Hawai'i (55), Illinois (61), UC - Santa Barbara (88), UT - Arlington (96), and West Virginina (100). Minnesota 5, Ohio State 4, Bottom 4.
3:59 PM - The Big Ten is ranked 12 out of 31 in RPI conference rankings. The rest of the Big Ten's RPI is as follows Indiana (125), Penn State (127), Michigan (144), Purdue (162), Michigan State (182), Northwestern (210), and Iowa (244). Minnesota 5, Ohio State 4, Top 5.
4:10 PM - This is the 30th Big Ten Tournament game between Minnesota and Ohio State since the tournament started in 1981. The Gophers have faced the Buckeyes more times than any other team in the Big Ten tourney. The team Minnesota has faced the next most is Michigan at 18 contests. Minnesota 6, Ohio State 4, Bottom 5.
4:17 PM - As of May 17, Minnesota has the largest turnaround in the nation. Minnesota was 35 - 15 entering the tournament which is a 17 win improvement from 2008. Minnesota 6, Ohio State 4, Bottom 5.
4:19 PM - Scott Fern goes 4.1 innings today which is his career long outing. Fern went four innings against UT - Arlington on March 18. Fern may not have had his best outing today but he gave the team a chance to win and that is exactly what the Gophers needed. Minnesota 6, Ohio State 4, Bottom 5.
4:30 PM - When the Buckeyes and Gophers faced off in April, AJ Pettersen led the team with a .545 batting average. He was followed by Kyle Knudson (.455), Matt Nohelty (.385), Justin Gominsky (.375), and Derek McCallum (.357). Minnesota 6, Ohio State 4, Top 6.
4:33 PM - Minnesota third base coach, Rob Fornasiere, makes a tremendous barehanded grab on a hot foul ball smash down the line by Eric Decker. Fornasiere was a shortstop at UW-La Crosse back in his playing days. Minnesota 8, Ohio State 4, Top 6.
4:35 PM - Earlier I blogged about how Minnesota couldn't afford to leave anybody on base and Eric Decker just had a great two-out single up the middle to push the Minnesota lead to four. The Gophers had led a few scoring opportunities slip by earlier but seem to have righted the ship. Minnesota has hit .337 with runners in scoring position coming into the Big Ten tournament. Minnesota 8, Ohio State 4, Bottom 6.
4:41 PM - Minnesota continues to play great defense. The Gophers have only made one error in 32.1 innings this week. Minnesota 8, Ohio State 4, Bottom 6.
4:46 PM - You have to give credit to the Minnesota pitching staff for settling down nicely after a rough first two innings. The Gopher hurlers have now put up four consecutive zeros on the scoreboard. Minnesota 8, Ohio State 4, Top 7.
4:48 PM - Matt Nohelty gets his 300th career hit on an infield single up the middle. Nohelty has been a tremendous player for the Gophers since he stepped on campus. He is the epitome of student-athlete. Nohelty is currently pursuing a Master's Degree in Computer Science. Minnesota 8, Ohio State 4, Top 7.
4:51 PM - Matt Nohelty steals his second bag of the day and now has five in the tournament and 91 for his career. Charlie "The Prince of Perham" Nelson has the career record at 93. Minnesota 9, Ohio State 4, Top 7.
4:57 PM - With his fifth stolen base of the tournament, Nohelty has just broke the Big Ten Tournament stolen base record. Conratulations Matt! Minnesota 9, Ohio State 4, Bottom 7.
5:05 PM - The Dan Burkhart homerun energizes the Buckeye fans but a quick groundball out silences them. The Ohio State faithful haven't been as loud as I anticipated. Huntington Park is proving to be more of a nuetral site than I thought it would be. Minnesota 9, Ohio State 5, Top 8.
5:09 PM - Ohio State pitcher Jake Hale comes on for an incredible 37th time. Hale has now pitched in 37 of the Buckeyes 57 games. If Hale were to continue this pace over a 162 game major league season, he would make 105 appearances. Minnesota 9, Ohio State 5, Top 8.
5:10 PM - Eric Decker picked a great day to enjoy his first four-hit game of the year. Decker is making a very strong bid for the All-Tournament team. Minnesota 9, Ohio State 5, Bottom 8.
John from Milwaukee asks:
I'm watching the game on the Big Ten network and am really impressed with the hustle of the club in every game. With so many games in such a short period of time, does the coaching staff do anything special to help relax the team and get them rested?Hi John. Thanks for following the blog. We don't do much of anything special to keep the guys fresh and relaxed other than taking ice baths which only a few players do. Our team has been very relaxed and easy going this whole season which is a reflection of John Anderson's coaching style. 5:21 PM - With Scott Matyas and Jake Hale in the game, this game is now in the hands of the second and first team All-Big Ten relief pitchers. Minnesota 9, Ohio State 5, Bottom 8. 5:29 PM - Matyas comes in and does what he has done all year. All three outs come by way of the strike out. Matyas now has 40 strikeouts in 24.1 innings. Minnesota 9, Ohio State 6, Top 9. 5:41 PM - Minnesota is victorious by a score of 9 - 6. Minnesota advances to the Big Ten Tournament Championship game for the eighth consecutive time it has been in the tournament. The Gophers will be back in action in about forty minutes. Minnesota 9, Ohio State 6, FINAL.
