May 24, 2009
[ONE // hoosiers take big ten baseball tournament crown]
Congratulations to the Indiana Hoosiers on capturing the Big Ten Baseball Tournament title with a 13-2 victory over Minnesota on Saturday evening at Huntington Park in Columbus, Ohio. The tournament title is the Hoosiers’ second overall and the program’s first since 1996. The championship also gives Indiana its first bid to the NCAA Championship since 1996 and the team’s second overall. This season the tournament was played on a neutral site to help boost attendance and did it ever! The event drew a total of 12,219 fans over a four-day period, marking the conference’s highest overall attendance number in at least the past decade. The previous high in that span was 6,728, set in 1999 when Ohio State hosted the tournament at Bill Davis Stadium. In addition, several players were named to the All-Tournament Team, while Indiana pitcher Matt Bashore was named the Most Outstanding Player. The All-Tournament honorees included Illinois’ Pete Cappetta (OF), Indiana’s Bashore (P), Eric Arnett (P), Jake Dunning (SS), Vince Gonzalez (3B), Alex Dickerson (DH) and Kipp Schultz (OF), Minnesota’s Tom Buske (P), Nick O’Shea (1B), Derek McCallum (2B) and Eric Decker (OF) and Ohio State’s Dan Burkhart (C).
[TWO // conference awards honors on baseball diamond]
On the night before the start of the 2009 Big Ten Baseball Tournament, the conference office announced the season’s All-Big Ten teams and individual honors, recognizing Ohio State catcher Dan Burkhart as the conference Player of the Year, Indiana’s Eric Arnett and OSU’s Alex Wimmers as Co-Pitchers of the Year, IU’s Alex Dickerson as Freshman of the Year and Buckeye mentor Bob Todd as Coach of the Year. The Big Ten also released the All-Big Ten teams and inaugural All-Freshman team. Ohio State led all teams with four first-team selections in Burkhart, Wimmers, designated hitter Ryan Dew and closer Jake Hale. Wimmers was a unanimous selection to the squad, as was Minnesota second baseman Derek McCallum, Purdue outfielder Brandon Haveman and Indiana’s Arnett. Rounding out the first team are Illinois third baseman Dominic Altobelli and shortstop Brandon Wikoff, Indiana outfielder Kipp Schutz and catcher Josh Phegley, Iowa outfielder Ryan Durant and Michigan first baseman Mike Dufek and starter Chris Fetter. And for the first time, the Big Ten coaches also selected an All-Freshman Team, which consisted of seven unanimous selections in Illinois’ Willie Argo, Indiana’s Dickerson and Blake Monar, Iowa’s Dallas Burke, Minnesota’s AJ Pettersen and Justin Gominsky and Penn State’s Jordan Steranka.
[THREE // buckeyes fall, wolverines advance in ncaa softball action]
And while the men were getting it done on the baseball diamond, the Michigan women earned the right to compete in the Women's College World Series for the ninth time. The Wolverines topped Baylor 8-1 and 7-1 in the NCAA Super Regional this past week to advance to the WCWS for the first time since 2005 when the Wolverines captured the NCAA crown. U-M's nine WCWS appearances rank fifth among all Division I programs. Ohio State was also battling in Super Regional play, but fell at Georgia by scores of 6-4 and 7-6.
[FOUR // an ncaa champ is crowned on the golf course]
Three Big Ten women’s golf teams concluded play at the NCAA Championships this past week at the Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Md., but it was one individual that stole the limelight. Three-time Big Ten Player of the Year Maria Hernandez of Purdue captured the individual championship with a 1-over-par score of 289 (74-72-72-71). Her Boilermakers finished 10th overall at 1216 (306-301-311-298), while Michigan State tied for 13th at 1225 (307-303-315-300). Ohio State rounded out the field in 24th at 1258 (323-311-314-310).
[FIVE // purdue’s hernandez follows title with nation’s top honor]
In addition to capturing the NCAA Championship last weekend -- a first for a Boilermaker – Purdue’s Maria Hernandez was named the PING National Golf Coaches Association (NGCA) National Player of the Year, also a first for the program. Hernandez also picked up NCGA first-team All-America honors, which marked the third consecutive season she was named first team by the coaches’ association. The NCAA champion was not the only Boilermaker to be recognized for an outstanding season. Associate head coach JoJo Robertson was named NGCA Assistant Golf Coach of the Year, head coach Devon Brouse was tabbed the SkyCaddie NGCA Regional Coach of the Year for the NCAA Central site, sophomore Maude-Aimee LeBlanc was honored with second team All-America accolades and Hernandez and LeBlanc were named to the NGCA All-Region Team for the NCAA Central Regional. Hernandez finished the season with a team-low 72.8 stroke average, the second lowest mark in her career.
[SIX // buckeyes fall in men’s tennis championship]
Congratulations to the third-seeded Ohio State men’s tennis team for reaching the final match of the NCAA Championship this past Tuesday in College Station, Texas. While the Buckeyes fell 4-1 to champion Southern California, OSU finished the season with a school record for most wins in a regular season (36), the longest dual match win streak (28), and the best single-season winning percentage (.947) to cap off its 10th consecutive 20-win season. A big congrats goes out to Ohio State head coach Ty Tucker as he was named Wilson/ITA National Coach of the Year on Tuesday.
[SEVEN // a single buckeye remains on court]
After leading Ohio State to the national championship match this past week, senior tri-captain Steven Moneke became the program’s first NCAA championships singles finalist Sunday with his victory over 26th-ranked Sanam Singh of Virginia 6-1, 4-6, 6-3, in the semifinals at the 2009 NCAA Singles Championship in College Station, Texas. Moneke, a two-time ITA All-American (2007-08) will face Ole Miss freshman Devin Britton at noon ET Monday at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center. Moneke, who was named to the 2009 Men’s NCAA Tennis Championship All-Tournament Team last Tuesday at No. 2 singles, now has a program-best 146 career victories in four years in the Scarlet and Gray.
[EIGHT // northwestern falls short of ncaa titles]
Northwestern's run for NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships titles was halted on Saturday when the three remaining Wildcats were eliminated from tournament play in College Station, Texas. NU's Georgia Rose and Lauren Lui suffered a dramatic three-set loss to the eighth-ranked Stanford duo in the doubles draw, while top-seeded Maria Mosolova fell one win short of the singles title match, dropping a two-set decision to Georgia's eighth-seeded Chelsey Gullickson, the 2009 ITA National Rookie of the Year. After earning All-American distinction by virtue of their NCAA quarterfinal berth, Rose and Lui concluded their season with a 27-13 overall doubles mark. Mosolova, a two-time All-American in singles, finished her impressive sophomore campaign with a 36-8 record and improved her career singles slate to 77-14.
[NINE // conference announces track and field honors]
Following the Big Ten Men’s and Women’s Track & Field Championships, the conference office and its league coaches announced individual honors on both the men’s and women’s side Wednesday. Minnesota’s Hassan Mead was named the Big Ten Men’s Track Athlete of the Year and of the Championships while teammate Aaron Studt was named the Field Athlete of the Year and of the Championships. On the women’s side, Michigan’s Geena Gall earned Track Athlete of the Year and of the Championships accolades while Purdue’s Kara Patterson was lauded as Field Athlete of the Year and Minnesota’s Alicia Rue and Penn State’s Emma Schmelzer took home Co-Field Athlete of the Championships honors. Steve Plasencia of Minnesota was named the men’s Coach of the Year for the first time in his career, while Penn State mentor Beth Alford-Sullivan received the women’s honor for the second consecutive season. Rounding out the postseason awards, Indiana’s Derek Drouin was named the men’s Freshman of the Year, and Purdue’s Terri Anderson earned the women’s newcomer accolade.
[TEN // four conference squads ready to row at ncaas]
The Big Ten will field four programs in the 2009 NCAA Rowing Championships it was announced Tuesday afternoon by the NCAA Division I Rowing Committee. Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State and Wisconsin will represent the conference at the annual national championships. The conference currently touts the same four teams ranked in the USRowing/CRCA Coaches Poll. No. 3 Michigan State leads all schools, followed by No. 6 Michigan, No. 8 Ohio State and No. 14 Wisconsin. Iowa and Minnesota round out the top-20, checking in at No. 17 and No. 19, respectively. All four conference squads will be in the hunt for their first national team title.
[ELEVEN // northwestern lacrosse adds one for the thumb]
Finally this week, a big congratulations to the Northwestern’s women’s lacrosse team for its fifth consecutive
NCAA Championship. The Wildcats crushed North Carolina, 21-7, to finish the season 23-0 and earn “one for the thumb”. Northwestern is now just the second team to win five consecutive national titles and is just two shy of Maryland's seven straight from 1995-2001. NU junior Katrina Dowd netted four goals and added a pair of assists in the victory to earn Championship MVP honors. Since Northwestern began its championship run in 2005, the Wildcats have posted an incredible 106-3 record during that span.
