May 23, 2005
The 25th Big Ten Conference Baseball Tournament will be hosted by this year's Big Ten champions, the University of Illinois. The double-elimination tournament kicks off on Wednesday (May 25) with Michigan playing Ohio State at 12:05 central time and Iowa facing Minnesota at 3:35 central time. Purdue and the Fighting Illini have byes in the opening round of play and will play on Thursday (May 26) at 3:35 and 7:05 central time at Illinois Field.
Illinois Fighting Illini
Illinois claimed the regular season Big Ten title and rights to host this year's tournament as the top seed with their first Big Ten championship since 1998. The Orange and Blue claimed a school-record 20 league wins en route to its 28th regular season title in school history. Against the rest of the field in this year's league summit, the Illini lost three games to Minnesota and the Hawkeyes in the final two weekends while splitting the season series with Michigan and sweeping Ohio State. Purdue and Illinois did not play during the regular season.
Head Coach Richard Jones' squad is a power team as they led the Big Ten in slugging percentage at .478 in 2005. The Illini won the home run and RBI titles this season with team totals of 346 and 57, respectively. Dusty Bensko and Drew Davidson bashed a combined 30 dingers. Bensko was first in the Big Ten with 16 and Davidson second with 14. A senior, Bensko also led the league by driving in 66 runs on the year. The Pleasant Plains, Illinois native also showed patience at the plate with a conference best 35 walks.
The six teams who qualified for the conference tournament are also the top six in the league in earned run average with Illinois third at 4.55. However, Illinois was last in the league in strike-outs despite having one of the top staffs in the league led by Brian Bloomquist with a Big Ten best 10 wins on his way to a 3.26 ERA.
Iowa Hawkeyes
Head coach Jack Dahm's squad is one of the hot teams heading into the 25th annual conference tournament. The Hawkeyes took three of four from Illinois to close out the regular season and will play on Wednesday (May 25) against Minnesota at 3:35 central time. Iowa won three games against the Golden Gophers and against Michigan during the regular season while dropping three games to Purdue in the penultimate series of the regular season. Iowa and Ohio State did not meet in 2005.
On offense, Iowa scored 339 runs on the season, which ranks a close fourth in the league. Perhaps the Hawkeyes biggest weapon is their speed. With 81 steals to go along with a .380 on-base percentage as a team, Iowa can create problems for teams and is efficient at advancing runners on sacrifice bunts (51 this season) and manufacturing runs.
The Hawkeyes team ERA of 5.03 is the highest of any team in this year's tournament, however, the Black and Gold are not without dominating pitchers on their staff. Tim Gudex led the Big Ten with a 2.56 ERA to go along with nine wins (tied for second in the conference) and six saves. Opponents batted only .244 against the junior. As a team, UI held its adversaries to a .280 average which ranks in the top three of the Big Ten.
Michigan Wolverines
With a Big Ten-leading 40 victories (including non-conference games) the Wolverines may be the team to watch in this tournament. The Maize and Blue draw archrival Ohio State in the first round as the fourth seed and will play the opening game of the tournament on Wednesday (May 25) at 12:05 central time. This will be the two schools first look at one another after their regular season series fell victim to bad weather. Against the rest of the tournament field, Michigan lost three of four games to Iowa while splitting the season series with Illinois and Purdue in addition to being swept at Minnesota.
Head coach Rich Maloney's squad is arguably the top offensive club in the conference. Michigan led the league with a .319 batting average and a .400 on-base percentage. Jeff Kunkel (.399), Kyle Bohm (.388), Chris Getz (.378) and Matt Butler (.363) all are ranked at the tops of the league in average and provide U-M with consistency at the plate. Kunkel, Getz and Bohm are also three of the top four in the league in on-base percentage at .479, .458, and .454, respectively.
On the mound, the Wolverines have the second best ERA in the Big Ten at 3.91 while also ranking second in opponents batting average at .261. Michigan hurlers fanned 317 batters in 2005 to rank them third in the conference behind Penn State and Minnesota. The Wolverines are also proficient when they go to their bullpen with a league-leading 13 saves as a team. Individually, Jim Brauer (2.59), Michael Penn (2.67) and Derek Feldkamp (3.62) are all at the top of the Big Ten in ERA and in opposing batting average at .227 for Feldkamp, .233 for Penn and .241 for Brauer. Those averages rank first, second and third in the Big Ten respectively.
Minnesota Golden Gophers
Despite earning the number six seed, Minnesota was in the hunt for a Big Ten championship and host-school honors entering the final weekend of play. Minnesota began the month of May with three losses in a four game series against Iowa - their opponent in the first round of the tournament on Wednesday (May 25). Head coach John Anderson's squad won the season series with Illinois, 3-1, while sweeping Michigan and being swept by the Boilermakers. The Gophers are the only team in this year's league summit to play all five other squads.
With a low slugging percentage as a team, the Gophers are reliant on manufacturing runs. With 225 walks, UM leads the Big Ten. The Gophers will run early and often on pitchers as they lead the league with 85 stolen bases while attempting 115 steals in 2005. David Hrncirik leads the team with a .350 average and has started 55 games this season. Andy Hunter is the teams leading RBI man with 41 including six homers while slugging at a .497 clip.
Minnesota hurlers threw the most innings of any staff in the Big Ten this season at 462.1. In addition, UM is the top strikeout team in the tournament with 358 on the year. John Gaub led the team with 62 K's while recording seven saves - second in the league in that category. Matt Loberg went 7-5 with a 3.92 ERA. The seniors seven victories were a team best.
Ohio State Buckeyes
The Scarlet and Grey enter this year's tournament after winning 17 of their last 20 games including three of four at home against Minnesota to close out the regular season. As the fifth seed, Ohio Stare will play in the opening game of the tournament versus Michigan. The Buckeyes were scheduled to play Michigan during the regular season, but that series was called off because of poor weather. Against the rest of the field, OSU was swept by Illinois to open the Big Ten schedule while winning three against Purdue. Iowa and Ohio State have yet to face each other.
The Buckeyes were in the top half of the Big Ten in RBI (301) while they also find themselves in the middle of the pack in team batting average (.306), slugging percentage (.414) and on-base percentage (.374). With a .331 average, Eric Fryer leads the team and is also one of head coach Bob Todd's best men at getting on base with an OBP of .408. Paul Faranacci is the team's top run producer with 48 rbi on the season. The senior is also a top-flight defensive first baseman as he had a fielding percentage of .988 for the season.
The pitching staff is the strength of the team with its conference leading 3.82 ERA. Opponents are batting a league low .260 against the Bucks have also allowed the fewest hits in the Big Ten at 426 and walks with only 128. Dan DeLucia and Cory Luebke are the top pitchers for OSU with ERAs of 3.15 and 3.66 and opponent averages of .260 and .257, respectively.
Purdue Boilermakers
Three wins over Indiana in the final weekend of the regular season gave Purdue the second seed and a bye into the second round of the tournament and left the Boilersmakers just percentage points short of a Big Ten championship. The Boilermakers split the season series with Iowa while sweeping Minnesota, splitting four games with Michigan and losing three-of-four to Ohio State. Illinois and Purdue could meet for the first time in the third round of games on Friday (May 27).
With a .404 average, Mitch Hilligoss is the top hitter in the Big Ten statistically. The sophomore drove in 35 runs this season while he was on-base at a .431 clip. Head coach Doug Schreiber's squad doesn't have a lot of power but is balanced through the line-up. Five players have driven in more than 20 runs this season with John Hunter and Hilligoss leading the way at 35 each. The Boilermakers are also one of the top fielding teams in the league with a .966 fielding percentage.
The Purdue staff has a combined ERA of 4.58 with 301 total strikeouts this season. Scott Byrnes and Mitch Pruemer lead the rotation with six wins each and ERA's of 3.74 and 4.19, respectively. Against Byrnes opponents are hitting .266 while Pruemer has six complete games to his record this season in only 12 starts. Chris Toneguzzi is one of the top relievers in the Big Ten with a 1.60 ERA in 27 appearances and eight saves.
