Saturday saw an especially busy slate of games thanks to Friday rain outs and suspended games. Among those were three doubleheaders and an early series sweep for Iowa. When the dust had cleared on the day, the Big Ten baseball standings were as muddled as they had been at any point in the season. Entering Sunday's games there are now six teams within 3.5 games of first place, with only Maryland standing out from an incredibly crowded field.
Michigan State (23-17, 7-8) at Northwestern (17-25, 6-9)
The Spartans made a statement in the final game of the series against the Wildcats.
The two teams already played two games on Friday night because of impending weather and split the Friday doubleheader. On Saturday, MSU beat down Northwestern 13-5 and managed to put a game between themselves and the Wildcats. That game could become quite important as we head towards the end of the regular season.
Michigan (32-10, 8-6) at Rutgers (16-24, 5-6)
The Wolverines managed to get revenge against the Scarlet Knights after they suffered an embarrassing loss on Friday night. Michigan entered the weekend ranked in College Baseball's Top 25, but they have struggled a bit in Big Ten play. Still, Saturday saw Michigan get a 6-3 win and move to within 3.5 games of first place. They were able to move a bit closer thanks to Maryland falling victim to their own upset.
Illinois (18-23. 5-10) at Minnesota (25-14, 9-6)
Illinois entered Saturday with just three Big Ten baseball victories. They managed to get two more of those as they pulled off the upsets of the weekend as they swept a doubleheader against Minnesota. Even more impressive than winning both games was the style in which they did it.
The Illini won 9-5 and 14-1, thoroughly dominating a team that is challenging for the top spot in the Big Ten. Now the Gophers find themselves three games back from Maryland, part of the pack.
Maryland (29-12, 13-4) at Indiana (23-17, 9-7)
Maryland took on an Indiana team that has spent most of the Big Ten season residing in the middle of the pack when it comes to the baseball standings.
The Hoosiers did manage to get themselves a signature win against the 22nd ranked team in the country as they split the doubleheader with the Terapins. Interestingly enough, Indiana won one game, 9-2 and Maryland won the other by the same score.
Nebraska (25-16, 8-5) at Ohio State (17-25, 5-9)
Nebraska might have been the biggest loser of the weekend outside of Minnesota. The Huskers had a chance to make a move in the Big Ten standings as they held a 5-2 lead in Friday's Suspended Game. They managed to blow that lead in spectacular fashion, losing 9-7. They did win the second game, 3-1 in order to keep pace with the rest of the second place teams. Like several others, the Huskers are three games back of first place in the Big Ten.
Penn State (14-29, 2-13) at Iowa (27-15, 9-6)
The big winner of the weekend was Iowa, who managed to complete a sweep of last-place Penn State and move to within three games of first place in the Big Ten. The Hawkeyes came into the weekend as an afterthought in the conference standings but they appear to be a real player now. Iowa won the third game 9-1.
Saint Louis at Purdue (25-18, 9-6)
Purdue is the only Big Ten team that is not playing a conference series this weekend. Instead, the Boilermakers are trying to state their case for an at-large big in the NCAA Tournament should they not win the conference outright. They have won the first two games against the Billikens after Saturday's 4-3 victory and will be looking for the sweep on Sunday.
