The Big Ten baseball schedule kicked off with a full slate on Friday night as everyone in the conference except for Indiana took on B1G rivals. The Hoosiers squared off against a Xavier team that was surprisingly game in the first contest of the series. Meanwhile, the two teams at the top of the standings both recorded solid victories while those chasing them largely gathered victories as well.
Iowa (28-16, 10-6) at Michigan State (23-18, 7-9)
Iowa might be one of the hottest teams in the conference, at least against other Big Ten baseball squads.
The Hawkeyes knocked off the Spartans on Friday night and kept pace with the top of the conference. Iowa's Nick Gallagher pitched a heck of a game, going seven innings of just one run ball. While the Hawkeyes' bullpen blew the lead, the team managed to score one run in the top of the ninth to win 3-2.
Northwestern (18-26, 7-9) at Purdue (25-19, 9-7)
While most of the higher seeded teams won on Friday night, Purdue was an upset victim. The Boilermakers didn't just get handed a loss by a Northwestern team that is barely treading water, they were beaten quite handily. The game went off the rails quickly as the Wildcats scored four runs in the first and went on to win 7-2.
Xavier (25-19, 7-3) at Indiana (25-17, 10-7)
Indiana is the only Big Ten team on Friday night that didn't take on a conference rival. While the Hoosiers didn't manage to post a decisive victory, a win is a win is a win. Indiana won their weekend non-conference game against the Musketeers 1-0 and managed to add to their overall claim at a post season birth.
The Hoosiers got their only run thanks to a solo shot from second baseman Tony Butler. It was just Butler's third homer of the year.
Ohio State (17-28, 5-11) at Michigan (34-10, 10-6)
Longtime Big Ten rivals Ohio State and Michigan squared off on Friday night and the Wolverines thoroughly dominated the Buckeyes. After being the victims of an upset loss last weekend, Michigan made sure they opened this weekend with a big win.
Oliver Jaskie was the beneficiary of the team's 6-0 win and posted his fifth win of the season against two losses.
Minnesota (27-15, 10-6) at Penn State (14-30, 2-14)
There isn't a Big Ten team that is worse than Penn State but the Golden Gophers still barely got the victory. The 6-5 win actually became quite riveting when Minnesota scored four runs in the top of the 9th and then Penn State answered with three of their own runs in the bottom of the frame.
Maryland (31-13, 14-5) at Illinois (19-24, 5-11)
Big Ten leading Maryland struggled last weekend but they got off to an impressive start to this weekend, 9-4 over Illinois. While the Illini are conference also rans, the Terps are going to be staying ahead of the pack, at least for another day after the win.
Rutgers (17-26, 5-8) at Nebraska (27-16, 10-5)
The Rutgers Scarlet Knights came into the weekend having already put the Big Ten baseball standings in some turmoil a week ago after a victory over Michigan. The Nebraska Cornhuskers were determined not to let that happen, and they managed to dodge that bullet on Friday night at least. The 8-5 win wasn't the easiest victory, as the Huskers once held an 8-1 lead, but saw Rutgers score three in the seventh and one in the ninth to draw closer.
