Maize n Brew: FanPosts

Phelps!

Tony K — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 13:06:33 -0000

Perhaps one of the greatest athletes of all time won his tenth and eleventh gold medal last night (setting a wolrd record in every event he participated in and now becomes the winningest athlete in Olympic history) and at what major university is this man enrolled at? The University of Michigan - Ann Arbor! The Baltimore native swimmer has acomplished all this and is not even 24 years old. Speaks volumes, it really does...

Go Blue!

Michigan vs. Texas ... Best Helmet

Lostincali — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 04:03:58 -0000

Ok over on Burnt Orange Nation they are making sure people are voting for Texas in ESPN's best helmet contest, I figured I would do the same for the Wolverines.

Here is a link to the page.

http://sports.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnation/story?page=helmetsosufsu

U of M is going head to head With Texas starting next week so be sure to vote we need to make sure that Michigan wins the entire thing.

Fan Day?????????

meechigan gurl — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:55:08 -0000

Does anyone have any idea when the Fan Day is going to be this year??? I have heard many things...it is cancelled, it is the first week of August, it is the week before the season opener...etc! I have to travel and would love to be able to make plans and having a date would help!!! So if anyone knows for sure........PLEASE help me out!!! Thanks..... I have to add 6 more words to get this posted, sooooooo.....thanks again!

The leaders and the best...

Tony K — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 04:08:05 -0000

Lloyd Carr was the Michigan coach I grew up watching. Tom Brady, Drew Henson, John Navarre, Chad Henne, and now with an unfamiliar face at the helm, Nick Sheridan or Steven Threet. Desmond Howard, Charles Woodson, Mario Manningham, Adrian Arrington, and now Gary Matthews, Jr. Despite what has gone on throughout the early stages of my life, Saturdays in the fall mean Michigan football. And now, Mr. Rodriguez will take over. I was skeptical after the #1 uniform fiasco, but he made a mistake and admitted it. He learned, and will continue to. Now though, like the 1969 Michigan Wolverines, Rich has to make a team out of an underdog. A team that can win. Those Who Stay Will Be Champions; they were for Bo, they were for Lloyd, and now, it's up to Rich. I am in high school right now, and I am in the process of working my ass off so I can go to Michigan, and spend four years in Ann Arbor. There's a new coach, a new look and a new style of play, but believe this; Michigan will always be the program every other university in the country wants to be. Sure, there has only been one national championship in my lifetime, but there has been no scandals, no arrests, nothing. That's what makes a Michigan man. Hopefully one day, I'll get to skate at Yost Arena, or storm the field at Ray Fisher Stadium, but if that isn’t the case, I could at least get be a Michigan man, and carry Michigan morals for the rest of my life. And no one could ever take that away from me.

No More Michigan Replay

Tony K — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:59:22 -0000

This sucks. It wasn't that cool of a show, but it was a Bo tradition, and now it's gone. Rich better no let this get out of hand. U of M football is a thing that dosen't change very often. Next thing you know, Rodriguez will be taking the wings off the helmets, and looking to build a new stadium! I know I am a little up in arms about the whole deal, but Michigan Football is a fine tradition...

Recap: Michigan 5 Illinois 2

formerlyanonymous — Fri, 23 May 2008 03:03:11 -0000

Michigan came back in this one. The game started out as a pitcher's duel. Shaw for Illinois came out impressively. Over his first 6 2/3 innings, Shaw only gave up 1 run on 4 hits, 4 BB, and 7 Ks. After that he gave up 2 hits, 2 BB, and 3 runs without recording a single out. After intentionally walking Recknagel, you would have thought the Illinois coaching staff would have removed him from the game. At that point Shaw had already thrown 122 pitches. He then went and walked Putnam on 6 pitches. Again, why was he not pulled? Against Abraham the floodgates opened for Michigan. Abraham hit a 2 RBI single to give Michigan a lead they would never relinquish. For the first two to three innings I couldn't get my head around the fact Shaw got the start. He had only mixed success against Michigan early in the season giving up 4 runs in 4 innings. Recknagel and VanBuskirk were the only Michigan starters not to register a hit against him. Kudos to Coach Hartleb for making the right call in starter. Even the picks at relief pitcher made sense despite the radio announcers' lack of understanding. Sterk and Reeser both had great success against Michigan during the season. Even Stankiewicz, who had done meh against Michigan had been one of the hotter relievers down the stretch.

For Michigan, Putnam went 7 innings on the mound to secure the win. He allowed 2 runs on 5 hits, 3 walks and 9 strikeouts. Powers came in to start the 8th inning, going 2 innings allowing 1 hit with 3 strike outs to earn the save. The ultimate turning point in the game came from a resilient Putnam to finish off Illinois in the 5th inning. Down 3-0 in the count, Putnam battled back with 3 straight fouled off pitches to force the count full. Each of the fouled attempts was accompanied by both base runners going on the pitch. The fourth time was a charm for Putnam as he struck out Bonadonna and McMurray was caught stealing at third. Michigan's offense woke up the next inning to score their first run and begin the comeback.

Offensively, the hero has to be Adam Abraham. The 2 out single to give Michigan the lead and extend the inning was the beginning of the end for Illinois. Abraham finished the night going 1/3 with 1 run, 2 RBIs, and a walk.

A couple notes that caught my eye during the game:

The grass at the Fish plays ground balls slowly. Normally you see that with a team that bunts often or a team that faces a team that hits a lot of hard grounders. I'm not sure why Michigan keeps it that way. Although we bunt a bit, we seem to hit several ground balls through the infield.
I heard several moans and groans about the home plate umpire's strike zone not only in our game, but in the game before ours as well. The radio guys were very adamant about how odd the strike zone was.
The radio guys are fairly decent. The one who sounds like he might be high during the broadcast doesn't know the difference between a pitcher and a DH though. He said if VanBuskirk would have touched a foul ball and dropped it, it would be fair and count as a hit. For those of you who aren't baseball savvy, that is very wrong. He also went on a rant about Bonadonna not having a homerun all season not 2 seconds after his partner just talked about Bonadonna's homerun last night. I'll discount their not knowing players names as they didn't call too many games this season. They did do their homework on stats though. Most of my notes during the game were flubs by the guy who I still think was stoned.

So now we will face Purdue. I started researching them some today. I have no idea who they start against us. Looking through last season's head to head comparison, the only pitcher I've seen with great success as a starter was Sedlmeyer, who hasn't started a game in weeks. Their closer Linblom though also had some good numbers. I'll try to get something out during the day tomorrow. No promises as its a half day at the office.

Michigan vs Illinois Preview

formerlyanonymous — Thu, 22 May 2008 02:16:11 -0000

This one is a little bit longer and should catch you up on our season and our players, as well as the game tomorrow. No players to watch for as I could just list Michigan's whole team. Not know what starter is pitching for either team doesn't help my cause either.

Starters

Fetters vs Putnam

The biggest unknown for Michigan fans coming into this game is will Coach Maloney be starting the first or second best pitcher in the Big Ten? The second biggest question, despite Putnam winning the award, is who is the best starting pitcher on the team? Michigan is home to the top two starters in the league this year. Chris Fetter leads the team with an overall ERA of 2.49, while carrying a record of 9-1. Zach Putnam, voted Big Ten Pitcher of the Year, holds an overall ERA of 2.64 with a record of 7-0. Both of these pitchers could easily start in the Michigan tournament opener, and here is each of their cases.

Chris Fetters has been the ace of the Michigan team all season. He leads all team starters in ERA, wins (9), starts (12), complete games (4, all 7 innings), shut outs (1), innings (79.2), and opponent batting average (.208). He boasts a 65 to 21 strikeouts to walks ratio, second best on the team. Fetter’s one loss this season came in a complete game where he gave up one earned run on a walk off single. The other benefit of starting Fetter is his tendency to induce more groundballs. With the high-powered offense of Illinois, it will be important to keep the ball in the ballpark.

Putnam, however, is more of a fly ball pitcher. This is also a positive against Illinois, especially toward the top of their lineup. Centerfielder Kyle Hudson and second basemen Joe Bonadonna account for 46 of the Illini 98 steals on the year. Coach Dan Hartleb often employs the hit and run with these two on base to help generate more offense. By throwing a pitcher with a higher fly ball to groundball ratio, the hit and run will be a higher risk play for the Illini coaching staff. Along with the fly balls, Putnam also has his fair share of strikeouts. Putnam leads the team with 9.05 strikeouts per nine innings. His .215 opponent batting average is almost as good as Fetter’s.

Coming down the stretch, both pitchers have pitched fairly well. Putnam has gained a victory in his last five starts, including a nine inning complete game against Ohio State. Fetter comes in off a shaky start against Northwestern receiving a no decision.

I think the nod in this game goes to Putnam. Illinois is a team that will hit for more average than power. Both Fetter and Putnam can go just as deep into games. There has been some rumbling from some fans that maybe Putnam hasn’t fully healed from his strep throat infection a week ago, but his outing against Northwestern does not signal any concern. As an added bonus, if Fetter becomes the second starter in the tournament and Michigan wins against Illinois, he would be a better fit going against Purdue as a groundball pitcher.

Haig vs Martin/Shaw

Going to the hill for the Illini will probably be Phil Haig. Haig made an appearance out of the bullpen against Michigan giving up 2 hits and one run over 3 innings while recording 5 strikeouts. That performance led to a position in the starting rotation the following weekend. After a few rough starts, Haig settled into his rotation spot nicely. Over his last three starts he has been the Illini’s best pitcher after Manson. In his last three games he has posted a 2-0 record including a complete game shut out (7 innings) versus Purdue.

If Haig doesn’t start, it could be a close call between Aaron Martin and Scott Shaw. Neither did particularly well against Michigan. Shaw lasted 3 innings giving up 7 runs on 7 hits. Martin lasted slightly longer, going 4.2 innings allowing 7 hits and 7 runs, 5 of which were earned. Both starters have struggled down the stretch as well. Martin has not registered a win since April 7th, a span of 6 starts. Shaw has not had nearly as many starts recently due to rain, but that is most likely a good thing for Illinois as he holds an 8.15 ERA and .340 opponent batting average.

Relief Work

The Good:
Michigan will have a fully rested bullpen to open the tournament. Mike Powers is the lead man out of the pen for the Wolverines and will be the first called upon if ever there is trouble. In 23 appearances this year, Powers is 6-4 with 4 saves. He boasts a 2.94 ERA, .280 opponent batting average, and a 50 to 17 strikeout to walk ratio in 52 innings of work. Against Illinois this year, Powers worked 6 innings allowing 8 hits and two runs while registering 5 strikeouts. Other pitchers with success against Illinois this year include Matt Miller and Travis Smith. Smith actually was a starter at the time of the Illinois series. He had his best start of the season lasting 7 innings while only giving up 3 runs, 2 of which were earned.

The Bad:
Despite being two of Michigan’s top relievers throughout the season, both Ben Jenzen and Tyler Burgoon both had rough outings versus Illinois this season. The two combined for 6.1 innings, 7 hits, and 4 runs allowed. I wouldn’t expect either of these two to enter the game unless Michigan has a comfortable lead.

The Ugly:
Mike Wilson will not see playing time in this game unless absolutely necessary. Along with holding a team high 8.73 ERA and being tied for the most losses on the team with 4, Wilson had an abysmal outing against the Illini this season. His start lasted all of .2 innings, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks. He will only make an appearance if it is a lefty-on-lefty match up.

Illinois’s Bullpen

As I mentioned in my Illinois vs OSU preview, the two main guys out of the bullpen for Illinois are Sterk and Reeser.

If he gets in trouble early, watch for relief pitcher Mike Sterk to enter the game. Sterk closed out many of Manson’s starts this season already. Sterk owns a 4.05 ERA, which is the best on the team with at least one full inning pitched. He also has three saves on the season. Sterk is not the primary closer, however, as that job has been delegated to Ben Reeser. Reeser has 5 saves on the season and has the next best ERA on the team after Sterk with 4.24.

Neither pitched in game one, they will be ready in game two. Expect to see at least one enter this game. Sterk had one good outing against Michigan shutting out the Wolverines over 2 innings while allowing one hit and one walk. Reeser had one appearance lasting one inning allowing only one hit. Outside of those two, Michigan also faced quite a few other relievers during the regular season series. Wes Braun had the best success out against Michigan. Braun pitched 2.1 inning, allowing 2 hits back-to-back including a Putnam homerun. Those were the only runs he allowed while walking only 2 and striking out one.

Offensive Threats-Illinois:

Illinois’s line up can create plenty of buzz. The Illini lead the league in hitting this year (including the tournament) with a .338 team batting average. Everything starts with the leadoff man, centerfielder Kyle Hudson. Hudson, a unanimous 1st team All Big Ten, is currently batting .402 with a .504 on base percentage, both good for third in the Big Ten. He also holds the record for steals in a season by an Illini with 40 in 49 attempts. Batting second for the Illini is Joe Bonadonna. Bonadonna is batting .372 currently and is also a steal threat. He has swiped 26 bases in 32 attempts. Bonadonna has had a bit better success hitting against Putnam (2/3 2 2Bs, R, RBI) than he has Fetter (0/2 SAC FLY, RBI). Expect several pickoff attempts when either of these two men is on base. As mentioned in the starting pitching section, both of these players are utilized in hit and runs when the situation presents itself. Batting third in the Illini lineup is 2nd Team All Big Ten shortstop Brandon Wikoff. Wikoff leads the team with 60 RBIs on the season. Wikoff has had slightly better success against Fetter compared to Putnam, registering two singles in three plate appearances. Behind Wikoff is normally catcher Aaron Johnson, right fielder Daniel Webb, and first basemen Ryan Hastings. All three are big power bats with at least five home runs apiece. Webb is equally dangerous as a contact hitter with a .386 batting average. Webb also had a better game against Fetter going 2/3 with two singles. Against Putnam, Webb went 0/3 with a RBI. Rounding out the lineup for the Illini is DH Dominic Altobelli, third basemen John Schlichter, and left fielder Casey McMurray. Schlicter is the only batter in the starting lineup who has a batting average under .320 for the year.

Offensive Threats-Michigan:

Michigan is nationally ranked for a reason, and its not just because they play a cream puff schedule. The offense from Michigan is explosive. The Wolverines lead the Big Ten in runs scored this season with 434 total runs. This was 37 more runs than the next closest team. The lineup features an All Big Ten player at first, second, third, shortstop, and center field, and conferences don’t give you all-conference honors for your defense. On top of the starting lineup for the Wolverines is shortstop Jason Christian. Christian ranks fourth on the team in on base percentage (.440) and batting average (.325). Following Christian is second basemen Leif Mahler. Mahler started the season as the number nine hitter, but following his .400 batting average, 6 runs, and 4 RBIs against Illinois mid season, he earned a spot in the number two hole. Following Mahler is Big Ten Player of the Year Nate Recknagel. Recknagel lead the Big Ten in slugging percentage (.787), home runs (23), and total bases (155). His .381 batting average, 68 RBIs, and 54 runs lead the Michigan team. Recknagel is still in the hunting for at least 2 national player of the year awards. Protecting Recknagel in the lineup is All Big Ten first teamer at designated hitter Zach Putnam (.320 batting average, 46 RBIs), All Big Ten third teamer at third base Adam Abraham (.340 batting average, 50 RBIs), and left fielder Derek VanBuskirk (51 runs scored). Rounding out the batting order are centerfielder Kevin Cislo (40 runs scored, 17 stolen bases), catcher Chris Berset, and right fielder Ryan LaMarre. In some games, Recknagel will play catcher and Mike Dufek will enter the game at first base to create more offense. Dufek on the season holds a .320 average with 25 RBIs. The first pinch hitter used in most games is outfielder Kenny Fellows. Fellows is batting .324 in only 34 at bats.

Predictions

This game could be much closer than what most people would think. Illinois can score runs in bunches very easily. They have struggled down the stretch though and in Wednesday’s game versus Ohio State they did not hit very well. Regardless of who pitches for Michigan, the first few innings should go smoothly for the Wolverines. Once the starter begins to tire, they will give up 2-3 runs. On offense, don’t expect Haig to last past the 7th inning. Michigan’s lineup is too powerful to keep down for too long.

Michigan 12 Illinois 5

Michigan hitters vs. Illinois pitchers this season (stats at top are whole season):

- - SS Jason Christian (.325 BA, 52 R, 43 RBI, .440 OB%, 13/14 SB)
    - - Manson – 1/4 HR, R, RBI, GDP
      - Martin – 2/2 2B, 2R, RBI, 2BB
      - Haig – 0/1 K
      - Shaw – 1/3 2R, 2 RBI
      - Stankiewicz – 1/3 R
      - Chmielewski – 1/1 3B, R, 2RBI
      - Braun – 0/1
      - Barrett – 1/2 R, K
      - Sterk – 0/1
      - Reeser – 0/1
  - 2B Leif Mahler (.309 BA, 49 R, 37 RBI, .388 OB%, 5/5 SB)
    - - Manson – 1/3 HR, R, 2RBI
      - Martin – 2/2 2B, 2R, RBI, SacB
      - Haig – 0/2 K
      - Shaw – 2/2 2B, R, RBI
      - Stankiewicz – 1/2 2B
      - Chmielewski – 0/0 R, BB
      - Braun – 0/1
      - Barrett – 0/1 R, BB
      - Sterk – 0/1
      - Reeser – 0/1K
  - 1B/C Nate Recknagel (.381BA, 54R, 23HR, 68RBI, .787SLUG, .471OB%, 4/5SB)
    - - Manson – 2/3 HR, 2R, RBI, HBP, K
      - Martin – 0/2 BB
      - Haig – 0/1
      - Shaw – 0/1 HBP
      - Stankiewicz – 0/2 BB, 2 GDP
      - Chmielewski – 1/1 RBI
      - Barrett – 1/3 RBI
      - Braun – 0/1
      - Sterk – 1/1 2B
  - DH/P Zach Putnam (.320 BA, 43 R, 46 RBI, .404 OB %, 3/3 SB)
    - - Manson – 1/4 HR, RBI
      - Martin – 1/3
      - Haig – 1/1
      - Shaw – 0/1 R, BB, K
      - Stankiewicz – 1/3 HR, 2R, 2RBI, K
      - Chmielewski – 1/1 2B, R, RBI
      - Braun – 1/2 HR, R, 2RBI
      - Barrett – 1/3 RBI
      - Sterk – 0/1
  - 3B Adam Abraham (.344 BA, 39 R, 48 RBI, .408 OB%, 1/3 SB)
    - - Manson – 0/2 SF, RBI
      - Martin – 0/3 GDP
      - Haig – 0/2
      - Shaw – 1/2 2B, 2RBI
      - Stankiewicz – 1/3 HR, R, 2RBI
      - Chmielewski – 0/1
      - Braun – 0/1 BB
      - Barrett – 0/3 RBI
      - Sterk – 0/0 BB
  - LF Derek VanBuskirk (.293 BA, 51 R, 41 RBI, .381 OB%, 11/12 SB)
    - - Manson – 1/3 R
      - Martin – 0/2 R, BB
      - Haig – 0/2 R 2K (reached on K/WP)
      - Shaw – 0/2 K
      - Stankiewicz – 1/3 HR, R, RBI
      - Chmielewski – 0/1
      - Barrett – 1/1 2B, R, 2BB
      - Braun – 0/1
      - Sterk – 0/1
  - CF Kevin Cislo (.359 BA, 40 R, 26 RBI, .474 OB%, 17/25 SB)
    - - Manson – 1/3 R, BB
      - Martin – 1/2
      - Haig – 0/0 HBP, CS 2-4
      - Shaw – 1/1 2B, R, RBI, SB
      - Stankiewicz – 2/2 R, BB
      - Chmielewski – 0/1 K
      - Braun – 0/1
      - Barrett – 2/3 R
  - C Chris Berset (.250 BA, 21 R, 17 RBI, .342 OB%, 1/3 SB)
    - - Manson – 1/2 R HBP
      - Martin – 0/1 BB, SacB, K
      - Haig – 0/2 RBI K (RBI on E5)
      - Shaw – 1/2 R
      - Stankiewicz – 1/3 2B, R, RBI
      - Chmielewski – 0/0 BB
      - Barrett – 1/2 HR, R, RBI
      - Sterk – 0/1 K
      - Reeser – 0/0 SacB
  - RF Ryan LaMarre (.287 BA, 21 R, 21 RBI, .351 OB%, 8/12 SB)
    - - Martin – 1/2 R, RBI
      - Stankiewicz – R as Pinch Runner
      - Chmielewski – 1/1
      - Barrett – 1/2 2RBI
  - 1B/C Mike Dufek (.315 BA, 20 R, 24 RBI, .355 OB%, 8/12 SB)
    - - Braun – 1/1 R
  - PH/RF Alan Oaks (.260 BA, 18 R, 19 RBI, .329 OB%, 2/2 SB)
    - - Manson – 0/3 K
      - Martin – 0/2 BB, K
      - Haig – 1/1 BB
      - Shaw – 1/2 2B, R, K
      - Stankiewicz – 1/3
      - Barrett – 0/1 K
      - Braun – 0/1 K
      - Reeser – 1/1

We're Not playing OSU tomorrow

formerlyanonymous — Wed, 21 May 2008 18:42:47 -0000

Again, the awesome work of FormerlyAnonymous jumps to the frontpage with an OUTSTANDING recap of the OSU Illinois Big Ten Tournament game. We get either Illinois or Indiana. FWIW, Illinois' pitcher threw one hell of a game. Michigan's up tomorrow! - MnB Dave

ILLINOIS TAKES FIRST GAME OF BASEBALL TOURNAMENT FROM OSU

Abbreviated Recap:

Illinois wins Game 1 by a score 3-2. OSU heads to the losers bracket where they will play the loser of the afternoon game. If Penn State wins the late game over Indiana, Michigan will face Illinois tomorrow night at 7pm. If Indiana wins, we face Indiana in the same time slot.

OSU started #3 starter DeLucia, who along with Wolosiansky, have been their hottest pitchers down the stretch. DeLucia gave up 2 runs, 1 earned, in 4 innings. Wolosiansky entered the game in the 5th inning. He went 3 innings, allowing 1 HR to Bonadonna in the 7th. While the choice for DeLucia was great, the choice to use Wolosiansky was questionable. While the Buckeyes did not want to risk entering the loser's bracket, Wolosiansky has been OSU's hottest starter down the stretch. His appearance today was on short rest as well. It remains to be seen how this many appearances will affect his performance down the tournament.

For Illinois, Manson pitched brilliantly. He threw a complete game four hitter, allowing two runs in the second, both unearned. More impressive was his 0 walks and 4 strike outs.

Stars of the game:
Illinois:
Manson: CG, 0ER, 4H, 0BB, 4K
Bonadonna: 1/4 HR, BB
Wikoff: 2/4 R, RBI

OSU:
Burkhart: 1/2 2RBI, SAC
Hurley: 1/3 R
Wolosiansky: 3INN, 5H, 1R, 1BB, 1K

I'll probably have one of these for the late game too, I'm not too concerned about the non-michigan games. I'm working up a big thing for Michigan later tonight though. I've spent the last 3 days going through every at-bat Michigan has had against every pitcher on every team minus Penn State (as it was statistically impossible for us to play them). The one thing I realize is we hardly ever ground out to third base.

Baseball Tournament (Games 1 & 2)

formerlyanonymous — Mon, 19 May 2008 03:19:19 -0000

Had to bump this to the Front Page. I love me some baseball and Uber Commenter FormerlyAnonymous put together this awesome, awesome preview of the first two games of the Big Ten Baseball Tournament. You can get game times and ticket information of the Main MGoBlue website or by clicking here. Again, a massive hat tip to FormerlyAnonymous for his outstanding preview. Looking forward to more! - MnB Dave

As Dave pointed out (and thank you for giving the Baseball some side space), Michigan is hosting the Big10 tourney this week at the Fish. For those of you who haven't seen the renovations yet, its worth the $7 for tickets. Michigan is currently a top 20 team in the country and vying for a Regional Hosting opportunity in the NCAA tournament. This goes a long way with recruiting and national exposure in general. We are a flagship program of northern college baseball. Ticket information can be found here.

As for Wednesday's games, neither feature the Wolverines, but the outcomes of both will affect who we play. The lowest seed to win takes on Michigan at 7pm on Thursday. So since hardly any of you have background on those teams, I've gone and created some updates for you.

In my eyes, we get Indiana. They split with us during the regular season. I'll probably post up a breakdown of how I expect that game to go in the next day or two, plus some alternate scenarios and those match ups.

Preview Game 1:

This match up brings us the epitome of offense versus pitching. Ohio State, like last year, has the best overall depth at pitching in the tournament. It will be interesting to see how they set up their rotation. Jake Hale appears to be their Game 1 starter for the tournament. The top two pitchers outside of Hale down the stretch, J.B. Shuck and Dean Wolosiansky both started on Saturday, meaning Wednesday would be short rest of both. Hale has struggled down the stretch, including a game against current foe Illinois two weeks ago. Against Illinois, he went 5.2 innings giving up 7 runs, 3 earned on 9 hits, 3 walks, and 2 strike outs. Over the whole season, Hale owns a 5-3 record over 70 innings pitched, and a 4.50 ERA. Ohio State’s bullpen is also strong. They have two long relievers available in Armstrong and Edgin. Both have seen several starts over the season, primarily on weeknights. Best is one of the top relievers this year with 8 saves. He has been very consistent over the last few appearances, allowing just one run in his last 9.2 innings pitched.

The Buckeye offense has struggled at time this year. Ohio State ranked 5th in the Big Ten this year in runs scored. First basemen Justin Miller has lead the attack for most of the season. His .405 batting average leads the team, as well as his 61 RBIs. J.B. Shuck has been a force to reckon with not just on the mound this season but also on offense. Shuck is currently batting .371 and has 22 stolen bases. Buckeye coach Bob Todd has kept Shuck out of the lineup on days when he has pitched during the season, which may happen in the tournament as well.

Illinois on the other hand is all about the offense. The Illini hold the top league batting season batting average at .338 as a team. Lead off hitter and centerfielder Kyle Hudson leads the team with a .411 batting average and .511 on base percentage. Hudson is also second in the Big Ten with 39 steals in 48 attempts. Shortstop Brandon Wikoff (.381 BA) is the primary RBI producer on the team with 59 on the season. Daniel Webb (.387 BA) hitting in the fifth position in the line up and playing right field is second on the team with 45 RBIs.

Illinois explosive lineup has carried them much farther than their pitching has this season. During conference play this season, the Illini ranked 8th out of 10 Big Ten team in earned run average (6.46). Kevin Manson heads the rotation up and is expected to start in Game 1. He is 7-2 on the year in 10 starts. In 65.2 innings, Manson has accumulated a 6.17 ERA and a .319 opponent batting average. If he gets in trouble early, watch for relief pitcher Mike Sterk to enter the game. Sterk closed out many of Manson’s starts this season already. Sterk owns a 4.05 ERA, which is the best on the team with at least one full inning pitched. He also has three saves on the season. Sterk is not the primary closer, however, as that job has been delegated to Ben Reeser. Reeser has 5 saves on the season and has the next best ERA on the team after Sterk with 4.24. Both relief pitchers have an appearance against Ohio State this season. Sterk went three innings allowing two runs to close out a Manson victory. Reeser was less fortunate lasting .2 innings allowing 5 runs, 4 earned on 3 hits and 2 walks.

Ohio State may have the depth in the pitching department, but Illinois’s Manson has been better down the stretch. My prediction is Illinois’s offense will be too much for Hale to handle. Illinois jumps out to an early lead and holds off a late Buckeye comeback. Illinois 8, Ohio State 5.

Players to Watch:

Ohio State:
Zach Hurley RF– 3/3, 2B, 1 R against Manson this season
Eric Best RP– 2 appearances for 3 innings, 3 hits, 2 BB, 1 K vs. Illinois this season
Justin Miller 1B- .467 BA, 3 R, 9 RBI vs. Illinois this season in 3 games

Illinois:
Kevin Manson SP - 6 innings, 6 hits, 2 runs, 1 earned, 1 K, 0 BB vs. OSUKyle Hudson CF – 2/3 and 2 runs vs. Hale
Craig Lutes OF- .500 BA, 3 runs, and 1 RBI against OSU this season

Preview Game 2:

In the second game of the day, we have Penn State versus Indiana. Penn State swept the four game season series in mid April, but since then Indiana has been one of the hottest teams in the Big Ten. The Hoosiers are winners 12 of their last 16 conference games, including two from 1st place Michigan, three from 2nd place Purdue, and a sweep on the road of Michigan State.

Offense has not been a problem this year for Indiana. The leader on offense this year is probably Big Ten player of the year candidate Josh Phegley. Phegley is the regular season Big Ten batting champion with a .436 average. He also holds the regular season crown 71 RBIs. Phegley ranks in the top 3 in slugging percentage (.733), on base percentage (.514), runs scored (63), hits (88), doubles (17), and home runs (13). Indiana as a team finished second in the Big Ten overall with a .337 batting average.

On the other side of the spectrum is Penn State. Penn State finished second to last in the Big Ten in team batting average, posting a .291 overall. Leading the way for Penn State are the three, four, and five hitters in the line up DH Joe Blackburn (.341 batting average, 41 RBI), C Rob Yodice (.291 batting average, 49 RBI), and CF Brian Ernst (.356 batting average). Blackburn, Ernst, and LF Ryan Boonie are the only hitters in the starting lineup currently batting over three hundred.

This is good news for the Hoosier pitching staff that has come out red hot in the second half of the season. Opening the tournament for Indiana is Matt Bashore. Bashore (7-3) currently holds the third highest ERA at 3.16 and the lead in strikeouts with 86 (25 looking). His last loss came at the hands of the Nittany Lions just over one month ago. Bashore pitched 5.1 innings allowing 6 runs, 3 earned, on 7 hits, 4 walks, and 3 strikeouts in the loss. Since that game, Bashore has pitched four straight complete-game victories.

Going up against Bashore for Penn State will be Mike Wanamaker. Wanamaker is fourth in the Big Ten in ERA with a 3.69 mark and holds a 5-5 record overall. Wanamaker’s low winning percentage has been more a case of bad luck than it has poor pitching. Wanamaker has lost two games this season when giving up only one earned run. He also ran into a hot Miami (FL) team, ranked #5 at the time, early in the season. He has really only pitched poorly in two games this season, including his most recent outing at Minnesota. Wanamaker has already faced Indiana once this season, pitching a complete game (7 innings), giving up 1 run on 7 hits. Wanamaker is also one of the few pitchers to dominate Phegley this season holding him hitless with two strikeouts. Behind Wanamaker, the Nittany Lions feature two quality relievers in Paul Hawkins (3-3) and Dan O’Neil (0-1, 11 S). Both relievers have 25 appearances each; nearly double the next closest reliever on the Nittany Lion roster. O’Neil is up for all conference honors this season as he has tied the Penn State record for saves in a season. His 0.71 ERA leads all Big Ten Pitchers with at least 5 innings of work.

Penn State coming in as the higher seed may actually be the underdog in this game. Indiana has the definite edge in the offensive department, and appears to have a slight advantage in the starting pitching. Penn State does have the upper hand in the relief-pitching department.

My prediction is a low scoring affair, which benefits Penn State, but not enough. Indiana 4, Penn State 2.

Players to Watch:

Penn State:
Brian Ernst CF – 2/3, R vs Bashore
Dan O’Neil RP – 11 Saves, 0.71ERA, .174 OBA in 25 appearances this season
Wes Borden 3B - .296 BA, 42 R, 17 RBI, .407 OB%, 13 SB this season

Indiana:
Josh Phegley C - 0/3, 2K vs Wanamaker
Jerrud Sabourin 1B – 3/3, 2B, R vs Wanamaker
Andrew Means CF - .365 BA, 65 R, 29 RBI, .421 OB%, 30 SB this season

Michigan Wins Third Straight Big Ten Baseball Title!

Maize n Brew Dave — Tue, 13 May 2008 14:59:49 -0000

Normally, this would be on the frontpage, but with the Charity Bowl, I figured athletics can take a back seat at least for a day or two.

That said, Michigan secured its third straight Big Ten Baseball Title with a Sunday afternoon double-header sweep of Minnesota. Michigan took the games 11-5 and 12-8. Sophomore 1B/DH Mike Dufek blasted a pair of dingers and accounted for 8 RBIs in the sweep.

The result is No. 19 Michigan hosting the Big Ten tournament, and (hopefully), assuring themselves of an invite to the NCAA tournament!

Congrats team and Go Blue!

The Blind Side and the Bell Curve

fasterhornkillkill — Tue, 13 May 2008 12:41:09 -0000

Michael Lewis' incredible college football book The Blind Side tells the amazing true story of professional footballs talent search for someone capable of blocking Lawrence Taylor. This search leads to inner city Memphis, where an incredibly athletically gifted young man who has been in and out of foster care and from the most difficult possible of circumstances improbably gets the opportunity to attend a private school and is adopted by a wealthy family. If Michael can get eligible to play college football, he will probably earn millions protecting the quarterback's blind side in the NFL.

The Blind Side is put into the context of the debate over IQ and education reform here:

http://jaypgreene.com/2008/05/10/charles-murray-vs-michael-oher/

Welcome to the new Maize n Brew and SB Nation

clockwerks — Tue, 06 May 2008 04:29:21 -0000

Hey Maize n Brew,

Today is the big day. We've switched your community over to the new SB Nation sports blog platform. My name is Trei, and I'm here to help you get adjusted to the new home we've built for you. If you have questions or trouble with the new system, post a comment in this thread and myself or one of the team (lovitt, sixfoot6 or odacrem) will try to point you in the right direction.

Before we begin, I want to let you know we still consider this a beta platform, so don't be surprised if you find a few bugs or if everything isn't exactly right yet. We hope you'll take the time to report any problems you encounter at bugreport@sbnation.com. We'll be continuing to make changes and improving things.

Please take a few minutes to read about what's new below. But if you just can't wait to jump in, here are some quick things to check out:

Sign up for your SB Nation network account and claim your old blog accounts
Once you're logged in, press your Z key in any thread with new comments
Explore your dashboard and setup your profile
Read the guide to the new FanPost editor
Install the FanShot bookmarklet and post videos to Maize n Brew from YouTube or images from Flickr
Click the "Rec" button on posts and comments to help other people find the good stuff.
Customize display options on your Edit Settings page

What Has Changed

SB Nation Network Accounts - the Big Change

Readers across all of our blogs told us they wanted one account to use on every SB Nation blog. To make this work, we're requiring that everyone create a new SB Nation network account. In most cases you should be able to keep your old username, but a few of you may have to choose something new, since every other community in SB Nation will be going through this same transition. We tried to be as fair as possible in deciding who gets to keep which name, using a formula that takes into account length of membership and frequency of activity.

We want to make it as easy as possible for you to participate on all of our blogs, but we don't want to encourage everyone to start visiting rival team blogs and initiating flame wars. To maintain friendly communities we ask that you explicitly join each blog in order to participate. It's a two-click process, but it does means accepting each blog's community guidelines. Just as you join each blog individually, you can be banned on each blog individually.

You can claim old accounts from multiple SB Nation blogs, and your new username will be retroactively attached to all your old comments and diaries. So now you'll be able to access all your writings from your single profile page... like magic.

To get started, click here to claim your old blog accounts and create a new SB Nation network account.

FanPosts (the Section Formerly Known as Diaries)

We changed their name. Why? Because we took this major upgrade as an opportunity to leave behind some vocabulary that never made much sense for a sports blog. SB Nation is the network of, by and for fans, and these are the blog posts we make. So we call them FanPosts. When you're at a bar telling someone to check out your online sports opinions, you don't have to suggest they read your diary.

FanPosts are displayed differently on the homepage - we include your avatar to give more credit for the time you spend writing great posts. The new post editor has a WYSIWYG view that provides easy formatting. It also auto-saves drafts so you don't have to worry about losing your work when you compose a post within the web browser. And you can now associate teams, players and games with your posts: these tools promote your FanPosts on our new team, player and game pages - across the entire network.

The new system does not work like the old diary editor. For example, in HTML mode the new editor doesn't auto-create a new paragraph from two line breaks. But it does offer a whole array of new features. Look for the blinking help button on the right side of the FanPost editor for quick tips, and take a look at our full guide to writing FanPosts on the new platform.

IMPORTANT - if you write your posts in Microsoft Word or some other off-line editor, you will get the most reliable behavior if you cut & paste your post into the HTML view of the FanPost editor. And if you do that, remember to wrap <p></p> tags around each paragraph so your text doesn't run together.

Visual Redesign

This one is probably the most obvious change of all. Like other major websites working to improve readability for their audience, we've adopted a fixed-width layout optimized for the 1024 x 768 resolution used by the majority of Maize n Brew and SB Nation network users. Use the switcher below the user menu if you prefer the wider layout designed for 1280 monitors. We've introduced a top navigation bar with quick links into old and new sections of the site. We also polished a few edges, made some things larger, others smaller and moved a few boxes here and there. More changes and adjustments to come.

Search

We've completely replaced the old search engine with a new one. We're excited to make it easier to find old posts and comments, but we've only taken our first pass on the tools we're offering. We're focused on making search even better than what you had before, so please know that we're aware search is missing key features and we're working on it.

What's New

Schedule, Scores, Stats and Roster

Maize n Brew now has all the basic information about the Michigan Wolverines and hundreds of other teams. During games you'll see a regularly updated line score, and as the season progresses we'll track team stat totals and leaders. This is just our first step, so look for us to publish more detailed and archival stats in the future. The best part about all this sports data is that we've integrated it directly into the blog so. We now have special pages that aggregate all blog posts written about games, players and teams.

Recommending FanPosts

Some writing deserves more attention and more conversation. If you want to bump a FanPost up to the top and keep it there for awhile, just click the 'Rec' link under the body of the post. When a FanPost receives enough recommendations it will make the recommended list.

Auto-refreshing Comments

You no longer need to refresh the page to see new comments. If you're logged in, new comments will automatically appear on the page every few seconds. When you post a comment, the page will not refresh either. If you want to quickly cycle through all the new comments, you can press the C key on your keyboard. Unmark a new comment after you've read it with the X key. And use the Z key if you want to umark comments as you're cycling through them.

As you use these shortcuts to cycle through comments, press the R key to reply to the current comment. All these helpful keyboard shortcuts are listed at the top of each comments section for reference.

Recommending Comments

Now you can reward those folks who take the time to look up stats and make smart arguments in the comments. Next to each comment there is an 'actions' link that you can click to find the recommend and flag options.

Flagging Comments

To help the moderators on a site, we've built-in tools that let you flag comments that are spam, trolling or just plain inappropriate. Only moderators can see those flags.

FanShots

Many members of the community just want to post that one link, video, photo or quote, but don't need a full FanPost. We've got you covered: FanShots let you share YouTube videos, Flickr or PhotoBucket photos, quotes from articles, portions of chat transcripts, top 5 lists and simple links. If it's a video or image we'll put a thumbnail on the homepage when you post it.

For those of you who are experienced internet hunter-gatherers of Michigan Wolverines material, install the bookmarklet onto the links bar of your browser and share FanShots with the community from wherever on the web you find that killer quote or photo.

Avatars

Upload an image so folks can see your custom avatar on your profile, your FanPosts, and all your comments.

Network Profiles

Now that we have unified SB Nation network accounts, your profile will be your central hub for all of your activity on any blogs where you are a member.

Network bar

The top bar stays with you on all SB Nation blogs. It's a quick way to login and logout. When you're logged in, you'll see your avatar and screen name which links to your profile. The icon to the right leads to your Dashboard area where you can edit your settings, profile, account details and any FanPosts or FanShots you've published. As we add more blogs to the new SB Nation network, the My Blogs menu will be a handy way to navigate between the blogs you've joined.

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There are plenty more small changes and additions we've made, so please take a careful look around and explore this new system. We appreciate your patience and hope you'll help us improve the new platform for this and all the other SB Nation blogs.

And in case you missed it, you'll want to start by claiming your old blog accounts and creating a new SB Nation network account.

Let's Go Blue

Sat, 15 Sep 2007 17:43:54 -0000

Hail to the victors

I was traveling through Wyoming, coming home from and assignment and a local, "dark hole" radio station had their broadcast on. It was one of those in which the two local sports nuts were the only ones laughing at their dry humor (I think we all know the ones I am mentioning). Anyway, they got on the bash the Michigan bandwagon and were talking smack and then played "Hail to th victims", not the "Victors" but victims and butchered the greatest theme song.

Okay, we are 0-2 and everyone is enjoying the moment in beating down the maize and blue. Well, I called in and finally got on the show. I said, "sure, Michigan's defense is weak in the secondary, but in the end there is only one champion and everyone else was in second place. And wasn't USC the champion last year? So doesn't that make everyone else losers?" So, knowing they were going to throw an influx of slurs, dumbass and you are an OSU doormat, I asked them, "how many years would it take Wyoming to equal Michigans wins, National Championships, Conference Championships and other success, if Michigan just quit football?" So after that, I said, (to avert too much of an onslaught), "Did you hear Bill Cowher is going to attend three Michigan home games this year?" After that, there was more, "How would Cowher fit into Michigan" and "Look what Carroll has done in USC" talk then beating down Michigan for the next three hours. Then after about 4 hours and having been giving another number to call back, I called and said, "Hey stupid Wyoming fans and you announcers, I made the Cowher thing up, you look really stupid and like an inbred right about now" and then hung up. Talk about egg on their faces!!!

Holy Crap, what's happening with Appalachian State?

Sat, 01 Sep 2007 18:00:38 -0000

28-17 at the half.

App State's QB is 7/7 for 129 yards and 3 TD's.

Michigan should be able to wear them down by pounding the bal at them, but that's given that Michigan's defense stops App State.

either way, right now you look silly. This game is on Big Ten Network, right, so barely anyone is watching it. Be thankful for Delany being a lousy negotiator.

Mark May Hates the Big 10

Wed, 08 Aug 2007 02:34:35 -0000

Weelll, I was pretty excited to see ESPN have a daily college football show, until I realized Mark May would be on it everyday.

Today, he said he though Michigan would be 3rd best if they were in the Pac-10 "best case scenario".

I'm a Penn State fan, and that even made MY skin crawl, as I'm sure he'll be talking about how Rutgers fans should add some seats to the stadium to watch a budding dynasty in Piscataway tommorrow.

Is there anyone more bias on their college football team? I doubt it. It is mostly because he is a jealous Pitt fan at heat I suppose.

And by saying that Michigan would be AT BEST 3rd in the Pac-10 insinuates that OSU, Wisc., and Penn State would all totally suck.

The Pac-10? Please, spare me. It is amazing to me how short a memory the people at that network. Going into the OSU-MICH. game last year, you would have thought the world was coming to an end.

Only a couple tough losses later and the Big 10 sucks? Come ON!

Of course they won't tell you that PSU and Wisconsin physically man handled Ark. and Tenn. and all they're "speed".

Ugh.

Very Nice

Thu, 02 Aug 2007 01:36:51 -0000

Very impressed with your preview (Oregon Fan Here). You obviously did your research. Do you think the Michigan players/coaches/fans still have a bitter taste in their mouth from the game in Eugene, or is this "just another game"?

Michigan v. Notre Dame Preview on Scout

Maize n Brew Dave — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 19:00:05 -0000

Interesting look at the Michigan v. Notre Dame game from the Irish perspective.

http://notredame.scout.com/2/659682.html

or linky.

Notre Dame Preview at Fox Sports

Maize n Brew Dave — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 18:57:38 -0000

The good folks over at Fox Sports apparently laid off whatever the hell Blue Ribbon was smoking when they did their Notre Dame Preview on ESPN.

Well worth a look.

Head over to Fox Sports and check out their Notre Dame Preview.

As Brian would say, they gon' suck.

Scout Previews the Big Ten

Maize n Brew Dave — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 17:11:07 -0000

I'm not really sure what to tell you about this, they pick Northwestern and Minnesota(!?) to go bowling. They also say 8 of 11 teams make the post season. Not buying it, maybe seven teams, but not eight.

Scout picks the Badgers to stop Michigan in Madison and for both teams to finish 11-1 with UW heading to Pasadena. Certainly possible. If that's the case, then the Sugar bowl looks pretty likely for Michigan.

Worth a read, and it's full of links to Big Ten previews of every team.

Scout's preview can be found HERE.

PSU Review

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 07:25:57 -0000

I must say, as a Penn State fan, your preview was rather impressive. I think most of the things you said are right down the fairway.

However, 9-3 seems a bit harsh. I have a hard time thinking we'll lose to BOTH OSU and Wisconsin at home. Honestly, Wisconsin has never been very impressive in my estimation, and Ohio State has some signifigant holes to fill.

I'm not saying I expect an undefeated season, but 10-2 or 11-1 sound more accurate to me.

I do expect another good game between Penn State and Michigan this year. Hopefully, we'll both end up in a BCS game, and win both to clean up the mess that was last season for the Big 10.

Enjoy killing Notre Dame.