Day and night. That’s how I’d describe the difference between Minnesota on Thursday and Minnesota on Friday. And unfortunately, Illinois had to play them Friday.
The same Gopher team that couldn’t buy a hit against Indiana the day before and had its pitching pounded by their offense, came out a changed team Friday. They first played Purdue in Game 1 on Friday. Purdue had shown some offense against MSU scoring 12 runs on Thursday so I was expecting some fireworks. That we got but the fireworks were from Minnesota who simply crushed Purdue who’s offense was pretty limp compared to the day before. Final score: 12-3 Minnesota. Photos from the Minnesota-Purdue game on the Photo Gallery.
The Illini were waiting in the wings to play the winner of the Purdue-Minnesota matchup. With Minnesota essentially playing the second game of a double header while Illinois hopefully rested, I wondered if that was going to be a factor. Then again, there was something to be said for momentum of a 12-3 win.
I’ll be honest, it’ll be hard to write about to write about a 13-4 thrashing by a very good Gopher team on a mission and make it look pretty. Starter Ben Reeser’s (above) back problems just prevented him from doing his job and he only lasted an inning. Bryan Roberts, who relieved him, came in with an automatic three run deficit and it just didn’t’ get any better. With Nick O’Shea cracking two dingers and Michael Kvasnicka hitting his second of the day, there was no stopping the Gopher offense.
Things went from bad to worse as our guys were getting banged up. Aaron Johnson was injured where apparently signals were crossed between him and Nick Chmielewski and he took a pitch on the arm. Johnson left the game with a hairline fracture.
That said, there were a couple positive things worth mentioning. Brandon Wikoff for starters. In the first inning, Wikoff had an 0-2 count then worked it to 2-2 before fouling a ball off his knee in a bad way. He was on the ground for a good minute. I’m sure every Illini parent (especially Brandon’s) were holding their breath.
However, once back up, Wikoff battled and fouled off another pitch (at this point it was the 7th pitch of the at-bat) then rapped a base hit to center. Not only that, he followed that up with another single in his next at-bat to drive in a run.
In the fourth inning, Willie Argo gave the rest of the Big Ten a show and blasted a solo shot over the left field bleachers that was really a sight to see. With the homer, Argo is tied for second with Sean Mulligan for homeruns by a freshman with 12.
Matt Dittman takes a cut
Pete Cappetta tripled in Matt Dittman (above) in the seventh. He later scored that inning. I haven’t compiled his Tournament stats but for my money, I’d put him on the All Tournament Team somewhere. I’m really looking forward to seeing both Cappetta and Argo next year, no doubt.
So Illinois is out of the tournament. Word has it the team is coming back to Champaign today. Are they finished for the season? That’s still up in the air. There’s a remote chance that Illinois will be chosen to represent the Big Ten in the NCAA Regionals. The scoop is that if Indiana wins the Big Ten Tournament and gets an automatic bid, Illinois’ chances go from slim to pretty much nil.
I posted plenty of pre-game practice and game photos from Friday on the photo gallery.
I’ll post a Tournament wrap-up article tomorrow.
Kinda disappointing, it was almost over before it started. All in all, it was an exciting season for the Fighting Illini!!!