For his efforts last week during the Spring Break Trip, Willie Argo became the second Illinois player to be honored by the Big Ten with the Player of the Week award. Argo (left) had it coming. His consistent offense throughout the week made me wonder if he would be considered for the award especially after his 4 for 4 game against Southeastern which was followed up two games later by a 2 for 4, triple performance. For the week, Argo hit .636 while slugging 1.182.
Illini Matt Dittman was named Player of the Week earlier in March.
Argo is now second on the team in hitting with a .418 average as is his 16 runs scored. Argo tops the team with 11 steals and 12 walks which probably prompted Coach Hartleb to try him out in the leadoff spot.
To be accurate, Argo was the co-Big Ten Player of the Week. Alex Dickerson of Indiana, who leads the conference in homeruns, also won the award.
Minnesota, who quite honestly needs some good news, owns the Big Ten Pitcher of the Week. That is junior Seth Roslin who won it on his performance against Louisiana Tech.
Meanwhile, here are the current standings in the Big Ten (if you want the Big Ten RPI standings, Happy Valley Hardball has ’em):
| Team | Record | Pct. | Record | Pct. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan State | 0-0 | .000 | 16-4 | .800 |
| Ohio State | 0-0 | .000 | 13-7 | .650 |
| Michigan | 0-0 | .000 | 12-9 | .571 |
| Purdue | 0-0 | .000 | 11-9 | .550 |
| Indiana | 0-0 | .000 | 12-10 | .545 |
| Illinois | 0-0 | .000 | 8-8 | .500 |
| Penn State | 0-0 | .000 | 9-12 | .429 |
| Iowa | 0-0 | .000 | 8-12 | .400 |
| Minnesota | 0-0 | .000 | 8-16 | .333 |
| Northwestern | 0-0 | .000 | 6-17 | .261 |
Gophers play at Target Field
The Minnesota Gophers lost their home opener against Louisiana Tech but they couldn’t complain about fan support. At Saturday’s game, 36, 056 fans showed up to watch them play. There were a couple reasons for that. One they were playing at the MLB Minnesota Twins’ stadium and two, they were playing at the Twins’ BRAND NEW stadium. Target Field has just opened and the Twins agreed to let the Gophers use it for their opener.
Still, the attendance figure ranks the second highest for a college baseball game.
Battle at Busch
And while we’re talking about college ballgames at pro stadiums, time is running out 
for those who want to take the fan bus to the “Battle at Busch”. The April 7 Illinois- Missouri game should be a blast but if you want to go on the fan bus provided by The Dugout Club, I believe March 31 is the deadline. Here are the details.
And if you just want to get tickets to the game, here is the link