Eric Best did not live up to his name today as the #1 seeded Buckeyes were knocked out of the Big Ten Tournament by the #2 seeded Minnesota Gophers by a score of 9-6 on Saturday afternoon.
Best came out of the gates stale, giving up four runs in the first inning, a lead Minnesota would never lose. Despite the Buckeyes battling back in the bottom of the first by scoring three runs, they were never able to get on top and put pressure on the Golden Gopher pitching staff which played it's fourth game in three days.
One thing of note today was that Minnesota wide receiver and 2009 football captain, Eric Decker, played center field for the baseball Gophers. Decker continued to keep a hot bat during the tournament, including a solo home run in the top of the second inning. Decker is a tremendous athlete who could go pro in football or baseball after his senior season.
Minnesota takes on Indiana in the championship game, which is now scheduled at 7:30 tonight at Huntington Park. If the Hoosiers win they are the Big Ten Tournament Champions and receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. If Minnesota wins, they force an elimination game which would be played at 12:05 PM tomorrow at 'The Hunt'.
The Buckeyes are still in good shape as Big Ten Champions in the regular season and will most likely get an at-large bid to the Road To Omaha. Minnesota, Indiana, and Illinois are the three other conference teams that have a chance to advance to the tournament and if Indiana beats the Gophers for the tournament crown, it will most likely leave Illinois as the lone member of that group to be left out of the bracket. Stay tuned as the entire bracket of 64 teams of the NCAA Tournament will be released on Monday.
Comments
major bummer dude, also the game
It figures the first full game I watch they lose. The pitchers need some rest for the big tourny anyway!
Good to be a Buckeye, bad to be a Cavalier. Have fun in NY LeBron!!
iball, who says he's leaving? Can't blame this loss on him. And honestly, I am a lifelong Knicks fan, but I am disgusted with the Franchise ever since they traded Patrick Ewing. They can't do anything right and I hope Lebron stays in Cleveland. It would be great for the team, city, state and league. There is something to be said about loyalty, and my NY / Columbus roots have extended to the Tribe (my AL team for almost 2 decades, and have me pulling for the Cavs.
On a side note, thanks to all my fellow troops out there, active and former active duty. God Bless you.
I think all these rumors about him going to NY are overblown -- they're all based on the assumption that he'll have a much bigger global market if he moves to New York or another large city, but the reality is that the market just follows the stars these days. I spent some time in the former Soviet Union, and they don't show Knicks games on TV there, they show Cavs games, because everybody wants to watch Lebron, and they couldn't care less about which city he plays in. Recognition will come with championships, and I think the bigger concern is Lebron taking off for a franchise with a better supporting cast if the Cavs can't pull it off this year.
Found this today, hopefully this keeps him a Cav:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/ne...
Now if we can only make a deal to bring in Yao Ming, oh what if???
in case no one else saw it, we managed to get another title game loss today. Steven Moneke lost to some dude from Ole Miss today in men's tennis
i fell like OSU is turning into lisa simpson in the episode "lisa's rival" and she daydreams that she's in the second best band in the world, performing their #2 hit single, "born to runner up"
"why would they come to our concert just to boo us?!?"
hahaha, great episode
Why do you think they signed that deal? Dan Gilbert is a smart guy, he knows now they can take more advantage of Lebron's biggest market. The off court deals that can be made for him now could be huge..