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*****SAT GAME #2 IN RAIN DELAY. Official #159 RPI Penn State at #40 RPI IOWA Games Thread (All 3 games on BTN PLUS)*****

Franisdaman

HR King
Nov 3, 2012
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MAY 7 SCHEDULE CHANGE!!!

The 3 Game Series:

Fri May 7


4:05 PM
Streaming: BTN PLUS
.................................................

Sat May 8

2 GAMES

Times To Be Announced

Streaming: BTN PLUS
.................................................

Sun May 9

NO GAMES DUE TO EXPECTED WEATHER


E0y3gjuXsAUTePi






ORIGINAL POST:


Iowa is 15-5 over its last 20 games; from 4-8 to 19-13.

If you want to watch, I can email you a game link. I currently have 11 on my email list.

if you want to listen to the LIVE radio broadcast, click here: https://tunein.com/radio/Iowa-Baseball-s308306/


The 3 Game Series:

Fri May 7

6:05 PM
Streaming: BTN PLUS
.................................................

Sat May 8
2:05 PM
Streaming: BTN PLUS
.................................................

Sun May 9
11:05 AM
Streaming: BTN PLUS
.................................................


Current B1G Standings (thanks @Alum-Ni ):

..........................................................Games
..........................................................Back
1. Indiana (20-9, .690).....................--
2. Nebraska (20-10, .667)..............1/2
3. Michigan (21-11, .656).................1/2
4. Iowa (19-13, .594)......................2.5
4. Maryland (19-13, .594)
.............2.5

...................................................

6. Rutgers (17-13)
7. Ohio State (17-14)
8. Illinois (15-16)
9. Northwestern (12-16)
10. Penn State (12-18)
11. Michigan State (12-20)
12. Purdue (11-20)
13. Minnesota (4-26)

Games for Friday, May 7
Indiana at Rutgers
Michigan at Michigan State
Maryland at Illinois
Penn State at Iowa
Northwestern at Purdue
Ohio State at Minnesota
...................................................

B1G Rankings
May 3, RPI


Current....Previous
Rank.........Rank


4038IowaBig Ten19-137-55-57-30-0
6054Ohio St.Big Ten17-142-75-310-40-0
62110RutgersBig Ten17-1312-61-14-60-0
8549NebraskaBig Ten20-109-35-36-40-0
9272MarylandBig Ten19-135-53-511-30-0
9391MichiganBig Ten21-116-210-45-50-0
113127IndianaBig Ten20-96-61-113-20-0
159172Penn St.Big Ten12-184-83-35-70-0
163164PurdueBig Ten11-205-54-82-70-0
173193IllinoisBig Ten15-167-44-64-60-0
198210NorthwesternBig Ten12-164-66-62-40-0
254230Michigan St.Big Ten12-203-75-74-60-0
275271MinnesotaBig Ten4-260-130-04-13
...................................................



@KyleHuesmann , we look forward to your series preview!

Let's do this!!!

GO HAWKS!!!
 
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A few things on Penn State, they’ve won four in a row with a win over Ohio State, and a sweep of MSU. Sure they are 12-18, but they are a tough out.

A couple of their pitchers have pretty good numbers, but for the most part as a whole it’s pedestrian. They are third best in walks allowed, but can be hit on.
Fielding they are one of the worst teams in the conference, which means an error free weekend right? Offensively they hit .271, haven’t scored a lot of runs, lead the conference in the doubles, don’t steal many bases.
 
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@KyleHuesmann , how is the B1G Champion going to be crowned? By winning percentage? Because, right now I don't think the top contenders will play all 44 games.

Current Top 3 teams:

..........................................................Games
..........................................................Back
1. Indiana (20-9, .690).....................--
2. Nebraska (20-10, .667)..............1/2
3. Michigan (21-11, .656).................1/2
 
@KyleHuesmann , how is the B1G Champion going to be crowned? By winning percentage? Because, right now I don't think the top contenders will play all 44 games.

Current Top 3 teams:

..........................................................Games
..........................................................Back
1. Indiana (20-9, .690).....................--
2. Nebraska (20-10, .667)..............1/2
3. Michigan (21-11, .656).................1/2

Looks like winning % to me, who knows when/if Northwestern will resume.
 
@KyleHuesmann , how is the B1G Champion going to be crowned? By winning percentage? Because, right now I don't think the top contenders will play all 44 games.

Current Top 3 teams:

..........................................................Games
..........................................................Back
1. Indiana (20-9, .690).....................--
2. Nebraska (20-10, .667)..............1/2
3. Michigan (21-11, .656).................1/2
I would assume win percentage. As long as no one else cancels games Michigan would be the only one not at 44 that’s near the top correct?

Only thing I can think is maybe they try to squeeze in a game or 2 as a mid-week game. See they can get NW, Illinois and Michigan to 42-43 games
 
B1G standings as of 5/3/21. What's it going to take to be the B1G champion?
With the schedules listed below . . . these are my guesses.

-I don't see Iowa going 12-0 or 11-1.
-If Iowa finishes 10-2, it can catch any team that is ahead of them in the standings. Indiana would have to finish 8-6, Michigan would have finish 8-4 and Nebraska would have to finish 9-5. While I certainly think that its a "stretch" to see Iowa go 10-2 to finish the season (that would involve 2 series sweeps and 2 series wins), I can see the Hoosiers dropping 6 of its final 14 games, Wolverines dropping 4 of its final 12 and/or the Cornhuskers dropping 5 of their final 14.
-If Iowa finishes 9-3, it could still catch any team that sits above the in the standings. Indiana would have to finish 7-7, Michigan would have finish 7-5 and Nebraska would have to finish 8-6. 9-3 is more realistic than 10-2 and the records for Indiana, Michigan and Nebraska are possible but starting to get more unlikely.
-If Iowa finishes 8-4, that's when (IMO) challenging for the conference title become far less likely. Indiana would have to lose more games than it wins for balance of season and both Michigan and Nebraska have to play just over .500 ball. If Iowa finishes 8-4, I think that it would still be in the discussion for NCAA at-large consideration (27-17 final record) so long as they remain in the top 4 teams in the B1G.
-Iowa finishing at 7-5 (or worse) almost certainly eliminates them from conference championship consideration. I'd also go so far as to say that finishing 7-5 against PSU, Illinois, Michigan State and Northwestern likely eliminates Iowa from NCAA at-large consideration.

My hope? Trying to stay realistic? I'm hoping for a 9-3 finish to the season. Win every series with one sweep thrown in. That would leave them 28-16 as a final record and I'd bet good money that Iowa would be no more than 1 or 2 games out of first place and would leapfrog at least one, if not two, teams in the standings. It's a tall ask but . . . looking at the opponents . . . not exactly impossible.

If they finish 8-4 . . . I still think that they could (a) hold off Maryland and (b) jump over one more team and finish third. I think that gets them in the tournament.

If they finish 7-5 . . . I fear that the Iowa baseball team and its fans won't like the outcome.

For this weekend, it is not difficult to envision:
Indiana going 2-2 against Nebraska and Rutgers
Michigan going 2-1 against Michigan State
Nebraska going 2-2 against Indiana and Rutgers.

Fingers crossed that we see better pitching against the Nittany Kittens and that Iowa figures out some way to sweep this weekend's series.

If (giant f'ing IF) that were to occur, Iowa would be 1 game behind Indiana; 1 game behind Michigan and one-half game behind Nebraska. Sure would make for an interesting final three weekends when you look at the head-to-heads below.

First place: Indiana (20-9; Iowa is 1-2 head to head)
Indiana's remaining schedule (Iowa trails by 2.5 games):
May 7-9 - 4 games in Piscataway; 2 against Nebraska; 2 against Rutgers
May 14-16 - 3 games in Ann Arbor; 3 games against Michigan
May 21-23 - 4 games in Bloomington; 2 against Nebraska; 2 against Ohio State
May 28-30 - 3 games in College Park; 3 against Maryland

Second place: Michigan (21-11; Iowa is 1-3 head to head)
Michigan's remaining schedule (Iowa trails by 2 games):
May 7-9 - 3 games in East Lansing; 3 games against Michigan State
May 14-16 - 3 games in Ann Arbor; 3 games against Indiana
May 21-23 - 3 games in Ann Arbor; 3 games against Maryland
May 28-30 - 3 games in Lincoln; 3 against Nebraska

Third place: Nebraska (20-10; Iowa is 2-3 head to head)
Nebraska's remaining schedule (Iowa trails by 2 games):
May 7-9 - 4 games in Piscataway; 2 against Indiana; 2 against Rutgers
May 14-16 - 3 games in Lincoln; 2 against Northwestern
May 21-23 - 4 games in Bloomington; 2 against Nebraska; 2 against Ohio State
May 28-30 - 3 games in Lincoln; 3 against Michigan

4th place (t): Iowa (19-13; 7-9 against the other 4 top B1G teams)
Iowa's remaining schedule:
May 7-9 - 3 games in Iowa City; 3 against Penn State
May 14-16 - 3 games in Iowa City; 3 against Illinois
May 21-23 - 3 games in Evanston; 3 games against Northwestern
May 28-30 - 3 games in East Lansing; 3 against Michigan State

4th place (t): Maryland (19-13; Iowa is 3-1 head to head)
Maryland's remaining schedule (tied with Iowa at 19-13):
May 7-9 - 3 games in Champaign; 3 against Illinois
May 14-16 - 3 games in College Park; 3 against Purdue
May 21-23 - 3 games in Ann Arbor; 3 against Michigan
May 28-30 - 3 games in College Park; 3 against Indiana
 
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Looks like winning % to me, who knows when/if Northwestern will resume.
I would assume win percentage. As long as no one else cancels games Michigan would be the only one not at 44 that’s near the top correct?

Only thing I can think is maybe they try to squeeze in a game or 2 as a mid-week game. See they can get NW, Illinois and Michigan to 42-43 games

Michigan lucked out last weekend and is on track to play all 44 games. IU is on track for just 43.

Just a reminder that last weekend Michigan and Illinois were at N'western for a pod series. Michigan was supposed to play 4 games (2 vs N'western, 2 vs Illinois). When N'western canceled due to covid, Michigan still got their 4 games in (all vs Illinois). So, Michigan/the B1G got lucky there to get the games in for a conference contender. Right now, the 4 games N'western lost last weekend have not been rescheduled (N'western is at 40 games at the moment).

The IU vs Illinois game on April 11 was postponed w/ no make up date.

IU & Nebraska have 14 games left. Michigan has 12 games left.

Total # of Games Currently Scheduled:
43: Indiana
44: Nebraska
44: Michigan


Current Top 3 B1G teams:

..........................................................Games
..........................................................Back
1. Indiana (20-9, .690).....................--
2. Nebraska (20-10, .667)..............1/2
3. Michigan (21-11, .656).................1/2
 
B1G standings as of 5/3/21. What's it going to take to be the B1G champion?
With the schedules listed below . . . these are my guesses.

-I don't see Iowa going 12-0 or 11-1.
-If Iowa finishes 10-2, it can catch any team that is ahead of them in the standings. Indiana would have to finish 8-6, Michigan would have finish 8-4 and Nebraska would have to finish 9-5. While I certainly think that its a "stretch" to see Iowa go 10-2 to finish the season (that would involve 2 series sweeps and 2 series wins), I can see the Hoosiers dropping 6 of its final 14 games, Wolverines dropping 4 of its final 12 and/or the Cornhuskers dropping 5 of their final 14.
-If Iowa finishes 9-3, it could still catch any team that sits above the in the standings. Indiana would have to finish 7-7, Michigan would have finish 7-5 and Nebraska would have to finish 8-6. 9-3 is more realistic than 10-2 and the records for Indiana, Michigan and Nebraska are possible but starting to get more unlikely.
-If Iowa finishes 8-4, that's when (IMO) challenging for the conference title become far less likely. Indiana would have to lose more games than it wins for balance of season and both Michigan and Nebraska have to play just over .500 ball. If Iowa finishes 8-4, I think that it would still be in the discussion for NCAA at-large consideration (27-17 final record) so long as they remain in the top 4 teams in the B1G.
-Iowa finishing at 7-5 (or worse) almost certainly eliminates them from conference championship consideration. I'd also go so far as to say that finishing 7-5 against PSU, Illinois, Michigan State and Northwestern likely eliminates Iowa from NCAA at-large consideration.

My hope? Trying to stay realistic? I'm hoping for a 9-3 finish to the season. Win every series with one sweep thrown in. That would leave them 28-16 as a final record and I'd bet good money that Iowa would be no more than 1 or 2 games out of first place and would leapfrog at least one, if not two, teams in the standings. It's a tall ask but . . . looking at the opponents . . . not exactly impossible.

If they finish 8-4 . . . I still think that they could (a) hold off Maryland and (b) jump over one more team and finish third. I think that gets them in the tournament.

If they finish 7-5 . . . I fear that the Iowa baseball team and its fans won't like the outcome.

For this weekend, it is not difficult to envision:
Indiana going 2-2 against Nebraska and Rutgers
Michigan going 2-1 against Michigan State
Nebraska going 2-2 against Indiana and Rutgers.

Fingers crossed that we see better pitching against the Nittany Kittens and that Iowa figures out some way to sweep this weekend's series.

If (giant f'ing IF) that were to occur, Iowa would be 1 game behind Indiana; 1 game behind Michigan and one-half game behind Nebraska. Sure would make for an interesting final three weekends when you look at the head-to-heads below.

First place: Indiana (20-9; Iowa is 1-2 head to head)
Indiana's remaining schedule (Iowa trails by 2.5 games):
May 7-9 - 4 games in Piscataway; 2 against Nebraska; 2 against Rutgers
May 14-16 - 3 games in Ann Arbor; 3 games against Michigan
May 21-23 - 4 games in Bloomington; 2 against Nebraska; 2 against Ohio State
May 28-30 - 3 games in College Park; 3 against Maryland

Second place: Michigan (21-11; Iowa is 1-3 head to head)
Michigan's remaining schedule (Iowa trails by 2 games):
May 7-9 - 3 games in East Lansing; 3 games against Michigan State
May 14-16 - 3 games in Ann Arbor; 3 games against Indiana
May 21-23 - 3 games in Ann Arbor; 3 games against Maryland
May 28-30 - 3 games in Lincoln; 3 against Nebraska

Third place: Nebraska (20-10; Iowa is 2-3 head to head)
Nebraska's remaining schedule (Iowa trails by 2 games):
May 7-9 - 4 games in Piscataway; 2 against Indiana; 2 against Rutgers
May 14-16 - 3 games in Lincoln; 2 against Northwestern
May 21-23 - 4 games in Bloomington; 2 against Nebraska; 2 against Ohio State
May 28-30 - 3 games in Lincoln; 3 against Michigan

4th place (t): Iowa (19-13; 7-9 against the other 4 top B1G teams)
Iowa's remaining schedule:
May 7-9 - 3 games in Iowa City; 3 against Penn State
May 14-16 - 3 games in Iowa City; 3 against Illinois
May 21-23 - 3 games in Evanston; 3 games against Northwestern
May 28-30 - 3 games in East Lansing; 3 against Michigan State

4th place (t): Maryland (19-13; Iowa is 3-1 head to head)
Maryland's remaining schedule (tied with Iowa at 19-13):
May 7-9 - 3 games in Champaign; 3 against Illinois
May 14-16 - 3 games in College Park; 3 against Purdue
May 21-23 - 3 games in Ann Arbor; 3 against Michigan
May 28-30 - 3 games in College Park; 3 against Indiana

Anything and I do mean anything is possible with this Iowa team. Keep in mind they won 11/12 at one point vs OSU, MD, Purdue, Minnesota, and Rutgers. They are 15-5 Since that streak started.

My opinion is 10-2 or better and you have no concerns.
9-3 should get you unless all three are at home, the you’re on the bubble.
8-4 is where you’re squarely on the bubble and probably out if you go 2-4 at home.
7-5 or worse, it’s been a nice year but you’re not in.

I’ll also add that MSU is quickly becoming an RPI killer unless they improve their RPI a bit. Fun huh? Should be playing in Omaha that week.

Now had Iowa won one more against IU, swept Rutgers, or even swept Purdue they’d have a bit more margin of error.
 
Michigan lucked out last weekend and is on track to play all 44 games. IU is on track for just 43.

Just a reminder that last weekend Michigan and Illinois were at N'western for a pod series. Michigan was supposed to play 4 games (2 vs N'western, 2 vs Illinois). When N'western canceled due to covid, Michigan still got their 4 games in (all vs Illinois). So, Michigan/the B1G got lucky there to get the games in for a conference contender. Right now, the 4 games N'western lost last weekend have not been rescheduled (N'western is at 40 games at the moment).

The IU vs Illinois game on April 11 was postponed w/ no make up date.

IU & Nebraska have 14 games left. Michigan has 12 games left.

Total # of Games Currently Scheduled:
43: Indiana
44: Nebraska
44: Michigan


Current Top 3 B1G teams:

..........................................................Games
..........................................................Back
1. Indiana (20-9, .690).....................--
2. Nebraska (20-10, .667)..............1/2
3. Michigan (21-11, .656).................1/2
You know I knew that they did that and completely forgot.
 
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You know I knew that they did that and completely forgot.

Totally get it. It is such a strange year trying to keep track of what's what.

And I do think Michigan totally lucked out because if last weekend would have been just a Michigan at N'western series, Michigan likely loses 3 games that would not get made up. So, that means they only play 41 games when SEC teams are playing over 50 games plus conference tourney games. A couple examples: Arkansas is scheduled to play 52 games; Florida 54. The SEC Baseball Tournament is May 25-30, 2021.

Heck, like I mentioned above, IU does not appear to be making up it's rain out game, so they only play 43 games.

It's a shame that Kevin Warren:

* Started the season 2 weeks later than rest of country (Feb 19 for SEC teams; March 6 for B1G Teams)

* Made this a conference only schedule

* Made the schedule so tight and inflexible that games can't be made up

* Is only allowing 44 games when the other Power 5 are playing up to the normal 56 game schedule plus conf tourney games
 
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Anything and I do mean anything is possible with this Iowa team. Keep in mind they won 11/12 at one point vs OSU, MD, Purdue, Minnesota, and Rutgers. They are 15-5 Since that streak started.

My opinion is 10-2 or better and you have no concerns.
9-3 should get you unless all three are at home, the you’re on the bubble.
8-4 is where you’re squarely on the bubble and probably out if you go 2-4 at home.
7-5 or worse, it’s been a nice year but you’re not in.

I’ll also add that MSU is quickly becoming an RPI killer unless they improve their RPI a bit. Fun huh? Should be playing in Omaha that week.

Now had Iowa won one more against IU, swept Rutgers, or even swept Purdue they’d have a bit more margin of error.

Anything and I do mean anything is possible with ANY baseball team. College or MLB.

In late February, Western Illinois went to #2 ranked Louisville and beat them 8-3.

I am sure Nebraska fans were thinking about sweeping Rutgers this past weekend. And what happened? The exact opposite. Rutgers swept the 3 games from Nebraska, outscoring them by a combined 21-9.

You mention IF Iowa had swept Rutgers or Purdue. As shown in the previous paragraphs, you need to get real. Louisville couldn't sweep Western freakin' Illinois. Nebraska couldn't win 1 game vs Rutgers and fell out of 1st place as a result. It's hard to sweep any B1G team, with the exception of Minnesota, who's having a god awful year.
 
Anything and I do mean anything is possible with ANY baseball team. College or MLB.

In late February, Western Illinois went to #2 ranked Louisville and beat them 8-3.

I am sure Nebraska fans were thinking about sweeping Rutgers this past weekend. And what happened? The exact opposite. Rutgers swept the 3 games from Nebraska, outscoring them by a combined 21-9.

You mention IF Iowa had swept Rutgers or Purdue. As shown in the previous paragraphs, you need to get real. Louisville couldn't sweep Western freakin' Illinois. Nebraska couldn't win 1 game vs Rutgers and fell out of 1st place as a result. It's hard to sweep any B1G team, with the exception of Minnesota, who's having a god awful year.

@Franisdaman don't be obtuse. I am specifically talking games where Iowa was up 7-1 and one where the bases were loaded with no outs late and no crooked number was put up.
 
@Franisdaman don't be obtuse. I am specifically talking games where Iowa was up 7-1 and one where the bases were loaded with no outs late and no crooked number was put up.

Don't be so obtuse when people point out that you are wrong or when you have a bad take, which happens a lot on here.

And speaking of you being wrong, at least this week you are not back to predicting that only 1-2 B1G teams will make the NCAA Tournament. Well, the week is still young, so....

And speaking of more bad takes, we all remember your bad take after a bad loss in February by the men's basketball team. You said then that Iowa might not make the NCAA Tournament. It was another one of your posts where everyone laughed at you. Iowa ended up with a #2 seed, of course.

And here was that unbelievable post:

6 seed at best, and who knows may be an 8-10 or fall out of the tournament at this rate. Embarrassing actually.
 
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@Franisdaman don't be obtuse. I am specifically talking games where Iowa was up 7-1 and one where the bases were loaded with no outs late and no crooked number was put up.

Baseball's a funny game. The Rutgers' team and its fans are likely expressing similar sentiment about a pop up foul ball in 1st base territory with 2 outs in B9 with a 3 run lead in the first game of the series. Should have been game over but for the 1st basemen muffing the pop up.
 
Keep your eye on Maryland & Rutgers this weekend because, as you can see below, D1 Baseball has Maryland, Rutgers and Iowa vying for the 4th and final B1G bid to the NCAA Tournament.

D1 Baseball's Latest NCAA Tournament Projection

Projected Field Of 64​


May 4, 2021

4 B1G Teams are in:
Indiana
Michigan
Nebraska
IOWA (last 5 in)


FIRST FIVE OUT:
Maryland
, Georgia Southern, Rutgers, Virginia, Kentucky

LAST FIVE IN:
Oklahoma State, Georgia, Iowa, Tulane, San Diego


Bids by conference:
ACC (9),
SEC (8),
Pac 12 (6),
Big 12 (5),
Big Ten (4),
Conference USA (4),
American (2),
WCC (2),
Missouri Valley (2),
Big West (2)



The Details:

 
A few things on Penn State, they’ve won four in a row with a win over Ohio State, and a sweep of MSU. Sure they are 12-18, but they are a tough out.

A couple of their pitchers have pretty good numbers, but for the most part as a whole it’s pedestrian. They are third best in walks allowed, but can be hit on.
Fielding they are one of the worst teams in the conference, which means an error free weekend right? Offensively they hit .271, haven’t scored a lot of runs, lead the conference in the doubles, don’t steal many bases.
So BAU we will lose at least one?........ ;)
 
Just a little info that some may find interesting. Dallas Burke is the hitting and catching coach at PSU. Dallas played at Iowa for a couple of years before transferring out. He's from the Quad Cities. His dad, Mike Burke, played DE at Iowa in the mid to late '80's.

Former Hawk and ICW alum Sean Moore is also an assistant at Penn State.
 
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A win gains one RPI point. A loss, you lose 81 points.

From an RPI point perspective, this weekend is fraught with all sorts of problems. Short of a sweep, Iowa will be dropping in RPI and, frankly, if games go the way we want them to go (Indiana, Nebraska and Michigan dropping games), Iowa’s RPI will take a hit on that front as well.

For all practical purposes, my fingers are crossed that Iowa can stay in the RPI top 50 by the conclusion of the weekend. As of now, Virginia Tech is #50 and they are only 51 RPI points behind Iowa. One loss and you may see see Iowa falling all the way into the mid-50s.

Such is the world of RPI and playing lower rated teams at home.
 
MAY 7 SCHEDULE CHANGE!!!

The 3 Game Series:

Fri May 7


4:05 PM
Streaming: BTN PLUS
.................................................

Sat May 8

2 GAMES

Times To Be Announced

Streaming: BTN PLUS
.................................................

Sun May 9

NO GAMES DUE TO EXPECTED WEATHER



E0y3gjuXsAUTePi


 
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Has anyone heard anything with respect to Payton Williams' status for the series? Sure could use his bat . . .
 
Has anyone heard anything with respect to Payton Williams' status for the series? Sure could use his bat . . .
I have not. I will get an update from coach today after the game.
Unfortunately, I don’t get to talk to coach during the week or after away games.
 
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