The National Player of the Week and Big Ten Conference Pitcher of the Week, Ohio State's Alex Wimmers will start the opening match of an important three-game series this weekend.
It's the start of a series that might ultimately decide the Big Ten champion as the OSU baseball team travels to Champaign, Ill., to take on Illinois.
ZACH TUGGLE/THE LANTERN
Ohio State sophomore pitcher Alex Wimmers throws a pitch during Saturday's first game against Michigan. OSU won 6-0 and Wimmers threw a no-hitter.Coming off his 14-strikeout, no-hit performance against Michigan last weekend, Wimmers (8-1, 2.79 ERA) will look to end the Buckeyes' three-game losing streak at 7 p.m. Friday. He will be going up against Illinois pitcher Phil Haig (6-2, 4.48 ERA).
This series will be a match-up featuring the No. 25 and No. 27 teams in the country, and the series winner will hold the edge in the race for the Big Ten title.
To gain the upper hand, the Buckeyes must play smart, fundamental baseball if they expect to win games this weekend. Illinois has been playing very well as of late, winning eight of its last 10 games.
"This team set out to win a Big Ten championship this year and this is our chance to really go out and get it," OSU outfielder Zach Hurley said. "They're going to bring everything they have, so it's going to be a good weekend match-up."
Coach Bob Todd also stressed the fact that this is an important weekend for OSU.
"We have to get ready to play Illinois and obviously that's another big huge series for us," Todd said. "Our objective and our goal is to win a Big Ten championship."
Illinois is in the Big Ten lead, with a one-game lead against the Bucks and a half-game lead over Minnesota, going into this weekend. Illinois (31-14, 14-4 Big Ten), Minnesota (31-13, 13-4) and OSU (34-13, 13-5 Big Ten) are all battling it out for the top spot in the Big Ten.
And with only two weeks left in the regular season and fewer conference games left, things are heating up.
"Every game is going to be critical from here on out," Todd said.
The Buckeyes must get a couple wins this weekend if they expect to win the Big Ten Championship. With one Big Ten series left after this, the Buckeyes know they control their own destiny.
Game two begins at 4 p.m. Saturday and will showcase OSU pitcher Dean Wolosiansky and Illinois pitcher Ben Reeser. The series will conclude with a 2 p.m. game Sunday, highlighting OSU pitcher Eric Best and Illinois pitcher Bryan Roberts.
Nathan Schlabach can be reached at schlabach.15@osu.edu.
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