Jaron Long came out on top in a pitcher’s duel with Michigan State’s Tony Bucciferro as Ohio State nipped the Spartans, 1-0, in Game 1 of a three-game set Saturday afternoon at McLane Stadium. With the win, the Buckeyes improve to 14-10 on the season, 2-2 in the Big Ten, while Michigan State falls to 15-8, 0-1 in conference play. Read the OhioStateBuckeyes.com recap. Also, watch analysis from the game now and see other video in this post.

Illinois centerfielder Willie Argo became the program’s all-time stolen base leader in Tuesday night’s 16-7 defeat to Illinois State. Argo wasted no time breaking the nearly 30-year-old record, stealing his 84th career bag in the first inning. With the steal, Argo, a senior, supplanted Todd Schmitke (1983) atop the program’s record book.

For most baseball games, the introduction of the starting line-up is unremarkable. But last Friday, Illinois freshman infielder Michael Hurwitz and senior pitcher Nick Chmielewski had a little fun on camera. The duo donned a couple of mustaches and got into character as they introduced the starting line-up for their game against Nebraska. Watch the entertaining video now and see another memorable lineup rendition from last season in this post. Which one is better? Cast your vote.

The Big Ten Conference released its Big Ten Baseball Players of the Week for March 5-11 action Monday. See all the winners and check out what they did to earn the distinctions in this post.

Here’s a really interesting story from the Associated Press about the potential for a change in the way the Big Ten baseball season rolls out. The reasoning behind some of the thinking? The Big Ten wants to give northern teams a better shot at the NCAA tournament where teams from warmer climates tend to dominate.