Illinois Baseball Report

Blomquist pitching for the Illini in 2006 Former University of Illinois hurler Brian Blomquist got his chance to pitch on the professional level last Saturday night. Blomquist, who had just signed with the Southern Illinois Miners of the Frontier League didn’t have wait long to show what he’s made of. He got the call to [...]

Filed under: Former Illini in the pros on May 31st, 2007 | Leave a Comment! »

Shawn Roof and me Let me first say I had a fantastic time. This was my second Big Ten Tournament and the first time I’ve traveled to see the Illini baseball team play. Every Illinois fan wishes they could have won the tournament but all things considered, I thought they played well. They were able [...]

Filed under: 2007 Big Ten Tournament on May 28th, 2007 | Leave a Comment! »

Some years, the Big Ten tournament champion is determined by Saturday night. In this strange year of one tough team in the loser’s bracket plus dealing with Mother Nature rearing her ugly head, three teams were still in the mix on Sunday morning. Unfortunately, I was on my way home on the train. Thanks to [...]

Filed under: 2007 Big Ten Tournament on May 28th, 2007 | Leave a Comment! »

During today’s Penn State-Minnesota game at the Big Ten baseball tournament, I saw someone who looked very familiar. I nudged Brian from Big Ten Hardball, who was sitting next to me and said, “Isn’t that Jon Saraceno from USA Today? It sure looks like him.” We discussed it and decided that no, it couldn’t be. [...]

Filed under: 2007 Big Ten Tournament, Media on May 26th, 2007 | Leave a Comment! »

Well, with the Illini gone, I decided to stick around and watch some ball ANYWAY. Penn State who lost their very first game against the Buckeyes, have played with heart and have hung on, winning against Iowa, Michigan and yes, Illinois. Minnesota, on the other hand, have just come off a tough loss against the [...]

Filed under: 2007 Big Ten Tournament on May 26th, 2007 | Leave a Comment! »

The Penn State Nittany Lions had just come off a 10th inning victory off Michigan. One half hour later they played Illinois for another elimination game. That’s the thing about losing your first game in the Big Ten Tournament… every game you play, you’re playing for your tournament life. Scott Shaw allowed only 3 hits [...]

Filed under: 2007 Big Ten Tournament on May 26th, 2007 | Leave a Comment! »

Rather than sit under the overhang, this guy decided to wear the rain slicker In my last post yesterday, I mentioned that I noticed a few drops falling from the Ann Arbor sky. Well, that turned into a steady sprinkle that lasted for a couple hours. That didn’t stop the first game of the scheduled [...]

Filed under: 2007 Big Ten Tournament on May 26th, 2007 | Leave a Comment! »

Four University of Illinois players were named to All-Big Ten teams on Tuesday, Lars Davis and Tanner Roark Catcher Lars Davis was named first-team All Big Ten. That was a no-brainer given that he was also Big Ten Player of the Year. I wrote a little about his accomplishments a couple days ago. It does [...]

Filed under: Awards on May 26th, 2007 | Leave a Comment! »

Thanks to Brian DeCaussin from Big Ten Hardball for taking this photo of me in front of the field at Ray Fisher stadium at the University of Michigan. The stadium is great and the staff here have been very friendly and helpful. Special thanks goes to the lady in the Big Ten Conference T-shirt booth [...]

Filed under: 2007 Big Ten Tournament on May 25th, 2007 | Leave a Comment! »

Thursday, Penn State defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes 5-3 kicking them out of the tournament. Iowa had a 3-0 in the 4th inning. As I walked by Ray, an Iowa fan Brian DeCaussin introduced me to, I said something like, “Iowa’s doin’ all right.”. Without a beat, he said, “Just wait, I’ve seen too many Iowa [...]

Filed under: 2007 Big Ten Tournament on May 25th, 2007 | Leave a Comment! »