Illinois Baseball Report

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! »

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! »

Thursday, Illinois entered the loser’s bracket at the Big Ten Tournament as they lost to the Minnesota Golden Gophers 10-3. Starter Mike Stankiewicz The Gophers got to starter Mike Stankiewicz early as they hit him for 5 runs in the first inning and four runs before he got his first out. Brian Long replaced Stanky [...]

Filed under: 2007 Big Ten Tournament on May 24th, 2007 | Leave a Comment! »

Ray Fisher stadium, home of the University of Michigan baseball team, seems like a pretty decent facility. I (and at least one other person who I gave directions to) had a little problem finding the place partially because of all the construction going on and because I got some bad advice from a bus driver. [...]

Filed under: 2007 Big Ten Tournament on May 23rd, 2007 | 2 Comments »