Two hits for Matt Dittman tonight

The Illini outhit Iowa tonight 12-5 in Friday night’s Big Ten home opener.  That doesn’t mean Illinois ran away with the game, though.  It was a nail-biter at Illinois Field as the home team scored two in the eighth inning to take the lead.  Wes Braun came in the ninth to finish off the Hawkeyes and the Illini won 4-3 and are now 2-2 in Big Ten play.

Another quality start from Kevin Johnson… and no win.

Kevin Johnson is probably happier than anyone that Illinois won tonight.  He didn’t get the ‘W’ though he pitched liked he deserved it.  He gave up three runs in 7 plus innings (take away one bad pitch, a Trevor Willis homerun, it would have been just one run).  Will Strack came in to finish the eighth inning and got the win.

Davis Hendrickson played a big part in tonight’s win

Illinois didn’t score until the fifth inning when Justin Parr drove in Davis Hendrickson making the score 3-1 Iowa.  Fortunately, Iowa’s offense was pretty much done for the night and Illinois’ was just getting started.  Two innings later, DH Pat Sheehan reached base on an error and a few batters later, Willie Argo drove him home on a base hit.  3-2 Iowa.

Three hits  and a key rbi for Willie Argo

It was the eighth inning that was key for the Illini.  Matt Dittman scored on a base hit by pinch hitter Thomas Shelton.  Shelton moved to second on the throw and one batter later, Hendrickson hit one up the middle scoring what turned out to be the winning run.

Braun made it interesting in the ninth giving up a walk and a hit and even prompted a visit to the mound from Coach Hartleb.  I was hoping that Coach would leave him to finish the job.

Coach did and Braun did.

More photos from today here.  Yes, I did get my camera back from the ‘shop’.  Fed Ex delivered it 2 hours before the game.

Fightingillini.com has their recap up including a video of an interview with game hero Thomas Shelton.

Random Ramblings

The Illini sure are giving us our money’s worth (ok it’s free but you the idea) at their home games.  We’ve had a walk-off walk, a 14-2 game and then today’s comeback.  Keep it coming!

Josh Parr wasn’t in today’s lineup.  Thomas Lindauer moved to short and brother Justin Parr played second.

Tomorrow’s game is at 6:05pm.  I believe the Big Ten Network will be broadcasting the game which probably explains the late start.

Go Illini!!

Traveling to Carbondale may not be as sexy as Florida but with all the traveling the guys do, I’m sure they won’t mind the break.

Here’s the weekend preview from fightingillini.com.  Kevin Johnson and John Anderson are scheduled for the first two games.  The last two are TBA.

The Huskies are off to a rough start going 2-10 so far.  They HAVE won their last two games though so momentum is on their side.  One of those wins, by the way, is against St Louis who Illinois will face on Saturday.

The Billikens are faring better than the Huskies with a 11-5 record.  Their pitching has a lot to do with that it seems.  Their ERA is a full two points lower than their opponents (3.02 to 5.25).

Offensively, Mike Levine, Nick Becker and Jordan Hammerman (a name made for baseball) are players to watch out for.

Host Southern Illinois have a 4-11 record and are on a six game losing streak but when it comes to the SIU-UI rivalry, all bets are off.  Coach Hartleb’s alma mater will always play their best when facing us.

Despite their record, the Salukis have offensive threats to watch.  Chris Murphy is hitting at a .391 pace and outfielder Jordan Sivertsen leads the team in homers, rbis and hits.

Random Ramblings

I’ve learned by talking to players throughout the years that there is no such thing as a “sure thing” when it comes to a team you can beat.  This has been proven in the past as one weekend we will beat a team like Michigan and the following midweek, we will lose to a non-conference team with a losing record.

So I won’t gleefully gloat over our opponents’ records and think we’ll have it easy.  I know better.  But I do think it’s a good time for our players to play to their potential and gain some confidence.

On a another note, if any of you are interested in sharing your photos from Florida games so that everyone can see them (and you are a member of Facebook), feel free to upload them to Illinois Baseball Report’s Facebook page.  It would be nice to see some of the action shots everyone took!

If you do, please label them with the date of the game and Illinois’ opponent plus any other relevant information.  Thanks!!

Let’s go Illini!

As promised, I stopped by Illinois Field today and got some shots of the construction work they are doing on the players’ facility on the northwest corner of the park.  Since it was Saturday, there wasn’t anyone actually working there but you do get a sense of what’s happening.

It seems like they’re just starting the work, beginning the digging etc.  From my end, I’m a bit hazy on what EXACTLY they plan to do and the DIA is mum so far on the details.

More photos (click to enlarge)…

[Show as slideshow]

There’s a nice write-up on Tanner Libby a Galesburg native, in his hometown paper should you want to get to know him better. 

Alex Lincoln is one of the catchers.  I remember him from the fall tryouts.  The players nicknamed him “Abe”.  Here is his bio.

The other backstop is Matt Cervantes, a Houston native.  In addition to baseball, Cervantes was an accomplished wrestler at Sandwich, Il (first State qualifier in Class AA).  Here is Matt’s bio.

Finally, Pat Sheehan is a transfer from SIU-Edwardsville.  He’s also spent some time in the Springfield Collegiate Summer League . Here is his bio.

Maybe it’s me but I always like to see a walk-on come on the team and make good. 

Good luck, guys!

Well, I happened to hear it on Pandora the other day.  It’s “One More Time” by Daft Punk.

Saturday will be warm but cloudy.  Rain will be coming late but as long as it’s not an extra inning affair, we should be ok.  I wouldn’t be too surprised if Sunday’s game got moved up a day.  We’re expected to get some rain then.

FightingIllini.com says our rotation for the weekend will be Phil Haig, Ben Reeser, and Bryan Roberts.  If it’s true about Reeser, I’m glad.  It didn’t sound too about his back last weekend.

This is big weekend for the Illini.  Let’s get the fans out in droves!

See you at the ballpark! 

Snowy day

We got started early today at 11am because of the re-scheduled game from yesterday’s rained out affair.  So today instead of rain, we got snow.  Granted it wasn’t a blizzard or anything but dang, it was cold.  Towards the end of Game One, the snow stopped.  The sun even popped out for a bit at the top of the ninth and crowd cheered but that didn’t last long.  In all a cold blustery day.

But that didn’t stop Illinois from getting the job done twice.  They swept the doubleheader (and for that matter, the series) from Michigan State by the scores of 3-2 and 3-0, respectively.  We have a pair a freshman hurlers to thank for that.

Game One starter Bryan Roberts

Game 1 pitcher, Bryan Roberts pitched well allowing only two runs in eight innings.  He allowed seven hits and no walks.  The second run he allowed in the eighth tied up the game.  After that, Hartleb brought in Nick Chmielewski to relieve and set down the Spartans in order.

MSU calling for an intentional walk of Brandon Wikoff with two outs

Willie Argo (who I am looking forward to seeing more and more of) started off the ninth with a double.  A pair of walks (one intentional to Brandon Wikoff) loaded the bases which brought Dom Altobelli to the plate with two outs.

Now we were hoping for all kinds of things from Dom but mostly we just needed a hit.  I thought in the back of my head that a walk would work right here too but when he got a first strike and then a foul ball to put the count at 0-2,  I put it out of mind.

Then it happened.  He was hit by the pitcher, driving in the winning run.  Dom was so excited I think he almost forgot to go to first base.

Way to take one for the team, Dom!

Illinois wins 3-2  Box Score

Will Strack pitched a shutout in Game Two

After a 30 minute break, Game Two started and we had another freshman, Will Strack going on the mound.

And boy, did he ever pitch an excellent game!!

Strack dominated the Spartans fooling them with his pitches.  He pitched a complete game 4-hit shutout allowing just one walk.

Dom Altobelli was again the hero in Game Two but this time he did it in more conventional ways.  In the third inning, he blasted a two-run home run to left center driving in Casey McMurray.

Frosh 2B Josh Parr drove home Willie Argo with a triple in the 4th for the 3rd and final Illinois run.  Fortunately, with the way Strack was pitching, that would be the only offense they would need.

Strack and (I think) Josh Parr celebrating the doubleheader sweep!

Illinois wins 3-0  Box Score

One last thing… I love meeting parents of the players during ballgames.  You won’t find more die-hard fans than moms and dads, that’s for sure.

These four wanted me to take their picture after the doubleheader.

From left to right; John Lutes, Tony Cappetta, Kevin McMurray and Mike Altobelli.

More photos at the Photo Gallery

Much kudos goes to starter Ben Reeser who was one out away from a 3-hit shutout.  It was at that point, however, when the Tigers pumped some life back into the game.  An Ochinko homerun and back-to-back doubles by Chris McGhee and Buzzy Haydel made it 6-2.  Illini reliever then came in and promptly came in and struck out Nick Pontiff (who had a homerun earlier in the series) to close the game.

Despite the last minute dramatics, Ben Reeser did a fantastic job.  Through the first eight innings, he only allowed three hits and struck out nine batters.

Offensively, Illinois picked away at the Tiger pitching.  In the 3rd, three singles by Josh Parr, Joe Bonadonna, and Casey McMurray accounted for two runs.  Bonadonna and McMurray paired up to account  for another run in the 5th when Bonadonna doubled and Mac drove him home with a base knock.

Everything fell apart for LSU pitching in the 8th inning after back-to-back doubles by Brandon Wikoff and Dom Altobelli.  After another base hit by Aaron Johnson, two Illini batters walked and another was hit by a pitch, bringing home two more runs for the Illini.  Three more runs for us.

Big hitters for us today:

• Bonadonna:  2 for 5, 2B, 2 runs, rbi
• McMurray:  2 for 5, 2 rbis
• Altobelli:  2 for 5, 2B, run, rbi
• Johnson: 3 for 4, run
• Parr: 1 for 3, run, rbi

And in case you are wondering how Willie Argo did after his 3 for 3, 3 HR college debut yesterday, he went 0 for 4 with 3 Ks.  He’s young and I’m sure he has a lot to learn.  But boy, I’m really excited about this Davenport, IA native.

What does it mean to beat the #1 team 2 out of three?  I’m really not sure.  To be sure, baseball is the kind of game where anything can happen on any particular day.  That said, this weekend has got to give the team a whole a lot of confidence that they can beat ANYBODY.  This idea is bolstered by the fact that both Michigan and Ohio State have lost at least one game (Michigan to Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Jacksonville, Ohio State to Maine).

Next weekend

This Friday, the Illini are at home!  We’ll be hosting the Akron Zips at Illinois Field.  First game is on lucky Friday the 13th at 3pm.

See you at the ballpark!

Roark (right) will be sitting out 2008

Some bad news for the Illini baseball team. Tanner Roark, who led the team in wins last year, won’t be playing this spring because of “academic reasons”.

Roark was integral in last year’s season for Illinois. He was a second team All Big Ten selection and led (or tied) the team in wins, strikeouts, games started, and innings pitched.

This is obviously a tough blow for the team and I suppose, it isn’t easy for Roark either. The Illinois baseball team is known for paying attention to the academics. Last year, Ryan Hastings and Ryan Snowden were named to ESPN Magazine’s Academic All-District team.

Coach Hartleb did his best to put a positive spin on the situation. In an interview with the Big Ten Network, Hartleb said, “It is an unfortunate situation. But we have a number of talented, experienced pitchers who will be able to step up for us this season.”

(hat tip to Big Ten Hardball)

There have been some lean years in Illini football lately though last year, there was no doubt it was an exciting team to watch.

The profesors in my department had a $1 pool at the beginning of the season.  One person whether being optimistic or just being funny, picked Illinois to go 13-0.  At the time, we all had a laugh.  “That Joe, what a joker.”

Of course, Illinois had already had one loss (versus Missouri).  But maybe joker Joe wasn’t so far off.

The two lives of Kyle Hudson

Juice Williams, J Leman, and Rashard Mendenhall are the big stars but keep an eye on Kyle Hudson.  I think of him of as the starting center fielder of the Illini baseball team but he’s a great wide receiver and punt returner for the football team, too.  Kyle led the team in receptions the past two years.

I met Kyle’s mom at the Big Ten Tournament earlier this year.  She told me how proud she was of her son.  She told me of Kyle’s busy schedule having to juggle football practice and the baseball season.  On top of that, she tells me he does well in school.

Go Illini!