we can thank Purdue’s surprisingly slow start for keeping us out of the cellar. 

For those who follow RPI ratings, Larry Fall posted the Big Ten standings by RPI on his Penn State baseball blog, Happy Valley Hardball.  We’ve played some good teams but we still place pretty low (take a look at Penn State, though). 

Ohio State’s Zach Hurley’s 5 for 5 performance on Sunday helped him garner the Big Ten Player of the Week award.  Northwestern’s Francis Brooke pitched eight shutout innings to get the Pitcher of the Week. 

Stats ‘n Stuff

Speaking of Ohio State, just how dominant are the Buckeyes statistically so far this early in the season?  As a team, they lead the conference in EVERY major offensive category except homeruns and steals.  Michigan leads in homeruns with 8 and Indiana leads in steals with 20.  If you’re wondering, traditionally speedy Illinois has 15 stolen bases so far this season.  Not bad if you consider they missed their first weekend of play.

Illinois can at least take pride in our shining star, Matt Dittman (left).  Ditt is the conference batting leader with a batting average of .526.  He also leads the Big Ten in OBP with a .640 mark.  Brandon Hohl checks in at #8 in the Big Ten with a .409 batting average.

Our pitching staff has had a rough time of it so far this season but the stat boards do show one positive aspect of our hurlers… walks allowed.  Brian de la Torriente (0), Will Strack (1) and Kevin Johnson (2) have all proven they don’t easily give up the free pass.

Random Rumors

Looks like former Illini hurler Ben Reeser (right)  has got some work this season.  You’ll find his name on the roster of the Schaumburg Flyers.  The Flyers are in the independent Northern League.  Reeser graduated from the U of I and pitched his last year in 2009. 

Thanks to Josh Jones from Cardinals Best News for passing this news on about Ben. 

Good luck, Ben!!

Yesterday, it was a good crowd in the stands because of the home football game.  Even so, they managed to get a fair crowd out there today all things considered. 

Like everyone else, I like the sunny weather.  Not only is it warmer but taking photos in cloudy weather is such a pain.  Here some good ones from today:

We got a look at two new pitchers…

…incoming transfer Brian de la Torriente and…

… highly touted Matt Milroy.

Speaking of newcomers, here’s freshman Brandon Hohl performing the enviable task of retrieving the homerun ball he hit over the leftfield wall.  Looks like he’s got some pop to go with his glove.

Corner infielder Bill Charvat is having a productive series so far.  Charvat, who was a redshirt freshman last year, hit a homerun to right yesterday and roped a rbi double to center today.

Willie Argo is just fun to watch at the plate.

Former Illini starting pitcher Ben Reeser (on the right, with Sport Information Director Ben Taylor) came by to watch his former ‘mates play today. 

Always good to talk to John Lutes, father of Craig, along the leftfield fence.  He and I spent a while analyzing the team for the upcoming season. 

Daniel Parker was stationed at second base for the Orange team today.  I always assumed he was predominantly an outfielder but on the roster, he’s listed as SS too. 

Nickname alert:  Incoming freshman catcher Alex Lincoln (#16) has been dubbed “Abe” by his teammates.  Clever.

More photos in the gallery.  Check ‘em out.

Game 3 is Thursday at 3:30.  If you’re in the area, it’s a good time to take off work early and catch a game of baseball.  Here is the full schedule for the series and roster for both teams.

Pray for good weather like today.

Day and night.  That’s how I’d describe the difference between Minnesota on Thursday and Minnesota on Friday.  And unfortunately, Illinois had to play them Friday.

The same Gopher team that couldn’t buy a hit against Indiana the day before and had its pitching pounded by their offense, came out a changed team Friday.  They first played Purdue in Game 1 on Friday.  Purdue had shown some offense against MSU scoring 12 runs on Thursday so I was expecting some fireworks.  That we got but the fireworks were from Minnesota who simply crushed Purdue who’s offense was pretty limp compared to the day before.  Final score: 12-3 Minnesota.  Photos from the Minnesota-Purdue game on the Photo Gallery.

The Illini were waiting in the wings to play the winner of the Purdue-Minnesota matchup.  With Minnesota essentially playing the second game of a double header while Illinois hopefully rested, I wondered if that was going to be a factor.  Then again, there was something to be said for momentum of a 12-3 win.

I’ll be honest, it’ll be hard to write about to write about a 13-4 thrashing by a very good Gopher team on a mission and make it look pretty.  Starter Ben Reeser’s (above) back problems just prevented him from doing his job and he only lasted an inning.  Bryan Roberts, who relieved him, came in with an automatic three run deficit and it just didn’t’ get any better.  With Nick O’Shea cracking two dingers and Michael Kvasnicka hitting his second of the day, there was no stopping the Gopher offense.

Things went from bad to worse as our guys were getting banged up.  Aaron Johnson was injured where apparently signals were crossed between him  and Nick Chmielewski and he took a pitch on the arm.  Johnson left the game with a hairline fracture.

That said, there were a couple positive things worth mentioning.  Brandon Wikoff for starters.  In the first inning, Wikoff had an 0-2 count then worked it to 2-2 before fouling a ball off his knee in a bad way.  He was on the ground for a good minute.  I’m sure every Illini parent (especially Brandon’s) were holding their breath.

However, once back up, Wikoff battled and fouled off another pitch (at this point it was the 7th pitch of the at-bat) then rapped a base hit to center.  Not only that, he followed that up with another single in his next at-bat to drive in a run.

In the fourth inning, Willie Argo gave the rest of the Big Ten a show and blasted a solo shot over the left field bleachers that was really a sight to see.  With the homer, Argo is tied for second with Sean Mulligan for homeruns by a freshman with 12.

Matt Dittman takes a cut

Pete Cappetta tripled in Matt Dittman (above) in the seventh.  He later scored that inning.  I haven’t compiled his Tournament stats but for my money, I’d put him on the All Tournament Team somewhere.  I’m really looking forward to seeing both Cappetta and Argo next year, no doubt.

Box Score

So Illinois is out of the tournament.  Word has it the team is coming back to Champaign today.  Are they finished for the season?  That’s still up in the air.  There’s a remote chance that Illinois will be chosen to represent the Big Ten in the NCAA Regionals.  The scoop is that if Indiana wins the Big Ten Tournament and gets an automatic bid, Illinois’ chances go from slim to pretty much nil.

I posted plenty of pre-game practice and game photos from Friday on the photo gallery.

I’ll post a Tournament wrap-up article tomorrow.

Ben Reeser honored on Senior Day

Illinois took a loss today against Ohio State in their last home game of 2009 by the score of 12-7.  The Illini battled back but couldn’t overcome a pair of five-run innings by the Buckeyes. 

Brandon Wikoff sliding home to score in the second inning

It was Senior Day today at Illinois Field today… in more ways the one.  Outgoing seniors Joe Bonadonna and Dom Altobelli did all they could to put Illinois in the W column.  Joe Bonadonna was 2 for 3 with 4 rbis and 2 rbis and a double and a homer.  Altobelli hit his second homer of the series going 2 for 4. 

Bonadonna receives congrats

Bonadonna had an excellent weekend.  Bonadonna went 6 for 10 with 7 rbis and five walks. 

Box Score

I posted some pictures on the Photo Gallery but just know that I had to leave in the 3rd inning so there aren’t any photos after that.  It’s Mother’s Day and a few things, like mothers take precedent even over Illinois Baseball. 

Before I left though, I ran around saying goodbye to all the fans I knew I wouldn’t see till next March.  Fortunately, I’ll see many of the players’ parents who will make the trip to the Big Ten Tournament (which starts a week from Tuesday).

If I have the standings right (someone correct me if I’m wrong), Minnesota has a slim 1/2 game lead on Illinois and OSU who are both tied for second.  We have Michigan to thank for that for defeating the Golden Gophers today 10-4 and keeping everything close. 

Next weekend… Purdue Boilermakers in West Lafayette for the last regular season series. 

With a 15-3 lead going into the bottom of the seventh inning, the Northwestern Wildcats rallied for nine runs to make it close.  Fortunately, Will Strack came in and shut the door on the ‘Cats, pitching a perfect ninth.  The final score was 15-12 Illinois. 

Cappetta:  Career game

A win is a win and Illinois certainly got some good offensive stats out of this game.  Pete Cappetta had quite a game.  He had career highs in hits and rbis.  He went 4 for 6 with two doubles and a homer good for 4 rbis.  Dom Altobelli, Josh Parr, Joe Bonadonna (who my daughter I found out today still roots for because she likes the sound of his name), and Aaron Johnson all contributed three hits to the effort.  Altobelli also had a homerun with three runs and three rbis.  Finally, Matt Dittman hit a solo homer.

Box Score

Ben Reeser did ok considering he hasn’t pitched for so long.  He allowed six hits and one walk in four innings but that only added up to two earned runs for him.  I honestly don’t know if he was taken out after four innings because Illinois management wanted to take it easy on him on his first outing back or if there more to it.  We’ll see. 

That’s two down and one to go.  Northwestern and Illinois play at 1:00pm Sunday. 

As for Ohio State, wellll… Alex Wimmers set the tone for the afternoon as he no-hit Michigan.  Yes, say those words again, “no-hit Michigan”. 

The Buckeyes won the secxond game 9-6.  We are again tied for first.

Go Illini!

and arggh I hate saying it but Go Michigan.

Josh Parr, Corey Kimes and Mike Giller.  Happy Times

For the second weekend in a row, the Illini take to the road facing a Big Ten team.  They’re facing our neighbor to the north, the Northwestern Wildcats in Evanston, Illinois.  No doubt we’ll have a sizable visitor section there this weekend.

	Game #40	Record: 27-12 (11-4 Big Ten)
	vs Northwestern University Wildcats	at Rocky Miller Park, Evanston, IL
May 1	3:00pm CT
May 2	1:00pm CT
May 3	1:00pm CT

The $100,000 question is who will we be facing this weekend??  Are we going to face the team that is 3-11 only a half a game out last place in the Big Ten? 

… Or our we going to take on a team that just Sunday, defeated first Ohio State Buckeyes and helped our Illini moved to a first place tie with OSU?  They won that game in style scoring ten runs. 

Well, no offense to the Wildcats because we sure appreciate that win but I’m hoping for the former.  The ‘Cats have the worst overall winning percentage in the conference and I’d like to see that trend continue. 

Fighting Illini.com shows Ben Reeser as Saturday’s starter.  I don’t know if that’s wishful thinking or if Ben’s back is feeling better.  If it’s the latter, that’s great!  I hope they’re watching him carefully though.  I want him healthy for the Tournament.  Overall, the pitching matchups really seem to favor the Illini if you go for that kind of thing.   

That’s all I have.  If any of you have any comments, corrections or nuggets of wisdom, please feel free to leave a comment.  I’d love to hear from you! 

Go Illini!  Neuter the ‘Cats!!

IlliniHQ.com has a nice piece by Jeff Huth looking back to 1998 when former Illinois coach Itch Jones won his 1,000 game. 

Also, the Big Ten web site has a nice feature article on Ben Reeser dealing with his trips he has made with his twin brother Collin to aid relief efforts in areas affected by hurricanes.  It’s quite a story and puts everything in perspective. 

It was another comeback win for the Illini against a Big Ten team.  They were down 3-0 in the top of the 5th when Argo’s triple keyed a 4-run rally putting them up for good.  Tonight’s win was the third comeback win in the last four Big Ten games that Illinois has played.

Aaron Johnson continues his hitting pace.  He was 2 for 4 with a homer, 2 runs and an rbi.  Dom Altobelli contributed with 2 hits as well.

Phil Haig gave up 11 hits but spread them out and only gave up three run in his seven innings he pitched tonight.  Kudos to the bullpen who kept the game safe.  Freshman Corey Kimes and Aaron Martin both pitched one scoreless inning each with Kimes striking out two batters.

With the number of Big Ten games on the schedule becoming less and less, each win means so much. Tomorrow, we won’t have Ben Reeser going for us, most likely due to his back.  Fortunately for Illinois, they have freshman Will Strack who’s done so well filling in all year.

Tomorrow’s game is at 3:35pm Central Time.

Go Illini!

This gentleman had the right idea during the break but a sweep was not in the cards for the Illini

Illinois was oh so close to a sweep of Minnesota this weekend.  After a major comeback on Friday, they did the same for the first game on Saturday coming back from a 4-0 deficit to win 10-7.

In Game Two, Illinois battled and battled.  They came from behind not once but twice but that wasn’t enough.  The Golden Gophers offense scored four runs in the 7th and four more in the ninth to put the game out of reach.  Final score 12-8.

Minnesota’s Game One’s starter Tom Buske ended up allowing four runs on six hits.  Truth was he had a no-hitter going through the first four innings.  Finally, in the fifth, Aaron Johnson’s basehit which scored Dom Altobelli was the initial hit for the Illini.  Once that happened, the hits kept coming.

Casey McMurray comes into score during Illinois’ six-run 7th.  He was 5 for 10 for the day.

The sixth inning was the real offensive point for Illinois in Game 1.  The hits just seemed to fly off Illinois’ bats.  Six runs, six hits, not to mention and odd play at the plate where Joe Bonadonna was awarded first on catcher’s interference.

Aaron Martin got the job done for the final inning for his 3rd save of the year albeit not without a little excitement.  He allowed no hits or runs but a walk, a hit by pitch and a wild pitch.

Guys with juicy stats from Game 1:

Bonadonna 2 for 3, 3 runs, double, SB

Casey McMurray 2 for 5, 2 rbis, 2 runs

Aaron Johnson 2 for 4, 2 rbis, 1 run

Dom Altobelli 1 for 3, 2 runs, 1 rbi

Matt Ditttman 1 for 2, 1 run, 1 rbi

Pete Cappetta 1 for 4, 2 rbis

(yeah, most of the lineup)

Final Score: Illinois 10 Minnesota 7

Box Score

In a lot of ways, game two was more of the same… Minnesota getting the lead then Illinois catching up.  Unfortunately, we ran out of gas (both pitching and hitting) toward the end.

The Illini managed to tie the game 2-2 in the 4th fueled by Aaron Johnson’s triple.  Down again by two the next inning, Illinois responded by scoring three runs thanks to Bonadonna’s double, two singles by McMurray and Altobelli and two errors by Gophers.  By the seventh, Minnesota had scored four and and the Illini could only respond with one in the eighth.  By that time is was 8-6 and anyone’s game.

Aaron Johnson hit his 6th homer of the year in Game 2

But when the Gophers came back with four again in the ninth making it 12-6, a chance for a third comeback win this weekend seemed pretty remote.  Nobody told Aaron Johnson… he hit a two-run homerun giving the fans something to cheer about.  Unfortunately, that was it for Illinois offense and Minnesota won the last game 12-8.

Again, a lot of good offensive performances in Game 2:

McMurray 3 for 5 1 run, 1 rbi

Altobelli 2 for 4, 2 runs, rbi, 2 SB

Matt Dittman 2 for 4, triple, 2 runs,1 rbi

Cappetta 2 for 4, double, 1 rbi

Johnson 1 for 4, homerun, 1 run, 2 rbis

Bonadonna 1 for 5, double, 1 run, 1 rbi,

Box Score

Photos from Saturday are on the Photo Gallery

Notes and Comments on the Weekend:

I find it interesting that when the two teams with the best pitching and the best defense in the Big Ten get together and play a 3-game series, they end up playing a series like this.  Both teams scored 62 runs for three games.  You will certainly see ERAs go up on both teams.

Minnesota, who had the best defense in the conference coming into the weekend (if fielding average is any indication), committed nine errors for the weekend.  If you’re wondering, Illinois did ok… they had one.

No, you didn’t see Ben Reeser start on Saturday.  I didn’t think we would with his back problem.  Will Strack came in and *all things considered* he did okay.  Yes, he gave up 12 hits in six innings but they translated into only 5 runs thanks in part to him allowing no walks.

It would have been nice to sweep Minnesota but winning two made a statement to the then first-place Gophers and keeps us in the running.  Ohio State swept Purdue over the weekend showing us who is the team to beat.  Fortunately, we play them here at Illinois Field.

Conference-wise, we have Penn State and Northwestern coming up both away.

But wow, what a comeback!  Behind the offensive efforts of Joe Bonadonna (3 for 5, 2B, 4 rbis, and a run), Dom Altobelli who had key 2 run double and Matt Dittman (wow, he’s coming on lately) who went 2 for 3 with a homer and 2 rbis, Illinois came back with a vengeance.  They scored three in fourth, two in the fifth, and a whopping 5 the sixth to win the game 10-8.

Reliever Lee Zerrusen got the win and Will Strack got the save.  Ben Reeser came out after one inning.  Seeing that I’m out of town and couldn’t listen to the show, I called Mike Altobelli (Dom’s father) to get more info.  Mike, who went to Ann Arbor for the games,  says it’s Reeser’s back that’s giving him trouble.  He’s had that problem in the past.

He said Zerrusen did a good job shutting UM down.  When Zerrusen ran out of gas, Will Strack came in and REALLY shut them down (two hits and no runs in 2 2/3 innings).  Mike lauded the offensive effort by the boys that really seem to come out of nowhere.

Great game by the Illini!!

A quick word about Friday’s game.

It’s really too bad we lost that game.  Phil Haig seemed to pitch pretty decent and it looks like he’s coming out of his funk.  His control was a bit off (5 walks) but overall he seemed to gain momentum after that second inning.

I was heartened that we were able to come back and tie the game at 2-2 (once again, Matt Dittman with a 2-run double… whatever you guys are telling him or doing to him, DON’T STOP!).  Alas, that was all we could come up with.

Then there’s tomorrow.  Bryan Roberts is due to pitch the last I heard.  Let’s win two this weekend!