Baseball in January is always a welcome thing (even if it’s practice)

Kelly Norris Jones rounds the paths Yes, baseball in January. On Tuesday, I got word that the Illinois Baseball team was practicing at Illinois Field so I grabbed the Canon and got out to shoot some photos.   Two hurlers that the Illini will depend on in the 2012 season:  Kevin Johnson and Nick Chmielewski [...]

Orange and Blue World Series is in full swing

Illini freshman David Kerian rounds third base for the Blue team I’ve spent the last two afternoons at the ballpark and it’s a joy to see an Illinois  baseball game even if it’s just a scrimmage among the team. It’s nice to see the new guys… the freshmen and transfers who will help the team [...]

My favorite photos from the 2011 Illinois Baseball season

Throughout the 2011 Illinois baseball season, there have been photos that I go back to and think “I really like that picture”.  Some may not have made it into an IBR article but for one reason or another I find qualities in it that make me think it’s worth seeing. Technically, they may not be [...]

Anderson masterful as Illini cruise to 4-1 win over MSU

No comeback today.  No dramatic walk-offs in the ninth inning.  Not even a stray cat made its way onto the field tonight.  The Illini just cruised to a victory over their co-conference title holders Michigan State in the Big Ten Baseball Tournament by the score of 4-1. We can thank starter John Anderson (right) for [...]

Seven Illini granted All-Big Ten honors

Josh Parr:  All-Big Ten Second Team Yesterday, seven Illinois baseball players were honored with All-Big Ten awards.  While the Big Ten championship team was shut out of the All-Big Ten First team, Adam Davis, Pete Cappetta and Josh Parr were placed on the Second Team and Casey McMurray and Wes Braun were selected for the [...]

Big Ten Champs!

Adam Davis, who contributed a solo homerun Saturday, is ready for the tournament. The shot that launched a Big Ten Championship   The photo of Matt Dittman directly above pretty much says it all.  When we look back at this past weekend, there’s no doubt it will remain one of the most remembered moments of [...]

Casey at the bat: McMurray walk-off wins it for the Illini 4-3!

Casey McMurray hits a solo shot in the bottom of ninth to win the game… … and was warmly greeted at the plate by all his teammates. Casey McMurray’s timing was impeccable tonight.  With one out in the bottom of the ninth and the score tied, he chose that moment to hit his first homerun [...]

Fighting Illini win another series on 11-5 victory vs Buckeyes

Sadly, I didn’t make it out to the game on Sunday.  Sad, only because it would have been nice to see another fantastic Illini victory.  It was Mother’s Day, you see.  Don’t blame my wife.  She let’s me come out to every other ballgame and I’m grateful for that. Looking at the box score, it [...]

Illini rally not enough in 12-7 loss to Ohio State

Davis Hendrickson takes a cut in Illinois’ 12-7 loss on Saturday Illinois took a while to get their offense going on Saturday… too long it seems, as they lost to the Ohio State Buckeyes 12-7. It almost looked liked Buckeye hurler Brett McKinney, who came into the game with just one win, was unhittable, literally.  [...]

Illini win 13-9 against Buckeyes… you were there, right?

I really hope you came to the park last night.  If you missed Illinois’ exciting 13-9 victory over the Ohio State Buckeyes, you missed, in my guess, one of the best games of past few years.  It ranks up their with our win against the same Ohio State team two years ago and even the [...]