As for me , I’m in Pittsburgh for a four-day weekend with friends so I’ll miss it.  If anyone gets some good photos, contact me and we can post them here. 

In related news, Coach Hartleb got some air time with Steve Kelly a couple days ago on NewsTalks 1400 Sports Talk.  You know the Illini Baseball season is getting close when the local media begins covering the sport.  Of course, Hartleb was plugging the Hot Stove Banquet but hit on the prospects of the 2012 season, the tougher 2012 schedule and even some MLB talk.  Note: the Hartleb segment begins at about the 32:00 mark. 

Also, some good news from Hartleb… the Banquet seems to be a sellout. 

You can listen to the full episode at illinihq.com. 

Practice begins today, baseball fans. 

With Dickinson and Anderson both on board, I’m wondering if this shows a move to right the pitching woes that have somewhat plagued the Illini staff in the past few years.  Who better to bring out the best of our capable arms than two of our best pitchers from recent memory?

Coach Hartleb’s comments seem to correlate this:

“I’m excited that Jason will be coming back to help the program.  He and (pitching coach) Drew (Dickinson) teaming up to work with the pitching staff will be a special situation and one that I doubt is matched by many college teams across the country. Jason is one of the all-time great players at the University of Illinois and will be a great asset to our program.”

Anderson ranks third among Illini in career wins with 29.  He was an All-American and All-Big Ten pitcher in 2000.  The Yankees drafted Anderson in the 2000 player draft.

Dickinson’s impressive credentials do him justice.  While playing for the Illini, he earned two All-American awards and was conference Pitcher of the Year.  After a seven year pro career (reaching as high as AA ball), he was volunteer assistant coach for the Illini in 2009 and 2011.  In between during the 2010 season, he was pitching coach for the independent Northern League Schaumburg Flyers.

Coach Hartleb seems to think highly of his new staff member:

“I’m extremely happy to be able to bring Drew on our staff full time.  He has a great baseball mind and is great at connecting with our players because of his infectious energy. I really believe that he will help us build on our success from this past year and become a perennial NCAA tournament contender.”

The move isn’t too surprising. With the departure of previous pitching coach Ken Westray and Dickinson waiting in the wings, the move was pretty obvious.  That said, I’m happy Drew is on board.  He seems to have a good rapport with the players and like Coach Hartleb says. he has a good head for baseball.

Congrats Drew!

From the News-Gazette:

“I have decided to go in a different direction with our pitching coach position,” he wrote. “I want to thank Ken Westray for his work and contributions over the past six years, and I wish him well in the future.”

Westray has been with the team for 15 years as pitching coach and before that, assistant coach.  He became a pitching coach when Coach Hartleb was hired as head skipper after the 2005 season.  Despite winning the Big Ten title and the Big Ten Tournament championship, the team ERA ranked ninth in the conference with a 4.97 mark in 2011.

Who will replace Westray as pitching coach?  It’s anyone’s guess.  Is Hartleb grooming volunteer assistant coach Drew Dickinson for the job?  It’s possible.  He’s held that job for the Shaumburg Flyers in the independent Northern League.

Thank you and good luck to Ken Westray for all he did!!

Pat Sheehan gets congratulated by his teammates for having a good eye

Wow, if the rest of Illinois baseball season is as exciting as today’s home opener, the EMTs are going to have to stock up on chest paddles.  What a heart pounder!  In the bottom of the ninth, Illini DH Pat Sheehan walked with the bases loaded to put the winning run across and Illinois defeated Indiana State 7-6.

Dittman scores in the four-run third inning

It was back and forth all game.  The Sycamores scored in the top of the first but then the Illini bats got going.  They managed to get runners on second and third with only one out but couldn’t execute.  The next inning was a different matter.  With two doubles from Willie Argo and Matt Dittman and a single from Brandon Hohl, the Illini plated four runs.

Coach Hartleb has a conversation with the umpire about job expectations

The game was far from over, though.  Indiana State scored two in the fifth and two more in the sixth and just one more in the seventh which put them ahead 6-4.  It wasn’t till the eighth when Illinois drew blood again.  Last weekend’s co-freshman of the week Thomas Lindauer showed it wasn’t a fluke by getting a clutch rbi single driving in Davis Hendrickson who had the presence of mind to get in scoring position by stealing second.

Sycamore pitchers kept Willie Argo close to the base

The ninth inning was just a nightmare for Sycamore pitching.  Three walks, a passed ball and a Matt Dittman rbi single.  It was Sheehan’s walk that mattered the most, of course.  Walk-off walks aren’t as sexy as walk-off homeruns but the Illini are just as happy with the results.

Chris Pack pitched four innings of relief for the win

Starter Kevin Johnson allowed three earned runs in five innings.  Chris Pack pitched the balance of the game, also gave up three runs and got the ‘W’.

I have more photos in the photo gallery.  Click here for the slideshow.

Saturday’s game is set for 1pm.  I was hearing rumors of nasty weather but right now it looks like cold temps but possible sun by the afternoon.

Way to go, Illini!

By the way, Argo’s homerun in the sixth was the first homerun for Illinois this year (eight games).  Davis Hendrickson who has really been hitting consistently well this season, contributed two hits and a rbi.

Hartleb for one reason or another seems to like the Anderson/Pack team for Saturday games.  They’ve done well up until today each winning one game.  And quite honestly, they certainly could have done worse today.  Coach Hartleb even gave kudos to Anderson in his post-game interviews when he said that he pitched “very well”.  Anderson gave up four runs total today but he also got into a stretch where he retired nine in a row.  Chris Pack allowed a run in 1 2/3 innings.

Next Up:

This leaves one more game down in Deland, Florida at the Bright House Invitational for the Illinois team to get at least one win.  Tomorrow, it’s a new face, Columbia.  Not only have we never faced Columbia in the past, this is the first weekend that Columbia has played this season.

One more note:  Game Time has been moved up to 9am because of impending weather.

Random Ramblings:

Kudos to the Big Ten Network for making the right choice and choosing Red Grange as the #1 Big Ten Icon.  Maybe I’m biased but he would be my choice, too.  In this day and age, when it’s so easy to forget sports figures who aren’t from our generation, I’m glad to see BTN, did not.

If you are an Illini fan and aren’t too familiar with Grange’s story, it is truly worth knowing.  His wikipedia page is a good place to start.

Here are the top ten Big Ten Icons chosen by the Big Ten Network:

The Top 10 Big Ten Icons:
1 – Red Grange, Illinois
2 – Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Michigan State
3 – Jesse Owens, Ohio State
4 – Archie Griffin, Ohio State
5 – Tom Harmon, Michigan
6 – Dick Butkus, Illinois
7 – Nile Kinnick, Iowa
8 – Jerry Lucas, Ohio State
9 – Rick Mount, Purdue
10 – Isiah Thomas, Indiana

Go Illini!!

-Coach Dan Hartleb on Friday’s game against Central Michigan

That about sums it up.  Illinois went into the top of the eighth inning ahead 5-0 in their first game of the Bright House Invitational.  The bullpen was called in everything simply imploded.  The first three Central Michigan batters walked and it didn’t get much better after that.  The Chippewas managed to put over six runs to take the lead that inning.

The Illini got a second chance on life when Josh Parr scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the eighth, tying the game 6-6.  However, CMU came back again in the top of the ninth scoring three more runs on four hits and the score stood at 9-6.

It’s a shame because starter Kevin Johnson (left) did indeed deserve to win.  He pitched another great game.  He pitched 7 shutout innings allowing five hits and just one walk.  Johnson has been a bit of a hard luck pitcher so far this year.  He has an ERA of 1.08 this season but Illinois is 1-2 in the games that he starts.

Brandon Hohl put in a good day at the plate.  He was 3 for 4 with a double and two rbis.  The Parr brothers continue to hit.  Both got two hits and Justin managed to get a double AND a triple.  Believe it or not, he’s tied for the team lead in rbis now.

Next up

Tomorrow brings the Stetson Hats.  John Anderson will be going for the good guys.  We’ve won both times he’s started so I’m hopeful despite Stetson’s 6-1 record.

FightingIllini.com has their weekend preview up.  We’re looking at the same starters from last weekend:  Johnson, Anderson and Kimes. 

The interview accompanying this weekend’s preview is of Coach Hartleb, Kevin Johnson and Josh Parr (though at the moment, I can’t seem to view the Parr or Johnson ones).

I’ve been asked three or four people about how our student athletes get their studying in when they travel so extensively.  Fortunately, Hartleb (left) addresses this in his interview.  While the players do miss time because of travel, they get a lot of down time while on the road and are able to hit the books.  In Illinois’ case at least, the proof is in the pudding as they say.  Illinois baseball program has been recognized over and over as having players who academically meet or exceed the grade. 

The Daily Illini has an article about the Illini Baseball team in today issue that also addresses the rigors of spring travel with some quotes from Hartleb, Johnson, and Parr.  The DI did the math… the Illini will travel 3,700 miles while playing 16 straight road games. 

Finally, I believe you will be able to keep up with this weekend’s games via FGCU’s Live Stats.  Hurray!

Game time is now 3 1/2 hours away.  Go Illini!!

Players and coaches convened at the Irwin Indoor Practice Facility (complete with the identical Field Turf that is on Illinois Field) Friday to begin practice for 2011.  At the Fighting Illini web site, you can watch a couple interviews… one of Coach Hartleb and the other of senior outfielder Casey McMurray during the practice.

A recurring theme of both interviews was that several upperclassmen players have been working out for a couple weeks ahead of schedule and also have taken the initiative to help organize workouts for the underclassmen who have arrived early.

You can view the interviews here at the Fighting Illini website.  Here is the link to their photo gallery for Friday’s practice.

The UI Athletic Department has said all year that it was going to wait till the end of the season before it addressed the issue of Hartleb’s return after his five-year contract was up.  They didn’t wait long as the assurance came just a few days after the Illini’s season was up.  The details of the contract will be announced once everything gets approved.  Coach Hartleb plans to bring back his coaching staff of Eric Snider and Ken Westray

Hartleb has been with the Fighting Illini for 20 years now, 15 as assistant coach and associate coach under Itch Jones.  The last five years he’s been the fearless leader of the Illinois baseball team and for the most part has had a successful reign.  His record to date is 151-127 with a 73-68 Big Ten record.  He brought our team to the Big Ten Tournament four years in a row (2006-2009). 

More important than on-the-field success though is Hartleb’s emphasis on academics and discipline.  He’s had to make a few tough calls in the last few years but they were the RIGHT calls. 

No doubt, 2010 was Hartleb’s toughest year.  Granted Illinois did break even at 26-26 but with a 10-14 Big Ten record, they didn’t make the Tournament.  Losing two key players didn’t help.  Phil Haig’s indiscretion prevented him from joining the team (see above paragraph about discipline) and Matt Dittman’s unfortunate injury during his fantastic early seaosn really hurt,  Inexperience was probably also a factor.

That said, those inexperienced players just got a season under their belt and are looking forward to a breakout 2011.

A quick look at Hartleb’s record as head coach at Illinois:

YEAR    RECORD    BIG TEN
2006    29-29    15-17 (T5th)
2007    31-27    16-14 (5th)
2008    31-25    16-15 (4th)
2009    34-20    16-8 (4th)
2010    26-26    10-14 (9th)
Totals    151-127    73-68

Glad to be having you back, Coach!