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.  [...]

Summer leagues can have a lasting effect

Today’s number on the sports page of the News-Gazette was 44.  That’s the number of rbis that Adam Davis (left) accrued this summer while playing for the Madison Mallards in the Northwoods League.  That was good for sixth in the league.  He accomplished this in part behind a .328 average.  In case you’re wondering, Matt [...]

10 Illini ballplayers named to Academic All-Conference team

Wednesday, the Big Ten recognized the academic achievements of 1,037 conference athletes from Spring 2010 by naming them to the Academic All-Conference teams of their respective sport.  Of the 79 baseball players honored, ten were from the University of Illinois.  Congrats to them all!   University of Illinois Spring Academic All-Conference Honorees John Anderson Jr. [...]

Parr, Johnson honored by Big Ten

On the eve of the Big Ten Tournament, conference awards were handed out.  Three Illinois players got some hardware to display on their mantles.  Shortstop Josh Parr (left) was named to the All-Big Ten third team.  Making the switch from second base to short, his conference.337 average and 21 runs scored were tops at his [...]

Illini end season with 16-6 loss to Indiana

Today, Illinois closed out the 2010 season with a 16-6 loss against Indiana.  It was a classic Hoosier victory with sixteen runs and seventeen hits (although only one homerun).  Senior Kevin Manson took the loss.  Indiana knocked Manson around pretty well.   They scored six runs (five earned) in three innings.  This evens Manson’s record at [...]

Illinois wins slugfest in Bloomington 17-12

It was a wild and crazy one in Bloomington today.  Indiana continued to hit and scored 12 runs.  Fortunately, Illinois had a blockbuster afternoon scoring 17 runs on the same amount of hits.  Brandon Hohl hit two homers and drove in three runs.  Final score:  Illinois 17  Indiana 12.  The lead changed hands a quite [...]

Illini ‘Cap’ home season with a win against Western Michigan

Illinois ended their home season with a win tonight against Western Michigan.  Thanks to key pitching and a great game by Pete Cappetta, the Illini outscored the Broncos 6-1.  Billy Barrett held the Broncos hitless for three innings The Broncos just couldn’t get the offense going against Illinois’ hurlers.  Through six innings against Billy Barrett, [...]

Purdue’s Bischoff holds off Illini

A friendly reader told me I was a bit negative as far as the Illini’s chances for the tourney in my weekend preview.  She might be right.  I need to drink from the glass half full.   Bischoff:  23 straight But tonight’s game didn’t help (you saw that coming).  Purdue’s Matt Bischoff had the Illini [...]

Midweek Preview: We have two home games to help us prepare for the homestretch

  Craig Lutes heads towards first after hitting the ball Friday night We’re winding down the season with six more home games left.  We’re fortunate to have two midweek games at home this week though.  And whenever Coach Hartleb’s alum comes to town, that gives the media another storyline to talk about. Let’s take a [...]

Woot, woot, Lutes!

Boy, it sure is fun when the Illini win! In Illini Nation, Craig Lutes is the hero of the day.  Yes, he’s in that mob of Illinois players you see in the above photo.  Not only is he the one who hit the walk-off homerun against the Northwestern Wildcats today to win 4-3 but he’s [...]