The smile on Adam Davis as he scores on Matt Dittman’s homer says it all

When I got to Illinois Field to watch the last game of this weekend’s Illinois-Iowa series and Illinois had already gotten a 5-0 lead before I was situated, I thought I was in for a nice, comfortable win for the Illini.  Boy, was I wrong.

The Illini did win by the score of 11-7 but it wasn’t easy and the fans were treated to some oddities along the way.

Adam Davis, Brandon Hohl and Casey McMurray congratulate Dittman on his homer

But first, let’s give some kudos to Matt Dittman and Adam Davis.  Davis had a good deal to do with the first inning rally as he hit a three run homerun.  Not only that, he drove in the the winning run in the eighth inning with a base hit scoring Justin Parr.  Ditt hit his first homerun of the year in timely fashion, a three run shot that padded Illinois’ lead.

Ditt and Davis were a combined 5 for 10 with 7 rbis.  Brandon Hohl also homered, his third of the year and second of the weekend.

After Illinois’ five run lead in the first, things looked pretty easy for the Illini.  Between the fourth and eighth inning though, Iowa scored seven runs and took the lead. We saw some rather interesting events.

The ump gives the Iowa dugout a warning

Iowa was given a warning by the first base umpire for excessive celebration (my guess) after Casey McMurray was tagged out between the basepaths.   Not only that, five batters from both teams were hit by the pitcher (two on the noggin) within three innings.

In the seventh, Illinois got a triple, a single, a double and a walk and only managed to score one run.

Add to that the strong winds where a deep popout was good enough to get a player a homer and we had a strange game.

Strong performance by Kimes

Corey Kimes had a strong game, in my opinion.  He was hurt by errors but until the sixth, he only gave up one run.  He also struck out six batters in five plus innings.  Wes Braun got the win and probably really deserved it.  He pitched two innings gave up no earned runs and came back after hitting the Iowa batter in the head.  That would have unnerved me.  Chris Pack pitched a scoreless ninth.

Here are the photos from today’s game.  I really like these and I had a hard time picking which ones to upload so there are about 60 or so.

Next up

Illinois will next play in Mattoon and take on Eastern Illinois.  Game time is 6pm.

Brandon Hohl can’t do it all.  Though he tried.

Hohl did his best as he went 3 for 3 and drove in all four of Illini’s run in Saturday’s 7-4 loss to Iowa.  He even gave the Illini faithful some hope of a comeback as he hit a ninth-inning two-run homerun over the left field fence.  That brought the score within three but unfortunately the score stood.

Adam Davis gets hearty congrats after scoring on Hohl’s base hit

The game was all Iowa’s as they scored four runs in the first two innings off of Illinois starter John Anderson and never really looked back. Down 5-0, Illinois drew blood in the fourth when Hohl hit a two-rbi single scoring Adam Davis and Justin Parr.

Matt Milroy and Bill Barrett did a fair job out of the pen giving up a combined two runs in 5 1/3 innings.

More photos from Saturday’s game here.

Random Ramblings

Let me say that with the score 7-2 going into the bottom of the ninth, I appreciated the attitude that appeared to be coming from the dugout.  This team, up on the railing of the dugout, acted like they had every chance to win this game.  That attitude is contagious with the fans.

And what was with the rally fake mustaches??

Last game of the Iowa series is Sunday at 1:05pm.

Go Illini!

IlliniHQ also had an accompanying ‘just-the-facts’ article.  By the way, it’s official, Josh Parr injured is knee during practice which explains his absence last night (I heard rumors but wasn’t going to publish anything till I heard something more detailed).

Speaking of IlliniHQ, they ran a piece on Casey McMurray that shows just how tough he really his.

“The Illinois left fielder played his entire junior year with cysts in his tailbone area that made even sitting — much less running and sliding — at times excruciating.”

Ouch.

Finally, the Daily Illini has been pretty good about paying attention to Illinois baseball all season. Kudos to them.  This past week, they ran an article on Will Strack billing him as ‘Dynamic Strack’.

Josh Parr and Co will attempt to win their first Big Ten series this weekend

This weekend, the Illini will be hosting their first Big Ten series.  They’ll be hosting the 11-15 Iowa Hawkeyes.  Weather permitting, that is.  I doubt the Illinois weather will prevent any action on Friday but the outlook on Saturday looks pretty grim.  I’m hoping for the best.

Here is the official weekend preview on fightingillini.com.  Hopefully the game on Saturday will be played because the Big Ten Network plans to broadcast the game on the TV.  Live video will be available on their website.  Audio and Gametracker will be available on fightingillini.com.

If you do make it out to Illinois Field, don’t forget to pick up your pack of Freshman baseball cards!

The Iowa Hawkeyes haven’t wowed anyone with their offense with an opposing ERA of 3.77.  That said, their pitching, led by starter Nick Brown (3-2, 2.85) has evened things out.  Hyped starter Jarred Hippen has done ok but perhaps hasn’t gotten the support he needs with a 1-3 record.  Kevin Johnson could relate, I’m sure.

In their first Big Ten series, the Hawkeyes lost their first two games to Michigan State but came raring back with a vengeance to win the last one 19-7.  That shows they can put runs on the board if the mood strikes them.

Random Ramblings

Take a look at the roster of the Single-A Greenville Grasshoppers.  It looks like former Illini Joe Bonadonna has been picked up by the Florida Marlins organization.  Until this year, Bonadonna has played for the Rangers organization.  Good luck playing for your new boss, Joe!

Let’s go Illini!

THAT game, the Illini had plenty of offense including a 3 run rally to comeback against the Hawkeyes.  Once again, Bryan Roberts came through as the closer pitching two solid innings allowing no hits.  Roberts also pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings in today’s losing cause.

As a side note, it’s hard to believe that the Illini bullpen was considered the Achilles heel of the team at the beginning of the year.  The top three in ERA are members of the relievers staff (Kevin Manson 2.70, Mike Sterk 3.21 and Bryan Roberts 3.77).

 Looking at the positive side of things, I’m glad to see that Josh Parr is picking it up.  He had a rough game in St Louis against the University of Missouri in the field and it’s good to see him produce with the bat.  While I see Parr (right) had an error on Friday (his only one for the weekend), no one can complain about his bat.  He went 5 for 11 this past weekend with 4 runs and 3 rbis.  Just as Pete Cappetta had his rough stretch and came out of it, I expect Josh will continue to do the same. 

Random Ramblings

I probably shouldn’t be so stat-centric when it comes to the team but I can’t help it.  Check out Casey McMurray’s numbers.  He now leads the team in hitting with a .398 average.  Never a power guy in past seasons, he’s found his stroke and has 4 homers and 14 extra base hits both good for the team lead. 

Former Illini starter Scott Shaw had his first start with the Binghamton Mets yesterday.  Unfortunately, it was a pretty rough one and Shaw got rocked against the Akron Aeros.  Never fear, Shaw had a great 2009 so I expect him to recover from that.

If you haven’t seen IlliniHQ.com’s photos from the Battle at Busch, check them out.  They have some really good ones.  The News-Gazette had a nice spread of these photos from last Wednesday in Sunday’s paper.  I love it when the team gets a lot of press.  Sometimes, it’s hard to come by.

Next up

Midweek bring two teams which our guys might be looking for redemption and/or revenge.

On Tuesday, the Illini host Eastern Illinois University. They’re traditionally a tough team.  Last year we took it on the chin and lost 5-1 against the Panthers.  I’m hoping for some revenge.  Gametime is 6:05pm.

Illinois then take on Coach Hartleb’s alma mater, Southern Illinois.  The game will be played at Rent One Park at Marion, Illinois, home of the Southern Illinois Miners of the Frontier League.  This will be the first of two meetings with the Salukis.  Gametime is 6:30pm.

Go Illini!!

Will we see more of Wes Braun after his fantastic appearance at Busch?

After traveling to St Louis to play in the Battle at Busch on Wednesday, the Illini don’t get much break in their traveling schedule.  They’re off to Iowa City to play the 10-15 University of Iowa Hawkeyes.

All three of these games will be streamed on the Big Ten Network web site.

Illinois has been pretty dominant historically over Iowa.  The good guys have a 122-77-2 record over the Hawkeyes.  Last time we played them was our season opener at the Big Ten/Big East Challenge last year.  Illinois won that game 8-3. 

Details on Iowa:

Hitting .315, OF Ryan Durant leads the Hawkeyes in rbis with 20 and is second in runs with 19.

Iowa is 10-15 for 2010 but they’re on a roll now.  They’ve managed to win six of their last nine games.  That didn’t stop Michigan State from taking two from them this past weekend though. 

The Hawkeye’s power is a bit down this year.  They’ve been out-homered 19-10 by their opponents.  Unfortunately for Iowa, it’s not being made up by gap power either (39 doubles to opponents 49).  No Iowa player has more than 2 homers. 

Look out for Jarred Hippen.  The Iowa starter is looking good so far this year.  He’s 2-2 with a nice 2.62 ERA.  He also has good control (12 walks in 48 innings).

Random Ramblings

I mentioned the other day that Iowa was scheduled to play former Illini Chris Robinson and his AAA Iowa Cubs.  Unfortunately, that game was canceled because of bad weather.

Also, this came out last week but is worth mentioning.  Illini Retrospective: The 1940s was posted last week.  It’s the latest in the series of historical Retrospectives that the Fighting Illini web site is putting out.

Good Luck Illini!!!

Roberts was lights out as he struck out seven ‘Cats and allowed seven hits in seven innings.  Reliever Lee Zerrusen did his job as he pitched two scoreless innings to finish the game. 

Offensively, Brandon Wikoff was 4 for 5 with three rbis and two runs a double.  Willie Argo (stop me if you’ve heard this) continues his slugging pace as he hit a two-run homer to center.  In addition to Wikoff, Joe Bonadonna, Casey McMurray, Dom Altobelli. Aaron Johnson all had multi-hit games. 

Box Score

The sweep of the Wildcats puts Illinois at 30-13 and 14-4.  Michigan’s 9-2 win over Ohio State at Columbus in front of a Big Ten Network audience is big for the Illini.  It gives them a one game advantage going into the big series next weekend. 

And not to look too far ahead but Illinois will need every game they can get.  Ohio State will be playing last place Iowa the weekend after next.  My bet is that there will be lotsa Iowa fans in C-U then. 

Way to go Illinois!!!

Down 2-1 in the sixth, the Illini came back to score five runs thanks in part to three Iowa fielding miscues.  Iowa never really recovered after that only scoring one run in ninth after that.

Final score:  8-3.

More details at the Fighting Illini web site.

The big offensive heroes for us were Brandon Wikoff (2 for 4, HR, 2 runs, rbi), Dom Altobelli (2 for 4, run, rbi), Craig Lutes (1 for 4, 3B, rbi) and Joe Bonadonna (2 for 4, rbi).

Phil Haig and Aaron Martin did a fantastic job on the mound for the Illini.  Both allowed no earned runs.  Haig pitched five innings for the win and struck out four.  Martin pitched four frames and struck out five and recorded a save.

Tonight, brings Notre Dame.  The Fighting Irish are already down 0-1, fresh off a 2-0 loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes Friday night.  The game is scheduled for 6:30pm CT… but you know how those things go.

In related news, if you haven’t seen it already the box scores for the Fighting Illini (and I’m assuming other Big Ten and possibly NCAA schools have been revamped,  Complete with color delineation.  Looks pretty snazzy.

Lars Davis and Tanner Roark after our last game with Iowa in 2007

The last time Illinois baseball team faced off against Iowa was when they trompled over them in the first game of the 2007 Big Ten Tournament on May 21, 2007.  Illinois won it 12-3.  I remember the game well.  Tanner Roark was the starter and pitched seven shutout innings before giving up three in the eighth.  Roark was helped by 5 DPs in five innings (a Big Ten Tournament record, I believe).

But that was almost two years ago and a lot of players have come and gone since then since then.  Still I’m betting any players from Iowa who are still there haven’t forgotten that. 

Game time is 6:30 Central time tonight.  Any who are interested can catch the game on Gametracker at the Fighting Illini site.

Update:  In case anyone was wondering (like I was), the Iowa-Illinois game was been pushed back to 8:15pm which was about 10 minutes ago.  Go Illini!

Here again is the rundown of the (updated) weekend schedule for the BIG EAST/Big Ten Challenge:

Rumor has it the boys are itchin’ to play and ready to play someone other than themselves.  I suppose split squad scrimmages can go only so far.  I’m sure the guys are chompin’ at the bit to face some real opposition. 

Sure enough, as my wife and I were driving through campus today, I saw four or five Illini players getting out of a car outside of the indoors practice facility.  No doubt ready to get a last practice in before heading to Land of Orange Juice. 

Here’s a quick rundown of their opponents for the weekend with links to their websites and season previews.   Current record is self evident, I guess. 

Opponent:	University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Conference:	BIG EAST
Head Coach:	Dave Schrage (3rd year)
Current Record:	0-0
Baseball Program website	Team Season Preview

Opponent:	University of West Virginia Mountaineers
Conference:	BIG EAST
Head Coach:	Greg Van Zant (15th year)
Current Record:	0-0
Baseball Program website	Team Season Preview (from the CBB)

Go Illini!