Johnson, Illini cool off Boilermakers in front of alumni

Johnson shuts out the Boilermakers There were more alumni festivities on Saturday at Illinois Field  (more on that below) and boy, did Illinois starting pitcher Kevin Johnson give the old ‘mates a show.  Not only did he pitch a complete game but he exacted revenge on the Purdue Boilermakers by shutting them out on a [...]

As promised, some baseball photos from 2006

A couple days ago, I posted some photos from 2005 that I had not seen for a long while.  As promised, here are some from 2006 I also ran across. Again, these photos are not the best quality but definitely valuable from an archive perspective.  Enjoy.   Shawn Roof at bat against the Hawkeyes (4/22/06) [...]

Penn State rally in 8th ends Illini’s season

The Penn State Nittany Lions had just come off a 10th inning victory off Michigan. One half hour later they played Illinois for another elimination game. That’s the thing about losing your first game in the Big Ten Tournament… every game you play, you’re playing for your tournament life. Scott Shaw allowed only 3 hits [...]

Looking ahead to the Big Ten Tournament

I’m finally coming down a bit from Sunday’s incredible comeback by the Illini over Michigan State. It’s not often you see a team come back from a 7-0 deficit to win 8-7 in a must-win game. But I’m sure the Illini baseball team isn’t looking back… they’re looking forward. Forward to Wednesday at 11:05 (Central) [...]

An Illini Comeback: Big Ten Baseball doesn’t get any better than this

First of all, let me get this out of the way: Yessss! All Right!! WOW! Way to go, Illini! Woo hoo! I-L-L, I-N-I!! Whew. Sunday’s scoreboard shows the incredible comeback by the Illini Yes, the Illini won today. In a must-win game in order to go on to the Big Ten tournament, the University of [...]

Illini win the first against MSU: one more win to go for tourney berth

Tonight’s game against the Spartans of Michigan State had it all. You name it… an injury, questionable umpiring, sibling rivalry, a comeback by the Illini. What a game! Coach Hartleb passed by where I was twenty minutes before the game. I asked him, “Are you ready?” “I’m ready but that doesn’t matter.” Well, it looked [...]

Illini win opener vs Indiana despite fielding miscues

It wasn’t pretty but the Illini beat Indiana in this weekend’s opener. Illinois had six errors in the game. Starter Tanner Roark continued his dominance during first games against Big Ten teams as he got the win in 7 2/3 innings. He gave up 5 runs but only 2 were earned. After giving up a [...]

Illini shut out Eastern Illinois

Ok, where was everyone last night?? Official attendance was only 669 at Illinois Field to see the University of Illinois defeat the Eastern Illinois Panthers 8-0. Ben Reeser gave the Illini 4 lights-out innings The Illinois got some fantastic pitching from starter Ben Reeser (4 IP, 3 H) as well as relievers Scott Shaw (4 [...]

Illini Toohey makes Big Ten Hardball list

University of Illinois reliever Jake Toohey makes Big Ten Hardball’s 10 Pitchers You Should Know list. Of Toohey, BTH says: Toohey is one of the conference’s best closers. He tied for sixth in the Big Ten in saves in ’06. The Illini righthander had a very strong summer in the Northwoods League and probably should [...]

Illini Baseball Players are Blogging

Mike Rohde The University of Illinois baseball players have begun a blog of sorts. The best way to find them is to go to the U of I baseball page and find the entries from there. At the very least, we can find out what going on with the team. Jake Toohey writes that the [...]