University of Illinois Baseball | The Baseball Zealot

Illini Haig dazzles in Game 1 of split with Purdue

Phil Haig was lights out on Saturday

On Saturday, Phil Haig was all business as he threw a two-hit shutout against the Purdue Boilermakers as Illinois won 2-0.

The day before, Purdue scored 27 runs in the doubleheader. That same team was stymied by the freshman Haig who struck out three and walked two in the seven inning affair.

Haig’s efforts were rewarded with a Big Ten Co-pitcher of the Week honor. Congrats, Phil!

Brandon Wikoff drove in both of the Illini runs. Ironically, he did it without a hit, driving in one with a sacrifice fly and the other with a ground ball.

In game two, the Illini’s last regular season game, it was back to business for Purdue as they won 11-2.

Next up: With the loss, Illinois drops to the fourth seed in the Big Ten Tournament. They face Ohio State on Wednesday.

A fan convert to college baseball?

One more note… thanks to my friend Chuck who was in town and accompanied me to the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader. Chuck always makes light of college baseball but I convinced him to come with me. I honestly think he had a lot of fun. I know I did. Now Chuck will look at college baseball a little differently.

PS I’m glad we decided to go to the first game.

More photos here.

Illinois Twice-Boiled by Purdue but at least they’re Ann Arbor-bound

There’s good news and bad news. Well, the good news is the Illini are going to the Big Ten tournament and we have Indiana to thank for that. The Hoosiers swept the Michigan State Spartans in Friday’s doubleheader and thereby eliminating them from tournament qualification.

So on to Ann Arbor we go next week!

The Big Ten Network was on hand to broadcast the games.

The bad news is that Illinois isn’t playing like a tournament team at the moment. They were bowled over by the Purdue Boilermakers in both games of Friday’s doubleheader losing by the scores of 14-4 and 13-8. Adding insult to injury, we did this in front of the Big Ten Network audience.

Game Two’s battery, Aaron Johnson and Scott Shaw in happier times. Shaw would give up 11 runs before he was done.

The outcomes of both games seemed not to be question as Purdue scored early and often. Illinois did make a valiant effort in Game 2 to come back. Down 12-1 in the fifth inning, Illinois scored five runs in the bottom of the inning but Purdue’s lead proved to be too great.

The man in blue is all over this play and Kyle Hudson was called out stealing. Hud was 5 for 10 for the day with a stolen base.

Kyle Hudson garnered 5 hits in 10 at-bats for the two games as well as stealing base #38. He needs 3 more to break the team record. Ryan Hastings went 4 for 7 for the day with double and two rbis in Game 2.

One other positive note that you won’t see reflected in the box score is the defensive play by John Schlichter. He flashed some good leather several times during the day including a 5-2 play getting the runner out at the plate.

Ryan Hastings went 4 for 7 with a double for the day.

I always enjoy talking to and meeting the player’s parents in the stands. Brian Hastings, father of Ryan, and I chatted for a while, discussing our current pitching woes and the upcoming draft. He later introduced me to Casey McMurray’s father Kevin, talking up my website. Thanks for the plug, Brian.

I even met up with the opposition. In between games, I spoke with Bob Wolgamot whose son, Ben, is the secondbaseman for Purdue. Ben is from nearby Danville. Bob says several of the Purdue players play for the Danville Dans over the summer. I’m sure I’ll see Bob again as he plans to be up in Ann Arbor next week for the Tournament.

Saturday, the Illini have a chance to get back at Purdue and end the regular season in winning style. Game time for the doubleheader is 4pm at Illinois Field. The Big Ten Network will be broadcasting both games. Go Illini! Let’s show everyone what kind of team we really have!!

More photos here

Illini-Purdue: Mother Nature Wins Again

Once again the weather prevails. For the 15th time this season, a game has been affected by weather. Thursday’s game between Illinois and Purdue has been postponed.

The game will be made up during the course of the weekend. Friday’s doubleheader will start an hour earlier at 3pp and there will be an extra game tacked on to Saturday’s schedule. Saturday’s doubleheader begins at 4pm.

So the updated schedule:

~~Thur May 15 6:05pm~~ (postponed)
Fri May 16 3:00 (DH)
Sat May 17 4:00pm (DH)

And not to be a downer but Saturday’s weather looks iffy depending on who you get your weather info from.

Friday looks nice though.

Illinois-Purdue Preview

Next Game:

Games #50-53

~~Thur May 15 6:05pm~~
Fri May 16 3:00 (DH)
Sat May 17 4:00pm (DH)

Record: 29-20

Big Ten 15-12

vs Purdue

at Illinois Field Champaign, IL

Ok, Illini Fans, this is it. Our magic number is down to two. The Purdue Boilermakers are coming to town and the Illini need all fans to come to the park. Don’t forget that the schedule is a bit different this weekend. It will be a Thursday-Friday-Saturday series.

Purdue has already clinched their Big Ten Tournament spot. It would take a four-game sweep for us to overtake their second place position and thereby gaining a bye in the first round. I honestly don’t know what would happen if we tied them by going 3-1.

[Update: I inquired about this of the one person who I knew would know, Brian DeCaussin of Big Ten Hardball. His reply:

I believe that if the Illini take three of four from Purdue, they would be the second seed by virtue of their head-to-head record against the Boilermakers. That would give them the first-round bye.

So nothing official but that seems to makes sense to me.]

Media Coverage

If you have the Big Ten Network and can’t make to the ballpark, all three games will be broadcast. This should make my buddy Brando happy who’s always asking why he can’t watch Illini (or any Big Ten baseball, for that matter) on BTN.

More Altobelli?

I didn’t even notice last weekend that Dom Altobelli suited up and pinch hit in two games against Ohio State. Dom had been out since April with a torn labrum. His replacement at third base, John Schlichter, has been doing a bang-up job in his stead but it’s good to see him getting his swings in.

Can we get some good weather?

According to Illini’s official website, six of the seven Big Ten series have been affected by the weather what with cancellations or postponements. It would be nice to have a 3-day series of sunny baseball weather to watch the games.

Checking the weather forecast, looks like a chance of rain on Thursday but clear on Friday and Saturday. Hopefully, the rains will hold off on Thursday night.

[Update: Thursday’s game was postponed. I updated the schedule above.]

Comeback Mountain

An amazing 14 of Illinois’ 29 wins this season have been comeback victories. Five of those wins happened in the last at-bat.

See you at the ballpark!!!

And the dirt on Purdue:

Opponent:	Purdue University
Nickname:	Boilermakers
Conference:	Big Ten
Head Coach:	Doug Schreiber (9th year)
Hometown:	West Lafayette, IN
Current Record:	27-22 (18-9 Big Ten)
Baseball Program website:	Link
Players to watch:	Catcher Dan Black is their long ball guy. He leads Purdue with 12 homers and 51 rbis. Bonus: He’s played for the local Danville Dans.
Team Fact:	Purdue’s ERA is a full point less than their opponents (4.59 to 5.67).

One series left in regular Big Ten play

No game on Sunday between Illinois and Ohio State. Rain washed away any chance of the Illini to tie Ohio State for the weekend. As frustrating as that probably is, Ohio State had the momentum after their amazing comeback in Game 2 on Saturday (they scored 10 runs in the bottom of the fifth after the Illini scored 7 in the top). Maybe it’s just as well?

A Look at the Standings

Let’s take a look at the Big 10 standings with just one weekend left.

Team	W	L	T	Pct.	W	L	T	Pct.
Michigan	23	4	0	.852	38	11	0	.776
Purdue	18	9	0	.667	27	22	0	.551
Illinois	15	12	0	.556	29	20	0	.592
Penn State	15	13	0	.536	24	27	0	.471
Ohio State	13	13	0	.500	27	22	0	.551
Northwestern	13	15	0	.464	20	25	0	.444
Michigan State	12	14	0	.462	24	24	0	.500
Indiana	11	17	0	.393	23	28	0	.451
Minnesota	8	19	0	.296	18	33	0	.353
Iowa	8	20	0	.286	20	31	0	.392

Illinois maintains its third place spot (just barely) only one-half game ahead of Penn State and 1 1/2 ahead of Ohio State. They will need a sweep of Purdue this weekend to take over second place and get the bye in the tournament.

Michigan has now clinched the home berth for the tourney making things easy for those who make travel arrangements, I’m sure.

It will be a tight race between Northwestern, Indiana and Michigan State for the last two spots. Michigan State was knocked out of the tourney qualification in the last regular season game by Illinois last year. I’ll bet MSU will do everything in their power to see that doesn’t happen again.

On thing that might help the Spartans… Northwestern’s schedule. They have the pleasure (?) of playing Michigan this weekend.

All this said, it’s anyone’s game (except sadly for their fans, Indiana, Minnesota, and Iowa; they’re mathematically eliminated). On the other hand, Purdue and Michigan fans can rest easy, their teams are in it.

Some Big Ten Leaders

Right now, Illinois has 3 hitters in the top ten in batting average in the Big Ten. That would be Kyle Hudson (.409), Daniel Webb (.404) and Brandon Wikoff (.397). Hudson also leads the conference in on-base percentage (.515), and runs scored (57). Wikoff is fourth in rbis with 56.

Big Ten leaderboard

Illini finish Friday’s business then Buckeyes reign

On Saturday, Illinois and Ohio State completed their Friday contest that was suspended by rain. Illinois won easily with both teams scoring two additional runs. Final Score 9-4 Illinois.

The win goes to Kevin Manson which makes him 7-1 on the season. Mike Sterk got his third save of the year.

Once things got on to the regularly scheduled program, things sort of fell apart for the Illini.

We could only muster six hits and two runs against starter Dan DeLucia and reliever Eric Best. Meantime, the Buckeyes scored nine runs against us. Ohio State went for the big innings, clustering three runs in the first and six in the sixth inning.

Then came the second game:

Score by Innings                     R  H  E
--------------------------------------------
Illinois............ 001 07   0 0 -  8  8  3
Ohio State.......... 003 0(10)1 X - 14 16  1

Above is the score by innings for the second game of the doubleheader. I’ll give you three guesses which was was the key inning of the game. I’ll bet you won’t need all three.

I was on Cloud Nine after the top of the fifth when the Illini scored seven to make it 8-3 and seemingly clinched the victory. I was watching on Gametracker and when Mike Stankiewicz was replaced by Ben Reeser after Stanky loaded the bases with two hits and a walk, GT seemed to hang. Either it was a long warmup by Reeser or Gametracker was choking on all the runs the Buckeyes were scoring.

Talk about clustering runs. ugh.

For what it’s worth, three ribbies for Joe Bonadonna.

The last game of the series is this afternoon at 12:05pm.

Go Illini!!

A look at last year’s series

In my preview post for this series, I referenced a game in last year’s series against Ohio State when former Illini SS Shawn Roof was hit four times, a Big Ten record. I shot Shawn an email just asked him about it, asking him about it.

He writes:

About last year, yeah that was funny when I got hit 4 times. I vaguely remember as well, but I remember the last 2 were curveballs in the dirt that barely hit my toe. I doubt there was any bad blood, it was probably just because I stood on top of the plate so much, and most teams tried to pitch me in due to me going to right a lot. I was actually pretty glad they did because I think one at bat I was down 0-2 and the other I was down 1-2, and it gave me a chance to get on base.

Shawn DID break the Big Ten record for HBP so I guess it’s not too surprising.

Shawn is currently batting .327 for the Lakeland Flying Tigers, a Tigers Advanced A ball team in Florida. He also wrote that the Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez is currently on rehab in Tampa so his team is looking forward to facing him.

Good luck to Shawn!

Illini leading 7-2 in suspended game against Buckeyes

Friday night games continue to be plagued by the weather. Fortunately, Illinois and Ohio State were able to get a good six plus innings in before the game was called. Even better, the Illini have a good head start on the Buckeyes leading 7-2.

Starter Kevin Manson pitched a gem of a game allowing just two runs (one earned) in 6 innings, walking no one.

It was a balanced offensive attack as eight starters got at least one hit. CF Kyle Hudson banged out two hits and scored twice. Ryan Hastings put together 2 hits and including an rbi double.

John Schlichter’s two-run double was key in the Illini’s 3-run 5th.

The bullpen is rested. The balance of the game will pick up at 12:05pm Saturday before the scheduled doubleheader.

Go Illini!

Illinois-Ohio State Preview

Next Game:

Games #47-50

Fri May 9 5:35pm
Sat May 10 12:05 (DH)
Sun May 11 12:05pm

Record: 28-18

Big Ten 14-10

vs Ohio State

at Bill Davis Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

It’s getting close to crunch time. Two more series left for the Illini this regular season; one against the team directly behind them and one directly ahead of them.

This weekend, it’s the Buckeyes who are in fourth place in the Big Ten and 2 1/2 games behind Illinois.

Interestingly, the Ohio State’s web site notes that “The two teams did not meet last year”. Weird, I remember seeing our guys split with the Buckeyes in ’07. Shawn Roof probably remembers that too. He was hit by the pitcher four times, a Big Ten record.

Take the chance to check out The Buckeye Nine’s review on the series.

Awardy Stuff

Ryan Hastings and Daniel Webb have been named to ESPN Magazine’s Academic All-District 5 first team. Hastings holds a perfect 4.0 GPA in the sport management graduate program. Webb has a 3.2 GPA in community health.

Congrats to both!

BTW, don’t forget to vote for Ryan for the Lowe’s Senior Class Award!

Finally, the lowdown on Ohio State:

Opponent:	Ohio State University
Nickname:	Buckeyes
Conference:	Big Ten
Head Coach:	Bob Todd (21st year)
Hometown:	Columbus, OH
Current Record:	25-21 (11-12 Big Ten)
Baseball Program website:	Link
Players to watch:	JB Shuck. He’s a pitcher, outfielder, just about whatever Ohio St needs. Shuck is hitting .400 with 35 runs scored. He’s also 4-3 with a team leading 65 Ks.
Team Fact:	Ohio State has been out-homered 2-1 by their opponents but still outscores them 258-224

Go Illini!!

Illini’s Aaron Johnson wins it in the 9th; Wikoff honored with Player of the Week Award

Dang, I’m out of town for a game and boy, it sure sounds like it was an exciting one. Northwestern had the Illini down by a run in the bottom of the ninth when catcher and cleanup hitter Aaron Johnson jacks a two-run shot to win it all 10-9. Wow!

It’s getting sufficiently close to the end of the regular season that I’m watching the Big Ten standings after every game. At this point, Illinois is third and is ever so slightly pulling away from the middle pack. They are 2 1/2 games up on fourth place Ohio State.

That said, it’s anyone’s ballgame when it comes to Big Ten Tournament qualification. I think we can safely dismiss Indiana, Iowa, and Minnesota (Indiana’s conference record is 9-15). Michigan State, however, has made a late season push and at 10-13 could be a sleeper in the tournament race.

Speaking of Ohio State, Illinois makes the trip to Columbus this weekend. As I mentioned, the Buckeyes are in fourth but don’t let that fool you. They are always tough.

Wikoff takes Big Ten Player of the Week award

When Illini shortstop Brandon Wikoff (right) went 5 for 5 with 6 rbis on Saturday, I wondered to myself if he might be on his way to his own Big Ten Player of the Week award. Sure enough, for the third week in a row, an Illini player was honored with the award. For the weekend, Wikoff batted .588 with three multi-hit games.

This was the first time since 2003 that a Big Ten school has won the award three weeks in a row. Joe Bonadonna won it two weeks ago and Casey McMurray was honored last week.

What do Bonadonna, McMurray, and Wikoff have in common besides being an integral part of the Illinois lineup???

They are all listed as being 5’8″

Illini split with Northwestern

Joe Bonadonna’s always in a hurry

Illinois split a doubleheader with Northwestern Saturday losing a squeaker 4-3 then in the second game, crushing the Wildcats 11-5 behind a pair of career-first homers by Kyle Hudson and John Schlichter.

The kids and I got to the park just as fans were spilling of the stands after the first game. I asked people on the sidewalk what the outcome was and was informed that we lost. I asked some more people but unfortunately they said the same thing.

We got into the park and I saw Mike Sterk’s mom, Joyce aka “The StatLady”. I call her that because she keeps a mean scorecard. Detailed down to the backwards “K” for strikeout looking. Even I don’t that.

Anyway, I said I heard we lost and wondered what happened. “Well, Mike gave up a homerun”, she said.

Oops.

She was really nice though and showed me the scorecard for the game and as tempting as it might be, one person can’t always be responsible for a loss just as they aren’t always be responsible for a win.

Hudson swiping #35 of the year

Game Two went a whole lot better. Illinois had two homers from Kyle Hudson and John Schlichter. Amazingly, they were career firsts for both players. Schlichter was 2 for 3 with 4 rbis and Hudson was 3 for 4 with 3 rbis and 2 runs and a stolen base.

Schlichter hit his first career homer in the second game

Schlichter’s homer was part of a 5 run rally in the 5th inning which pretty much put the game out of reach at 9-2, though the Wildcats did plate three more runs.

QB Starter Phil Haig was on the mound for the Illini in game two and pitched his best game yet. He lasted 6 innings and gave up a run.

I ran into Ryan Hastings’ father Brian and mentioned the nice two-page feature article the News-Gazette did on Ryan. I asked how Ryan was doing. Brian says he thinks Ryan has had a solid season but he’s waiting for him to break out into a hot streak. I told him that a hot streak against Ohio State or Purdue would be perfect.

One last thing, kudos to my 8-year old daughter Olivia who has come with me to the last 5 home games (‘cepting game one today). She’s a real trooper and is now beginning to learn the players’ names and such by reading the baseball cards they hand out. Oh, Joe Bonadonna, you have a new number one fan now. She digs your at bat music.

I’ll be out of town Monday so I’ll unfortunately miss the last Illinois-Northwestern game. Cheer extra hard for me!

More photos (a lot more) here.

Go Illini!

One more thing… if you haven’t already, vote for Ryan Hastings for the Lowe’s Senior Class Award.