University of Illinois Baseball | The Baseball Zealot

Michigan takes the wind out of Illinois’ sails

I shot this as I was walking to the stadium. The flags are located at direct centerfield. I could tell right away we were going to have a slugfest.

Some Michigan ballplayers were spotted outside the stadium during batting practice to flag down the balls that got hit out.

Ok, I’ll tell you right now, I’ve never been to a more windy ballgame in my life. The flag photo doesn’t even do it justice. Did it affect ball play? You bet. Pop flies became fly outs and fly outs turned into home runs.

Four of those home runs belonged to Michigan including back-to-back jobbers by Nate Recknagel (who now has 11 for the year) and Zach Putnam in the top of the third. Dom Altobelli hit one for the good guys in the fifth.

The game wasn’t without some dramatics. The next time Nate Recknagel was up after his homer, he was hit by Kevin Manson. The ump gave Manson a warning. Next inning, the first Illini batter, Aaron Johnson was then hit by Michigan pitcher Zach Putnam who also got a warning. Things seemed to settle down after that.

Michigan was pretty much in charge of the game from the very start, scoring three in the first and racking up the score to 8-2 by the fifth. Altobelli’s homer gave Illini some life. By the end of the fifth, Illinois had inched as close as three runs, 8-5 but that was as close they would get. Michigan would tack on one more run in the seventh for what would be the final score: Michigan 9 Illinois 5

Illini Stars of the Game:

Dominic Altobelli: 1 for 4, HR, 2 rbis (but 2 E-5s)

Joe Bonadonna: 2 for 5, 2B, run, rbi

Ryan Hastings: 2 for 4, run

Lefty Phil Haig pitched the last three innings. He did allow one run but boy, he looked really impressive. Five Ks!


Zach Putnam on the mound…	and at the plate.

Meeting some old friends and new friends:

I saw Michigan starter Zach Putnam’s father in the visitor section. I had met him at the Big Ten Tournament last year. I introduced myself again and he remembered me. I welcomed him to Champaign-Urbana. He said he and his wife actually met here at University of Illinois so he was somewhat familiar with the town. We had a nice chat, I gave him my card and let him get back to video taping the game (aside from starting the game, Zach was batting cleanup, telling you how valuable he is to the team).

Craig Lutes waiting for a pitch.

I also got a chance to chat up Illinois rightfielder Craig Lutes’ father, John. He seemed like a really nice guy.

You can see more photos of today’s game (and some of practice before) here.

Illinois gets a chance for revenge Saturday (weather permitting) at 3:05pm. It’ll be a doubleheader. Mike Stankiewicz goes in the afternoon game and Scott Shaw pitches in the nightcap.

See you at the ballpark!

Illinois ready to take on the Wolverines in first home conference series

Centerfielder Kyle Hudson is hitting .404 on the season

Next Game:

	Game #27-30	Fri April 11 6:05pm Sat April 12 3:05pm DH Sun April 13 1:05pm
Record: 18-8	vs University of Michigan	at Illinois Field, Champaign, IL

I’ll say it right from the outset. Judging from the weather forecast, we may not get all four games in this weekend against Michigan. It’s looking pretty dicey. We have a fighting chance to get a game in Friday night, though.

That all said, let’s get some Blue! It’s our first home Big Ten series of the year. Not only that, it will be our biggest challenge this season. We’re one game behind the Wolverines and it’s our chance to to show that we’re for real.

Before the detractors tell us there’s no chance, don’t forget… Illinois managed a split last year against the Big Ten champion Michigan team. Nothing says that an Illini team that is obviously on a roll can’t do better.

Don’t look now but the Illini is leading the Big Ten in hitting with a tasty .334 batting average. Eight of nine starters are hitting .300 (the catching duo of Chris Montgomery and Aaron Johnson both have averages over .290). Kyle Hudson is still maintaining his .400 mark. Right now, he’s hitting .404.

Illinois also leads in runs scored with 193 and are atop the conference in fielding.

I’m making an effort to bring at least one friend to a game this weekend who’s never been to an Illinois game before. See you at the ballpark!!

LET’S GO ILLINI!

Wolverine Zach Putnam at-bat during the 2007 Big Ten tournament

Opponent:	University of Michigan
Nickname:	Wolverines
Conference:	Big Ten
Head Coach:	Rich Maloney (6th year)
Hometown:	Ann Arbor, MI
Current Record:	18-8 (7-1 Big Ten) #23
Baseball Program website:	Link
Players to watch:	Zach Putnam… he’ll get drafted high, no doubt. He’s hitting .323 with 25 rbis. On top of that, he leads the team (and 2nd in the Big Ten) with a 2.27 ERA in 5 starts. Nate Recknagel leads Big Blue in hitting (.400), homeruns (10), and rbis (31).
Team Fact:	Michigan leads the Big Ten with a 7-1 conference record. That said, Illinois and Michigan have identical overall records (18-8).

Illini baseball crush Illinois College by two touchdowns and a field goal

In the most uneven affair this season, the University of Illinois baseball team manhandled the Blueboys of Illinois College 17-0.

It started in the third when Craig Lutes scored on a double steal. That run would be the first of eight in that frame. Daniel Webb contributed a 3-run homerun to boost the score. Ironically, Webb’s homer was the only one of the high-scoring game.

The Illini weren’t done yet. They scored two in the fourth and fifth each. By the sixth, they, Hartleb was bringing in the reserves. In spite of that they broke out for another big inning when John Schlichter (who was playing third base today) cracked a 3-run double. Add one more run when Ryan Hastings scored on a bases-loaded walk and you have a 4-run innings and a 16-0 game.

The Illini added just one more in the seventh for a final score of 17-0.

The pitching staff had no problem with the Blueboy offense. And by “staff”, that is no exaggeration. No less than seven pitchers took the mound tonight (none pitching more than 2 innings) all doing a superb job. Combined, the Illini pitching gave up only 4 hits and 2 walks.

Big hitters tonight:

John Schlichter: 4 for 5, 3 doubles, 2 runs, 4 rbis (His first start in a while. He wanted to impress.)

Daniel Webb: 2 for 3, HR, run, 4 rbis

Mike Giller: 2 for 4, 2 runs, rbi (again, Giller made the most of a rare start)

The Illini stole five bases tonight. Craig Lutes swiped two in the third inning alone.

Congrats to the Illini! This is just the confidence builder we’ll need when we (weather permitting) take on Big Ten leader Michigan this weekend.

Go Illini!

Illinois vs Illinois (College)

Next Game:

	Game #26	Wed April 9 6pm
Record: 17-8	vs Illinois College	at Illinois Field, Champaign, IL

Don’t mean to sound like a broken record but the weather is playing a factor in Illinois’ schedule again. Tonight’s game against Bradley was canceled and will not be made up. Illinois will be playing an extra game against Illinois College on Wednesday, though. The game will take place here at Illinois Field at 6pm.

And I don’t mean to sound like a Debbie Downer but the forecast doesn’t look too good for this weekend for the series against Michigan.

Hoping for some sun.

Meanwhile, here’s the poop on IC…

Opponent:	Illinois College
Nickname:	Blueboys
Conference:	Midwest Conference
Head Coach:	Jay Eckhouse (7th year)
Hometown:	Jacksonville, IL
Current Record:	8-4
Baseball Program website:	Link
Team Fact:	The Blueboys were picked in the preseason coaches poll to win their division in the Midwest Conference.

Illinois Crush Hoosiers 18-8 to win series 3-1

Despite giving up the first three runs to Indiana in the first inning, Illinois came back with a vengeance to defeat the Indiana Hoosiers 18-8. The Monday win seals a 3-1 series victory against the Hoosiers for the weekend.

Wow, what a day Ryan Hastings had. He was 5 for 6 (his first career five-hit game) with a double. He scored 2 and drove in 3. Freshman catcher Aaron Johnson had a game to write home about. He was 3 for 6 and hit his first homerun of the season, well college career. That was good for 5 ribbies.

Starter Aaron Martin was a bit off today, giving up 8 runs in six innings. The way the Illini were driving in runs, it didn’t matter. He got the win anyway.

Next Game:

	Game #26	Tues April 8 6pm
Record: 17-8	vs Bradley University	at O’Brien Field, Peoria, IL

No rest for the Illini. Tomorrow, they head on over to Peoria to face the Braves of Bradley University. Look for a team that can hit but perhaps a little light on pitching. Their ERA is two full points higher than their opponents.

Meanwhile, the Illini are 17-8 and 6-2 in the Big 10. Realistically, that record may take a dip this weekend as they face the only team better than them in the standings, Michigan.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Here are the particulars on the Bradley Braves.

Opponent:	Bradley University
Nickname:	Braves
Conference:	Missouri Valley Conference
Head Coach:	Dewey Kalmer (29th year)
Hometown:	Peoria, IL
Current Record:	13-14
Baseball Program website:	Link
Players to watch:	Colby Luttrell, Dan Brewer, and Jim Clayton are not only 1-2-3 in hitting, they have a bit of pop, too.
Team Fact:	Bradley’s pitching coach is none other than Mike Dunne who was second (to Benito Santiago) in the MLB 1987 Rookie of the Year voting. Dunne pitched five years in the majors.

Go Illini!

Update: The Illini game against the Braves was canceled tonight due to weather. There will be no makeup game against them though their will be an extra game this Wednesday against Illinois College at Illinois Field.

Illini in never-say-die mode against Indiana

It seems Yogi was right. It ain’t over till it’s over. The Illini proved that today against the Hoosiers when they pulled out a ninth inning win.

Illinois had the lead early in Bloomington. They scored four runs in the first three innings and led 4-1 by the third inning. Indiana stepped up their attack and managed to make the score 7-4 by the seventh.

In the ninth, the good guys rallied and scored four runs they needed to pull ahead. Nick Stockwell singled and Kyle Hudson followed that up with his fourth hit of the day, a double. Joe Bonadonna got four straight balls, loading the bases. The Hoosier firstbaseman booted the ball hit by Brandon Wikoff scoring Stockwell and Hudson. Altobelli (who is slugging .559 for the season) doubled in Bonadonna to tie the game and Wikoff eventually scored on a sac fly.

Ben Reeser came in and pitched the bottom of the ninth for the save allowing just one hit.

In addition to his four hits, Hudson scored 3 runs and stole 2 bases. Daniel Webb homered in the second and was 3 for 4 with 2 rbis.

Tomorrow: It’s a double header against the Hoosiers. Stankiewicz and Shaw get the call.

Illinois-Indiana: Tale of two teams

Kyle Hudson takes third base on a fly ball in the game against St Louis.

Next Game:

	Game #22-25	Sat 4/5 12 pm Sun April 6 12pm DH Mon April 7 2pm
Record: 14-7	vs Indiana University	at Sembower Field, Bloomington, IN

Looks like after a one day delay, it’s game on for today for Illinois and Indiana. At the beginning of the baseball season, the baseball pundits had picked Indiana to end up close to the bottom of the conference. Well, they’re 13-9 now and playing strong baseball. I’ll give Brian DeCaussin from Big Ten Hardball his due. He was talking them up when I had him on Baseball Zealot Radio. On his review of Indiana, he wrote, “I think this Hoosiers squad should be better than last year’s. Maybe quite a bit better.”

Last year, the Illini swept the Hoosiers. We’ll need to work hard to duplicate that effort. They are in a pretty similar situation to Illinois. Predicted lower at the beginning of the season, got hot and now have something to prove.

Bloomington, IN is only an 1 1/2 hour- 2 hour away so my hope is there will be a large visitor fan contingent this weekend.

Go Illini!!

Opponent:	Indiana University
Nickname:	Hoosiers
Conference:	Big Ten
Head Coach:	Tracy Smith (3rd year)
Hometown:	Bloomington, IN
Current Record:	13-9
Baseball Program website:	Link
Players to watch:	What is it with catchers and the Big Ten? IU catcher Josh Phegley is hitting .420 and is 3rd in the Big Ten in hits.
Team Fact:	In the Big Ten, IU is third in ERA and second in hitting.

Busy Schedule

How these players get the chance to study and go to classes is beyond me. The Illini are in the midst of a intense stretch in their schedule. From March 29 to April 15, they will have played 16 games in 18 days.

Coming up

On Tuesday, Illinois goes to Bradley. Then next weekend, big bad Michigan comes to Illinois Field.

Illinois-Indiana series pushed back a day

Yes, the weather is still playing a factor in Big Ten play. The Illini series will be delayed one day because of this.

Due to heavy rains in Bloomington, Indiana, the four game set will begin with a Saturday game. There will be a Sunday doubleheader and finally a Monday 2pm game.

I’ll do a review later tonight.

Illinois pitchers take no-hitter into the 9th; defeat St Louis 9-2

This will teach me to leave a game early…

I got to the park early today so I could see the boys practice.

The game had a auspicious beginning as starter Nick Chmielewski walked the bases loaded in the first. To his credit, he got out of that jam.

Unfortunately for reasons beyond my control, I had to leave early. But not before seeing, Dom Altobelli crack a homer to left center. That made it 3-0 Illini.

But boy oh boy, I sure wish I had stayed. I had 1400AM on listening to the game. Going into the ninth inning, the Illini pitching (four of them at that point) had yet to give up a hit.

But it was not meant to be. With Ben Reeser on the hill, the no-hitter was broken up by St Louis’ leadoff man J.D. Dunn with 0 outs in the ninth. St Louis went on to score two runs but that was no match for Illinois’ 9 tallies.

Nick Stockwell led off the second with a homer his second of the season. He was 2 for 4 with 2 rbis. Kyle Hudson was 2 for 5 with 2 runs ensuring that he would stay at the .400 mark. He swiped 3 bases increasing his total to 15.

Final Score: Illinois 9 St Louis 2

I was able to get some photos taken. You can see them here. Most of them are before the game.

Way to go, Illini!

Illinois hosts St Louis for their "official" home opener April 2

…which means this time, you’ll have to pay to get in. But first…

At this moment

Illinois is leading Southern Illinois in the top of 8th, 5-2. Daniel Webb has gone 3 for 4. Brandon Wikoff and Ryan Hastings both have two hits. Wikoff came into game hitting .397 so he may have cracked the .400 mark joining Kyle Hudson.

Billy Barrett, who so far this season allowed 13 ER in 6 1/3 innings did a solid job. He held the Salukis to two runs in six innings.

Go Illini!

Next Game:

	Game #21	Tues 4/2 6:05pm
Record: 13-7	vs University of St Louis	at Illinois Field, Champaign, IL

On Wednesday, Illinois has their first (scheduled) home game against the University of St Louis Billikens. We had two makeup games last week at Illinois Field.

Billiken? What’s a Billiken? Other than the fact that it’s a good luck figure, it’s a debated issue and there are multiple versions of the story. I won’t go into it here but you can read about it at SLU’s website.

If you can make it out for the game, rumor has it they will be giving out schedule magnets. Woo hoo!

See you at the ballpark!

Opponent:	University of St Louis
Nickname:	Billikens
Conference:	Atlantic 10 Conference
Head Coach:	Darin Hendrickson (1st year)
Hometown:	St Louis
Current Record:	11-12
Baseball Program website:	Link
Players to watch:	IF Mike Beal is hitting .344 and Tom Pinnell has 13 rbis with his .321 average.
Team Fact:	Coach Darin Hendrickson is an alum of SIU Edwardsville.

Update: Illinois’ Mike Sterk pitched the last 3 innings to get the save. Illinois beats Southern Illinois 5-2!