Tag: Illinois baseball

…they’re going to need it for this coming weekend’s series against ranked Michigan.

It was an offensive display for the University of Illinois and a lack of fundamentals on defense for Greenville. Either way you look at it, Illinois crushed them 16-1.

There was no doubt from the beginning as the Illini scored 6 in the first batting around in the order. Add three more runs in the second inning and well, the game was pretty much over by then.

Joe Bonadonna legs it toward third base

Five Illini had 2 or more hits with Ryan Hastings going 4 for 5. DH Lars Davis went 2 for 3 with 3 runs and 3 rbis.

Coach Hartleb used the opportunity to have his pitchers see some action. Starter Aaron Martin came out after four innings and by the end of the game, six pitchers saw time on the mound against Greenville.

I took some photos. You can see them at The Baseball Zealot’s Photo Gallery

The win was great but the real story is the upcoming series against first place Michigan this weekend. It’s important because the season it winding down and the Big Ten tournament is approaching. As it stands now, the Illini are in sixth place, the last qualifying spot to enter the tourney. They are only one game ahead of Purdue. Even a split against powerhouse Michigan would, in my opinion, be a moral victory and would keep the Illini in place.

Lars Davis came over to chat about the upcoming Michigan series

Before the game, I called Lars Davis over and he was nice enough to come over to chat for a few minutes. He had a positive outlook for the upcoming series and was hoping to win a couple (maybe more) from them. I told him I thought he was having a fantastic year and mentioned that he was second in the batting race to Mike Mee. He acknowledged that he knew that but didn’t elaborate.

In hindsight, I probably should have phrased that differently. Lars, I meant that in a good way.

Later, Shawn Roof came by my usual post at the left field fence and said hi. I mentioned the Michigan series and he said he was ready to “take it to ’em!”

I like how these Illini players approach the game. You can ask them about a second rate non-conference school and they’ll talk very cautiously about them saying that you can never be too careful about some of these teams. Then they’ll bring up a game from the past where they played a team that they were “supposed” to beat but somehow they lost. So they can never be too careful. Case in point Robert Morris College who they beat by a slim 4-3 margin this year.

Then you bring up ranked, first place Michigan and they have all kinds of positive vibes and and feel they can take on the world.

I like that attitude.

Here’s a summary for this weekend’s series against Michigan from the Fighting Illini website

Go Illini!!

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 IP, 1 H) and Jake Toohey (1 IP, 0 H). No Illini pitcher allowed a walk.

Ryan Snowden scores a run during Illinois’ 5-run rally in the 6th inning

Panther pitcher Alex Guttosch looked pretty good until the 6th inning when Illinois put together a 5-run rally. For the game, six players had multiple hit games including Kyle Hudson who went 3 for 3 with a run, an rbi.

Illinois’ defense was on top of things, too. The first two innings, Eastern got a man on but both were quickly erased by a 6-4-3. As a matter of fact, despite four hits by Eastern, Illinois pitchers faced only one hitter over the minimum over the course of the game.

The win gives Illinois an overall winning record (18-17, 7-7 conference). Tonight they play Blackburn College. I had a friend stay with me a few days ago who grew up near Blackburn. He says it has (had?) an enrollment of around 800 so I don’t expect much of a battle. Then again, I felt the same thing about Robert Morris and they gave quite a fight.

I took some photos at the game against Eastern. You can see them at The Baseball Zealot’s Photo Gallery.

Update: University of Illinois defeated Blackburn Wednesday night by the score of 9-3. They got five good innings out of freshman pitcher Kevin Manson and Lars Davis continues his season long tear going 3 for 5.

Last night I went to the University of Illinois baseball game against Robert Morris with my friends Brando and Shawn.

Shawn Roof took some time to chat with us about ball and bat physics

Before the game, Brando and I went down to the left field fence to watch the guys warm up. Shawn Roof gave a wave and came on over. He shook our hands and chatted with us for a few minutes. I congratulated him on their big 18-4 win over Illinois State. He seemed pretty pumped about that. I asked if Robert Morris was going to be an easy win. He shook his head saying they’re taking every game seriously and Robert Morris would definitely not be a “cakewalk”.

Roof also mentioned my blog post about Ryan Hastings heating his bat over the space heater during the cold days. He says their IS a reason for doing this. Doing this, he says, affects how the ball comes off the bat when it is hit. Hmm.. the more you know.

Thanks to Shawn for taking a few minutes of his time before the game. As for Robert Morris not being a “cakewalk”, no truer words were spoken as last night’s game was a hard fought battle.

The Illini took a quick one run lead in the bottom of the 3rd and never relinquished it but Robert Morris kept scoring to make it close. By the end of six, it was 3-2 good guys but RM scored a run in the top of the seventh to tie it 3-3.

Five Pitches. One Run. Without a Ball Being Hit.

Shawn Roof led off the bottom of the 8th. Robert Morris pitcher Chris Murchek plunked Roof in the upper arm and Roof took his base. I leaned over to Brando and said, “Here he goes!”. And Roof stole second on the first pitch. Brando and I wondered to each other will batter Ryan Hastings bunt in this situation? In a lot of situations, it would make sense but Hastings has been good with the stick so I didn’t think he would. Hastings didn’t square for the next pitch, he took it for a strike.

The next pitch, though, he squared for the bunt and the thirdbaseman rushed to cover for the bunt. The key here is that the shortstop didn’t cover third and Roof was banking on that. He stole third easily.

The very next pitch Murchek threw a wild pitch and Roof scored what proved to be the winning run.

Nice hustle by Roof! And give a little credit to Hastings for the faux bunt to draw the thirdbaseman away from the base.

Brian Long came in to pitch a perfect 9th for the save.

Joe Mercurio made the most of his start at catcher

Other highlights: Lars Davis was DH last night which meant New York freshman Joe Mercurio donned the tools of ignorance. It seems to me, whenever Merc gets the chance to play, he makes the most of it. He was 2 for 4 with a double, run and a rbi.

Dom Altobelli (left) goofing off before the game. He got serious when it came to playing the hot corner.

Dom Altobelli was playing thirdbase. He had a hit and a run but he really impressed me with his defense. One grounder in particular that I had given up on he somehow came up with and whipped over to firstbaseman Mike Rohde for the out. He also snared a line drive which could have easily gone for extras.

Here are the photos I took during the game.

Coming up: The Illini are heading to Iowa for a weekend series.