Tag: Illinois baseball

When then wind is blowing out like this you’re going to expect a high scoring game.  In this case, it might contribute to bad weather.  In this case, rain which suspended that game in the eighth inning.  Friday’s game will be be picked up at 2pm Saturday to be followed by the regularly scheduled doubleheader.  It will be a loooong day for both teams.

The action so far

Daniel Webb rapping a 3-run double in the first

Up until the game was called, Penn State has rapped 15 hits and scored 11 runs.  Every Nittany Lion except one has scored a run and all but two has a rbi.

The funny thing is the Illini are still winning.  Through eight, Illinois 16 runs on 22 hits.  Six Illini have multi-hit games going.  The big stars of the game (so far) is DH Daniel Webb, Casey McMurray and John Schlichter.  Webb is 4 for 5 with two doubles and four rbis.  Freshman McMurray is 5 for 5 with 3 rbis.  Schlichter has hit two triples and a double and scored three times and drove in three runs.

Brandon Wikoff crossing home plate for a run.  Is PSU catcher Joe Blackburn really that tall?

I have to give Penn State (actually both teams) their due.  They were down 9-3 in the top of the sixth when their offense kicked in.  They managed to score three runs in the sixth and seventh and two in the eighth making it an interesting game again.  For Illinois’ part, sensing the urgency, responded by scoring three runs in the bottom of the sixth and four in the seventh.

Interestingly, with the wild wind blowing out, there has been only one homerun hit in the game so far.  That belongs to Lion Cory Wine, the coach’s kid, who knocked one in the second inning.

So as it stands in the bottom of the eighth, Illinois 16 Penn State 11

Meeting more people

It seems every home game I meet at least one more parent of an Illini parent.  This time it was Bill Wikoff, father of SS Brandon Wikoff.  I’ve seen Bill around plenty at home game shouting encouragements to the team but this is the first time I’ve gotten a chance to talk to him.

Gain One, Lose One

Hudson’s back!

One last note… the Illini uniform sure looked good on Kyle Hudson after seeing him not suit up because of the ankle injury the last few games.  So far, he’s 2 for 5 in this game.  His first at-bat was a grounder to the thirdbaseman which he tried to run out and definitely tested that ankle.

Unfortunately, Illinois will be without 3B Dom Altobelli for a while.  Dom injured himself late in the game against Western Illinois.  He said he got an MRI two days ago which shows a torn labrum.  He told me he just wants to get his strength back.  No real idea when he will get back but I’ll bet this will be a lot longer than a couple games.

Take care of that shoulder, Dom.

Photos of the game here.  I ran out of batteries midway through so I don’t have any after the sixth inning.  Sorry.

Go Illini!!!

Joe Bonadonna and Brandon Wikoff combined to go 9 for 10 in University of Illinois’ 10-2 win over Western Illinois University.  Bonadonna scored 4 times in the leadoff role.  Wikoff drove in four and scored twice.

Starter Nick Chmielewski pitched a solid game allowing two runs in five frames.  The Illinois bullpen was stellar with Wes Braun, Lee Zerrusen, Ben Reeser pitching four scoreless innings allowing only three hits.

I got a chance to meet Chmielewski’s father, Chris, who was down from Chicago to watch Nick pitch.  I was happy to hear that he has seen The Baseball Zealot already.  Also met Robin who has been an Illini baseball supporter for over 15 years.  Robin recognized my name from my bits on Eric Loy’s show on WDWS.

I took a few photos.  Here they are.

Personal note: It was rough evening.  First, I got to the game to the game late.  A half inning after I had a seizure.  I have epilepsy and this is nothing new to me.  I was fine after my seizure but I had to go with the EMTs and explain that to them which took about another inning I could have been watching the game.

I had the feeling the whole thing was pretty conspicuous when it happened but I didn’t realized how much so till after the game when a few of the the Illini players came up to me and made sure I was I was ok.  Anyway, thanks guys!  I’m fine.  Just a bit sore.  And thanks to Robin and Chris for their help.

Illinois didn’t look back after Aaron Johnson’s three-run HR in the 2nd

University of Illinois scored early and often against Illinois State in their 10-4 win Tuesday night.  Much of their offense came from catcher Aaron Johnson who was 3 for 4 with 4 rbis and 3 runs.

Johnson hit a three-run homerun in the second inning which made it 4-0 Illinois.  It was Johnson’s third dinger of the year.

Starter Billy Barrett was on his game tonight

Meanwhile, Billy Barrett was pitching a decent game.  His ERA before the game was 9+.  Never mind though, he held ISU to three hits in five innings giving up two runs.  In his new role in the bullpen, Mike Stankiewicz did well.  In four innings, he allowed just one earned run.

Despite being 0 for 5, Mike Giller scored a run, drove one in and stole a base.

Aaron Johnson wasn’t done.  He led off the 4th with a double and later scored on a ground out.  Illinois put together a small rally in the fifth inning sparked when Mike Giller ran out a fielding error by an ISU error.  Three hits by Ryan Hastings, Johnson, and Daniel Webb put two runs over the plate.

Daniel Webb, who by the way was playing right field tonight instead of his normal DH role, collected four hits for the game.  Dom Altobelli, Joe Bonadonna, Nick Stockwell and Casey McMurray also had multi-hit games.

Due to his ankle injury, Kyle Hudson didn’t suit up.  He did help out warming up the outfielders between innings.

For those wondering, Kyle Hudson did NOT play.  My guess is that Coach Hartleb didn’t want to take any risks in a midweek, non-conference game.  With Hudson’s absence in center, Illinois used Nick Stockwell in center, Dan Webb in right, and Mike Giller at DH.

Box score

More photos I took are here.

Next up: Western Illinois University Wednesday night at 6:30pm at Illinois Field.

Michigan defeated Illinois tonight 9-5.

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!

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!

Ryan Hastings slides in to score (Photo credit: Dylan Nelshoppen)

Once again, the Illini offense was on its game.  For the second time in three days (and third time this season), they scored fifteen runs.  Final score Illinois 15 Indiana State 4

By the time I got there in the fifth inning, the Illini were already ahead 10-0, already sealing the fate of the game it would seem.  Starter Aaron Martin had been pulled after pitching four scoreless innings and extending his consecutive scoreless innings streak to fourteen.

DH Daniel Webb went 2 for 3 today

Very similar to last year’s team, the players of this year’s squad seem to take turns being the hero.  Today, it was freshman Casey McMurray who had his first four hit game going 4 for 5 with a double and 3 runs and a rbi.  Joe Bonadonna cashed in 4 rbis with a 2 for 4 performance.

More photos at the Baseball Zealot Photo Gallery

Next up… Michigan State at East Lansing.

It was a chilly day for baseball but when the sun came out, it wasn’t so bad.  The wind blew straight out to center.  We were even treated to a smattering of snowflakes in the fifth inning which didn’t amount to anything.

Nonetheless, it was baseball and it was here in Urbana.  Judson University made the trip from Elgin, Illinois to help make up some gameage that was lost due to weather (for both teams it turns out).

Craig Lutes celebrates with teammates after hitting a homer in the fourth

Illinois had no trouble scoring on their new home turf.  They scored at least two runs each in the first four innings.  All told, they managed 20 hits for the game.  By the fifth inning, when it was 11-2, Coach Hartleb brought in the reserves so it was a good chance to see the whole team in action.

Kyle Hudson hustles toward third

Kyle Hudson who has been on fire, went 3 for 5 with 2 runs and 2 rbis.  That raises his batting average to .490!  Joe Bonadonna hit his first triple of the year and contributed 3 rbis for the game.  Maybe it’s me but I don’t think that will be his last triple of the season.

RF Craig Lutes hit the only homerun of the game, his second of the year.  That was a two-run shot in the fourth.  That shot was deep and long going over the centerfield wall.  For the game, he was 3 for 4 with 4 rbis.

Starter Mike Stankiewicz

With the big hit-fest going on, we can’t ignore the solid job that Mike Stankiewicz did off the mound.  Stanky allowed two runs in 5 innings.  He gave up 6 hits but only one walks.  Lee Zerrusen came in and pitched two scoreless innings in relief.

Boy, you gotta feel for Eagles’ starter Kyle Kobernus.  Eleven runs in four innings.  And 100 pitches.

Well, for a home opener it was definitely a way to get off to a good start.  it would have been nice to have more people in the stands but between the last minute scheduling, the 3pm game time, and the chilly weather, we probably couldn’t expect too much.

The win puts Illinois at 8-6 and in third place behind Ohio State and Michigan.

By the way… the Tuesday game with Indiana State has been postponed due to weather.  They are attempting to re-schedule the game.

There are more photos at the Baseball Zealot Photo Gallery.  Check them out!