Tag: UI baseball photos

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 Illinois baseball team did not give up despite being down by seven runs in the bottom of the fifth. They kept pecking away at the lead until finally the game was theirs. Kudos to all of the team members for a job well done against a very tough Michigan State team.

With the Illini down 7-0 in the bottom of the fifth, it was Nick Stockwell who gave us some hope. With two out, two runners on and a two strike count, Stockwell cranked a ball over the left field fence that hit the scoreboard. That made it 7-3 MSU.

Lars Davis was key to the comeback with 2 homeruns and 3 rbis

A homerun by Lars Davis and a rbi single by Shawn Roof scoring Mike Rohde in the bottom of the sixth made it 7-5. In the seventh, a base hit by Kyle Hudson, a triple by Brandon Wikoff and yes, another home run by Lars Davis made it 8-7 which end up the final score.

Reliever Jake Toohey allowed no runs in 4 1/3 IP

But, wait a minute, what were the Spartans doing all this time? Well, I’m not going any further in this article without talking about Jake Toohey, Illinois’ stopper in the bullpen, and his role in this game. Sunday, Toohey redefined the definition of a closer as he came in with two outs in the fifth… and closed the game out for the Illini. For the record, he scattered 5 hits and 3 walks over 4 1/3 innings and allowed NO runs for the win. Ice that arm, Jake. We’re going to need it in the tournament.

Yes, the tournament. That sounds so sweet.

The Big Ten tournament starts in three days. The boys have a practice day in Ann Arbor on Tuesday.

And I already have my train ticket reserved.

Go Illini!!

By the way, here are the photos I took at Sunday’s game.

Game Two’s scoreboard says it all

It wasn’t a good day for Illinois baseball. They lost both games to the Michigan State Spartans and it wasn’t really close. They were outscored 23-7 for the two games. I hope Coach Hartleb has some good words of wisdom for boys in Orange and Blue.

They need to win tomorrow to get a berth in the Big Ten tournament. But I’m feeling good about it. So good that I made my train reservation for Ann Arbor (it looks like the Big Ten tournament will be hosted by Michigan). So go get ’em, guys!

Brandon Wikoff welcomes Lars Davis at home plate after Davis’ homer in the first game…

…then Mike Rohde follows up with one of his own.

The one big highlight for our side were back-to-back homers by Lars Davis and Mike Rohde in the sixth inning of the first game which accounted for the only runs the Illini scored in that game.

Coach Hartleb debates the ump’s call of safe on Eric Roof’s inside-the-park homer

Eric Roof (yes, Shawn’s brother) who was 0 for 4 in the Illini’s win Friday got his hitting shoes on today. In the first game, he hit a deep line drive to center all the way to the wall. Centerfielder Kyle Hudson went for it and we all heard a THUD! as he hit the wall. Roof circled the bases as Ryan Snowden who was playing left picked up the ball and threw it in. The relay throw made it to the plate in time for a play. Whether or not, you thought Eric Roof was out depended on where your loyalties lie but important
thing was the man in blue said he was safe. Inside the park home run for Roof, his first homer of the season. You can be sure there were a lot a family members cheering for him then.

Don’t worry, folks. Hud’s ok now.

Meanwhile, Kyle Hudson was lying on ground in center. He eventually got up and stayed in the game. I talked to him between games and he said he just got knocked around a bit but nowhere special and felt fine.

Speaking of getting knocked around, Mike Rohde experienced pain in his shoulder when reaching up for a grounder in game two and had to be taken to the trainer’s room. He eventually came out and I talked to him briefly. He said he should be good for Sunday’s game. Nick Stockwell filled in at first for the remainder of the game and actually made some pretty decent plays.

Last I checked, the starters have not been announced.

I took some photos. Take a look.

Go Illini!!

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 like the players were too.

Eric Roof

The Roof family were all decked out in these cool T-shirts

Eric Roof got the start tonight at third base for MSU. He is the younger brother of Shawn Roof. Of the 812 in attendance tonight, half must have been related to the Roofs. A lot of them were wearing this neat T-shirt made this occasion. I introduced myself to one of the Roof clan and asked permission to take a photo of the shirt. I asked who he was rooting for. Both of them.

Good answer.

Tanner Roark got the start tonight. Roark has had really good luck opening up against Big Ten weekends but when he allowed 6 hits and 4 runs in two innings, I started to wonder whether Hartleb would pull him. Well, there’s a reason Hartleb is the manager and I’m just a two-bit blogger. Roark settled down and didn’t allow a run after that.

Mike Rohde’s homerun made it a whole new ballgame

Meanwhile, the offense had some trouble getting it going until they got their first hit in the 3rd inning. And what a hit it was! With two on, Mike Rohde toasted a ball over the centerfield wall and with one swing got the team within one run. Suddenly, it was a new ballgame.

The Illini scored an unearned run in the fifth and another one in the sixth on a Kyle Hudson triple putting the them ahead.

MSU pitcher Chris Cullen is in pain after taking a line drive off the foot

In the eighth, up by a run with Joe Bonadonna on third, Hudson hit a go-backer that hit MSU pitcher Chris Cullen on the foot. Hudson was safe and Bonadonna scored the insurance run. More importantly, the ball to Cullen’s foot was enough to take him out. Someone next to me said they heard the ball hit the foot and it was rather loud. Cullen was on the ground for several minutes before being helped to the training room. Here’s hoping it’s not serious.

That insurance run was pretty valuable. Turns out the Illini needed to cash it in. Jake Toohey, who struck out the batter to get out of a jam in the top of the eighth, gave up a double and a hit bringing MSU within one run. He then forced a groundout for the save.

Illini win 6-5!!

After the game, Shawn Roof ran past me and I extended my forefinger and yelled “One more!” in reference to the one win they need to clinch a berth in the Big Ten tournament. As expected, Roof wasn’t going to have any of that. “Uh-uh.” He put up three fingers. “Three more.”

As always, more of my photos are at The Baseball Zealot Photo Gallery.

What a lovely day it was for a ballgame! Of course it would have been nicer had we not missed the first few innings because I forgot my Go Illini card at home.

Reliever Brian Long

By the time we got there Brian Long had things well in hand. He was lights out in relief allowing just one hit over five innings. It was his first win of the season.

But what we missed in the first was a two-out rally by the heart of the order that scored three Illini runs. That rally included a Shawn Roof HBP rbi and a two run base knock by Ryan Hastings.

Indiana never led after that despite scoring two in the the third. Illinois managed to put four more runs on the board including a 3 run fifth inning started by a Ryan Snowden double.

Lars Davis was 2 for 4 with 2 runs and a rbi. Omar Kadir came in to pitch a perfect ninth. Final score 7-2.

SAFE!

With the ball coming in and Joe Bonadonna kicking up dirt, this is pretty awesome shot. I can’t take credit for it though. My 10-year son who is a budding photographer took it. I gave him the camera for a while so a lot of the shots (mostly in the middle) you will see in this week’s edition of The Baseball Zealot Photo Gallery are his. Of course, of all the photos taken between us, he would be the one to take the money shot.

By the way, nice hustle by Bonadonna. The ball trickled out to the outfield due an errant throw but it didn’t go far. Bonadonna took advantage of it and was safe at third.

A little Fun after the Win

Today kids in the stadium took part in an annual tradition. They got to play a little wiffleball with the players. It’s one of the coolest promotions they do, I think and the kids (an the players, too I bet) have a blast. My kids did it. My little girl took her swing ran the bases then decided that secondbase was the place for her and set herself up right there to the right of the base.

Thanks to the program for doing this.

I introduce Shawn Roof to the Missus

Shortstop Shawn Roof is always kind enough to come over and say hi when he has time. Today he came over after the game so I introduced him to my wife.

He immediately asked about my son and asked if he was ok. We assured him he was ok.

I asked him about the team’s chances for the tournament. He told me that since Michigan State had swept the Wildcats, they certainly aren’t out of it yet. I asked about his brother remembering that he has a brother who is a Spartan baseball player. His name his Eric and plays 3B and catcher (someone to watch next weekend folks).

I wished him good luck for the coming weekend. My wife said “He is such a polite man. I’m touched he asked about our son”

I’m touched he reads my blog. ;-)

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 quick 3 runs in the first to the Hoosiers, Roark settled down and pitched quite effectively.

Shawn Roof celebrates with Kyle Hudson after he scores during Illinois’ 4 run rally in the 6th

Down 4-2, the Illini put together a four-run rally in the bottom of sixth which put them ahead for good. Jake Toohey came with 2 out in the 8th and pitched zeroes with 2 K’s for the save. The Illini win it 6-5!

DH Daniel Webb put up some good numbers going 3-4 with a run, a double and 2 rbis.

The game wasn’t without its dramatics especially for the Zealot family. My 10 year old son took a Kyle Hudson foul ball on the noggin. My 7 year old daughter was heads up and recovered the ball. Me ‘n Mrs. Zealot took the kiddo to the ambulance where they were nice enough to give him an ice pack.

Don’t worry, folks. I think he’s ok, now.

Double the fun tomorrow with a doubleheader against Indiana at 3pm at Illinois Field.

I took some photos (mostly before the game). You can see them at The Baseball Zealot’s Photo Gallery

Followup:

This quote just came out from Coach Hartleb regarding Tanner Roark’s performance and specifically the first inning when he gave up 3 runs (one earned):

“If you look at Tanner’s first inning, it was a good inning for him, we just didn’t play any defense at all,” Hartleb said. “The thing with Tanner is he didn’t let any of that stuff bother him. After we made the three errors in that inning, he just kept throwing strikes, staying down in the zone and he kept his composure.”

Well said. With the three runs Indiana scored in the first, it was easy to overlook Roark’s effort.

And I can’t forget this. With a steal of thirdbase in the sixth inning, Shawn Roof broke the single season record for stolen bases with 36. The swipe was key, too. He then scored on a sacrifice fly.

…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!!