The Stetson Invitational is over and the UI baseball team is already 0-3 for the season. It just seemed like a case of missed opportunities and bad timing. On Saturday, they held South Florida to 4 runs but were only able to score 2.
On the other hand, the bats came alive on Sunday and they exploded for 13 runs. Sure enough, opponent West Carolina managed to score 14. Those runs were mostly due to the Illini pitchers’ control problems. All told, they gave up seven walks and six (yes, six) hit batsmen.
Trying to look on the bright side, Lars Davis who was playing for the Illini for the first time, went 4-5 for the weekend with 4 ribbies. This is surely a good sign as he has very big shoes to fill. Chris Robinson was the Illini catcher who graduated last year and is currently in the Detroit Tigers’ farm system (fantasy leaguers, keep an eye on him… he’s good!). If he can begin to fill the huge gap left by Robbie, that can only be a good thing.
For the weekend, Coach Hartleb said:
“Defensively, we have a lot of guys playing new positions, and they’re going to have to settle in as we go,” Hartleb said. “As far as the pitching goes, we have to limit the number of guys we put on base. It’s disappointing that we gave so many free passes with the big lead we had.”
That’s true to the point of stating the obvious. I’m sure he had more pointed observations to make in the locker room.
Chin up, guys! There’s a whole season ahead of you.