Thoughts on the Penn St series etc:
Boy, that was a rough and wild ride. A total of 92 runs were scored by both teams for the four games. A total of 49 were scored by the Illini. The funny thing is that they did with only two homeruns (Hastings and Cappetta).
But the important thing is we came out of it with at least a split and the Illini maintained their third place spot in the Big Ten, precarious as that might be. After Michigan and Purdue, one game separates four teams right now.
Casey McMurray came out the series with his first Big Ten Co-Player of the Week award.
Even after missing a couple games last week, Kyle Hudson is tied for second nationally in stolen bases and only one behind the top spot.
To say nothing of their hitting. Their stats speak for themselves. Keep it up, guys!
And on we go!
Next Game:
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Game #42 |
Tues 4/29 6:05pm |
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Record: 25-16 11-9 Big Ten |
vs Southern Illinois University |
at Illinois Field, Champaign, IL |
Assuming the rains don’t chase us away, we’ll be taking on the Salukis of Southern Illinois on Tuesday. If I’m not mistaken, this is the only time that we play the same team on separate occasions. Illinois took them on at their place on April Fool’s Day and won 5-2.
| Opponent: | Southern Illinois University |
| Nickname: | Salukis |
| Conference: | Missouri Valley Conference |
| Head Coach: | Dan Callahan (14th year) |
| Hometown: | Carbondale, IL |
| Current Record: | 23-18 (6-9 MVC) |
| Baseball Program website: | Link |
| Players to watch: | C Mark Kelly leads the team with a .331 average, 35 rbis and 29 runs. Tyler Bullock is hitting only .232 but leads the team with 6 homers. |
| Team Fact: | SIU has outpitched their opponents with a 4.56 ERA (compared to their opponents’ 4.79 ERA). |