Two in a row! That’s the first time that’s happened this season but some reason, I don’t think it will be the last.
Looking at the recap and boxscore of today’s game against North Dakota State University Bison, it just seems that nothing could go wrong down in Winter Haven, Florida. Illinois got good pitching and they got good hitting in their 10-4 victory over NDSU. It was just a nice comfortable win with no surprises (well, bad surprises, at least) and that was just what the Illini needed. Well, it may not have felt THAT comfortable. The score was pretty close till the sixth inning and the offensive surge by the Illini didn’t really start till then.
Today’s starter Lee Zerrusen gave the Illini what they needed. A very solid start. He allowed only seven hits and one run in seven innings while striking out seven Bison batters. Big Z got into a bit of trouble in the third with some control problems but he got out of jam with NDSU only scoring one run. Zerrusen got the win today, his second of the season.
By the numbers |
|
|---|---|
| 8 for 15 | The combined line for Illinois’ sixth through ninth hitters today |
| 34 | Most pitches thrown by one NDSU pitcher today. Ironically, it was the pitcher who pitched the last two innings. |
| 5.46 | The Illini team ERA. This is the first time in recent memory that it was below the opponent’s team ERA (now 5.53) |
Yesterday against Akron, the top of the order provided all the offense. It was quite the opposite today. #6 hitter Brandon Hohl, #8 hitter Davis Hendrickson and #9 hitter Josh Parr hit for a combined 8 for 13 and 8 rbis. It was nice to see freshman outfielder Hendrickson do his best to prove himself in his first start of the 2010 season. Not only did he get three hits (including a double) but he drove in three runs too.
Josh Parr (right) has not been himself during the first part of 2010, hitting below .200. Maybe today’s game is a sign of things to come. Parr also drove in three runs behind two hits. Parr’s speed is up to par… he also stole 2 bases.
Those three weren’t the only ones providing the oomph behind the Illini offense. Casey McMurray went 1 for 2 and scored three runs. Don’t look now but Mac is second on the team behind Matt Dittman in hitting with a .390 average.
As for Dittman, he went 2 for 4 with his 5th double of the year also driving in 2 runs.
Random Ramblings
I just noticed that in pitcher John Anderson’s bio, it lists Ernie Banks as his favorite athlete. He’s not the only one. I think I’ll have to root for John that much more now.
I’m sure you local people have all heard about the fan bus that The Dugout Club is sponsoring for the April 7th game at Busch Stadium against Missouri. I encourage you to come if you’re interested. I think it will be a lot of fun.
Next up
Tomorrow is a late afternoon game against the Dartmouth Big Green. This will be the first of two matchups between the two teams during this year’s Spring Trip.
We have a five game winning streak against Dartmouth but it’s been three years since we’ve played them. Another particular factor, Dartmouth came into this week having played only three games so the season is still quite young for them relatively speaking.