If you are looking for that one Illini baseball game to go to this year, THIS IS IT! Friday’s game and everything surrounding it, will be the college baseball event of the year on campus. The second annual Bleacher Bum Barbeque should promise to be a fun time so try to make it out. Last year’s affair was a lot of fun and was attended by a lot of fans. Let’s make break last year’s attendance record!
Friday’s game will begin at 6:05pm but show up at 5:00. That when the fun begins. Free food, giveaways, games, you name it.
And oh yeah, we get to watch baseball. Illinois plays Northwestern this weekend.
The weather was looking kinda iffy this weekend but with a little luck, there is a chance we might avoid it. Forecasts shows rains coming Friday evening and continuing till Saturday morning. Not good for the Illinois Marathon which is being held in town on Saturday morning but perhaps the Illinois-Northwestern series can avoid some wetness.
Here’s my take on the Northwestern Wildcats:
Northwestern Wildcats |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 30, 2010 | 6:05 pm ct | |||
| May 1, 2010 | 3:05 pm ct | |||
| May 2, 2010 | 3:05 pm ct | |||
| Illinois Field | Champaign, IL | |||
| Program website link | Record | 16-24 (Big Ten 7-5) | ||
| Head Coach: | Paul Stevens | Key player: | Chris Lashmet | |
All three games will be broadcasted on Big Ten Network’s web site via live streaming correction: it will be on their television network… even better.
Chris Lashmet’s numbers may not scream out at you (.294 BA) but he’s somehow been able to drive in 29 runs throughout the season. Something tells me it’s not luck, either.
Northwestern is 16-24 but has somehow caught fire or at least played well enough to to win seven of their first twelve conference games. In this crazy season, that’s good for a first place tie. Don’t get too excited, Cats fans… I’m hoping Illinois will take care of that. We’ve won our last five against them.
The Wildcats aren’t a power laden team. They’re opponents have out-homered them by a 2-1 margin. But they hold their own offensively, otherwise. They can run (35 steals) and do ok with the stick (.299 batting average).
In the pitching department, their ERA is 1.30 above their opponents’. That said, they have two or three guys in the pen who seem to have pretty good stuff so later innings might be troublesome. Eric Jokisch and Francis Brooke are their two big guys from the rotation.
FightingIllini.com’s take on this weekend.
See you at the ballpark!
Good Luck this weekend, Illini!!!
They have the 3rd best ERA in conference play. Some team you might be familiar with is last.
http://manyeyes.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/files/thumbnails/5ac05316-51b2-11df-849e-000255111976.wm.png
They’re also third in BA. You and them are battling it out for 8th place in slugging percentage.
http://manyeyes.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/files/thumbnails/48cbe176-51b1-11df-958c-000255111976.wm.png
Why yes, I did run some stats last week:
http://mgoblog.com/diaries/baseball-stat-watch-conference-midpoint
The conference ERA explains their 7-5 record then.
yeah, yeah.. last in ERA but first in GPA. :)
/got nothin