Tomorrow is Opening Day, Illini Fans!

Fightingillini.com has their weekend preview up now.  This week’s preview includes a bonus video of an interview of Willie Argo just before getting on the team bus before heading down to Florida.  Willie looks spiffy wearing a red orange tie (you know that’s coming off as soon as he’s on the bus).

Here’s the posted probable roster for the three games for the tournament.  The starting nine for the Illini are:

C    Adam Davis
1B    Matt Dittman
2B    Justin Parr
SS    Josh Parr
3B    Brandon Hohl
LF    Casey McMurray
CF    Willie Argo
RF    Pete Cappetta
DH    Thomas Shelton

So the Parr brothers are in the middle infield and Pete Cappetta is playing right field.  I’m glad.  Pete will contribute more at the plate when he’s playing there.  Thomas Shelton is at DH and I’d like to see him get his confidence up.  He saw the ball real well in some of the 2010 games. 

Other than that, it’s pretty much the same lineup from last year. 

The coaches are trying something new which I guess isn’t anything new for pre-conference baseball.  We’re going to see a couple pitchers this weekend who have never started a game in their college career.  Friday night though, it’s Kevin Johnson who we saw plenty last year.  While he ended with a 5.23 ERA, Johnson went 5-2 for 2010 and showed flashes of brilliance. 

Saturday’s probable starter against Cincinnati is John Anderson (left).  John is one of my favorite pitchers because he’s a Cubs fan.  But yeah, I think he’s got some good stuff, too.  He’s one of those pitchers that when he’s on, he’s really on.  He’s been exclusively used as a reliever until now.

Another reliever being given his first start is Corey Kimes (right).  Kimes had good stuff in limited time for the Illini in 2010 and had even better stuff for the Springfield Sliders over the summer.  Personally, I hope the Illini aren’t  cheating themselves out of the best closer on the team.  But again, this is the early season and best time to experiment. 

Don’t forget, you can watch Sunday’s noon game against West Virginia on CollegeBaseball360.com.  Of course,  for the others, you can follow the other two on Gametracker via Fightingillini.com’s Schedule page. 

Good Luck, Illini!