Josh Parr and company will try to make it five straight Friday afternoon
Now it’s for real. Throw everything else out the window. These games count.
Illinois baseball goes back east this weekend to Penn State for the 2011 Big Ten opener. After opening the season 4-10, they’re now riding a four game winning streak since their win against St Louis almost two weeks ago. Is this the new Illini? I hope so. Their 14-2 win against a pretty good Illinois State squad shows they just might be for real.
Fightingillini.com has their weekend preview up. Live audio will be available from their site as will live stats on Gametracker.
Penn State Nittany Lions |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 1, 2011 | 2:35 pm ct | |||
| April 2, 2011 | 1:05 pm ct | |||
| April 1, 2011 | 12:05 pm ct | |||
| Medlar Field at Lubrano Park | University Park, PA | |||
| Program website link | Record | 15-7 (2nd in the Big Ten) | ||
| Head Coach: | Robbie Wine | Key Player: | Jordan Steranka (.348, 5 hr, 23 rbi) | |
This year’s Penn State team has a good offense (over 5.8 runs per game) and it’s resulted in a 15-7 record up till this point. Their pitchers have allowed only 36 extra base hits in 22 games (compared to the offense’s 71).
I don’t know if the Nits have had the kind of schedule that Illinois has had in early 2011 but those are still good numbers. Players to watch for are Steranka, junior OF Sean Deegan who leads the team in hitting (.362), and starter Steven Hill who is 3-1 with a 2.36 ERA.
Don’t count out the tenth man here either. If the fans are anything like they were the last time I saw them, they play a big role in a home game.
Random Ramblings
I don’t know about any of you Illini fans but I am psyched about the team 8-10 record notwithstanding. I’ve seen them in action for two games at Illinois Field and all I’ve seen is a team that is clicking. Perhaps it was just an issue of getting the timing just right and executing as a team. I’m excited as we enter the conference season.
Two stat points: fightingillini.com says that the team is 7-0 when out hitting their opponent. On a related note, it also notes that our starting pitchers are a bit stingy in allowing hits. Together, Johnson and Anderson have given up less than one hit per inning (60 in 62 2/3). That’s a good combination (if the errors and walks don’t kill us).
Let’s go Illini!