Tuesday night, the Illini baseball team will take on the Missouri Tigers in the Battle at Busch in St Louis. This will be the second annual ‘Battle’- Illinois lost to the Tigers in a hard fought 7-4 match in 2010. I went to the game and though the good guys didn’t win, it was quite an event (here’s the writeup and photos).
No doubt, Illinois will be looking to exact some revenge at Missouri this year. I think they have a good chance, too.
Missouri Tigers |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 29, 2011 | 6:30 pm ct | |||
| Busch Stadium | St Louis, MO | |||
| Program website link | Record | 12-12 (1-1 in the Big 12) | ||
| Head Coach: | Tim Jamieson | Key Player: | Jonah Schmidt (15 rbis) | |
Interestingly, Missouri had their Saturday and Sunday games against Oklahoma U cancelled just like the Illini.
This is Tim Jamieson’s 17th year as Mizzou’s baseball coach so he knows a thing a two about baseballin’. This year, the Tigers are even at 12-12 so far. Their stats show the team to be pretty even with their opponents (BA .277 to .284 and ERA 4.60 to 4.40). In other words, they are a going to be a competitive team but a team that can be beat.
Tiger outfielder Jonah Schmidt seems to be the guy to watch. He only has two homeruns but leads the team in rbis and hits at a .311 pace.
Random Ramblings
Unfortunately, I’m not going to make the Battle at Busch game this year. It’s a busy week and with the bus trip falling through, it won’t be in the works.
If others do happen to get good photos and want to share them, you can let me know and I can post them here. Or if you’re a member of Facebook, just upload them to Illinois Baseball Report’s Facebook page. I’m sure all of us who won’t be there would love to see them.
Also, the News Gazette had a few good articles on Illini baseball in the past two days worth mentioning. Here’s their take on Illinois’ victory against Indiana State Friday. They also talked to a few of a players about the new bats the NCAA Division I are now using.
Let’s go Illini!