In lieu of the usual spring break trip in Florida which has been done in years past, the Illinois baseball will be taking a shortened spring trip down in southern Illinois. The good news? No crazy “eight games in seven days” schedule. This time they’ll be playing a four game schedule in four days. With one exception, all of the games will take place at Southern Illinois University’s home park Abe Martin Field. The exception is the first game which will be played at Rent One Park. That is the home of the independent minor league team, Southern Illinois Miners.
Traveling to Carbondale may not be as sexy as Florida but with all the traveling the guys do, I’m sure they won’t mind the break.
Here’s the weekend preview from fightingillini.com. Kevin Johnson and John Anderson are scheduled for the first two games. The last two are TBA.
Northern Illinois Huskies |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 17, 2011 | 7:30 pm ct | |||
| Rent One Park | Marion, IL | |||
| March 18, 2011 | 11:00 am ct | |||
| Abe Martin Field | Carbondale, IL | |||
| Program website link | Record | 2-10 (6th in West MAC) | ||
| Head Coach: | Ed Mathey | Key Player: | Jamison Wells (.315, 8 rbis) | |
The Huskies are off to a rough start going 2-10 so far. They HAVE won their last two games though so momentum is on their side. One of those wins, by the way, is against St Louis who Illinois will face on Saturday.
St Louis Billikens |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 19, 2011 | 11:00 am ct | |||
| Abe Martin Field | Carbondale, IL | |||
| Program website link | Record | 11-5 (2nd in A-10) | ||
| Head Coach: | Darin Hendrickson | Key Player: | Mike Levine (.373, 11 rbis) | |
The Billikens are faring better than the Huskies with a 11-5 record. Their pitching has a lot to do with that it seems. Their ERA is a full two points lower than their opponents (3.02 to 5.25).
Offensively, Mike Levine, Nick Becker and Jordan Hammerman (a name made for baseball) are players to watch out for.
Southern Illinois Salukis |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 20, 2011 | 2:30 pm ct | |||
| Abe Martin Field | Carbondale, IL | |||
| Program website link | Record | 4-11 (8th in MVC) | ||
| Head Coach: | Ken Henderson | Key Player: | Jordan Sivertsen (.339, 14 rbis) | |
Host Southern Illinois have a 4-11 record and are on a six game losing streak but when it comes to the SIU-UI rivalry, all bets are off. Coach Hartleb’s alma mater will always play their best when facing us.
Despite their record, the Salukis have offensive threats to watch. Chris Murphy is hitting at a .391 pace and outfielder Jordan Sivertsen leads the team in homers, rbis and hits.
Random Ramblings
I’ve learned by talking to players throughout the years that there is no such thing as a “sure thing” when it comes to a team you can beat. This has been proven in the past as one weekend we will beat a team like Michigan and the following midweek, we will lose to a non-conference team with a losing record.
So I won’t gleefully gloat over our opponents’ records and think we’ll have it easy. I know better. But I do think it’s a good time for our players to play to their potential and gain some confidence.
On a another note, if any of you are interested in sharing your photos from Florida games so that everyone can see them (and you are a member of Facebook), feel free to upload them to Illinois Baseball Report’s Facebook page. It would be nice to see some of the action shots everyone took!
If you do, please label them with the date of the game and Illinois’ opponent plus any other relevant information. Thanks!!
Let’s go Illini!