In case you haven’t heard, this Friday is the 3rd annual Bleacher Bum Barbeque. In addition to a great Illinois-Ohio State baseball matchup, there will be free food, inflatable games for the kids, fireworks and presumably a lot of people. If you want to get in on the free grub, come by Illinois Field around 5pm. The baseball action will start around 6pm.
Of course, two more games are scheduled against the Buckeyes this weekend. So if you can’t make it out for the BB BBQ, you have a couple more options to show your support for the team. It’s a big weekend for the Illini so if you can, come on out for a game or two.
Ohio State Buckeyes |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 6, 2011 | 6:05 pm ct (5pm for food and fun!) | |||
| May 7, 2011 | 3:05 pm ct | |||
| May 8, 2011 | 1:05 pm ct | |||
| Illinois Field | Champaign, IL | |||
| Program website link | Record | 20-19 (9-6 in the Big Ten) | ||
| Head Coach: | Greg Beals | Key Player: | Drew Rucinski (5-1, 2.11 ERA) | |
Ohio State entered the Big Ten schedule with a 8-10 record but we all know that conference play is another beast. The Buckeyes have buckled down and since then have put up a 9-6 conference record which is good for third place all by themselves.
The good news for the Illini?? Ohio State hasn’t done so well away from Columbus. As of today, they have a pretty nasty 3-9 record when they don’t play at home.
I’ll give the Buckeyes some credit. They win when it counts. Overall, they’ve been outscored by their opponents (just barely at 224 vs 229). Conference stats show a different picture though with a 100-84 margin.
In any dimension, expect a fight from Ohio State.
Random Ramblings
This series is big if that hasn’t been said before. The fightingillini.com preview calls this weekend ‘piviotal’ and that about sums it up. At 8-7, Illinois is one game below Ohio State. This is the time of the season where teams fluctuate up and down so easily with just one three-game series.
A two win weekend would really put Illinois in a good spot right now.
There’s no doubt in my mind that Josh Parr had improved in the field since 2010 but I didn’t realize how much till the Illini preview pointed it out. He’s got only 5 errors so far in 2011 compared to 26 all last year.
See you at the Barbeque and let’s go Illini!