Senior Kevin Johnson will test his mettle against 6-12 Nebraska Friday
On Friday, those of us fans in the Champaign-Urbana area will finally get to see the Illini Baseball team. It’s been a long wait but the home opener is almost here! Second place Illinois (13-4) will host the Nebraska Cornhuskers (6-12) for three games. Yes, not only is this the home opener but it’s also the Big Ten opener as well.
Coach Hartleb is going with the veterans for the conference opener. Senior Kevin Johnson (3-1) is pitching on Friday and sophomore John Kravetz (2-0) is scheduled to be on the mound for Saturday. No one is tabbed for Sunday yet. Part of me is wondering if that is because of the impending weather and the weakening chances that game might happen.
Illinois Field |
Champaign, IL |
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Fri. March 22 4:05 pm CT Sat. March 23 3:05 pm CT |
vs |
Nebraska |
Don’t be fooled by the ‘Huskers 6-12 record. They’ve had as tough of a schedule as I’ve seen. This week, they’ve played #8 Cal State Fullerton for the fourth time this season. They’ve also played big name teams like UC Irvine, Texas, and USC. So their less than stellar record can be slightly misleading.
Another significant stat regarding Nebraska: They’re 6-0 at home. While that’s not applicable for this weekend’s series, it doesn’t bode well for all other Big Ten teams looking to gain an advantage on the Cornhuskers during the Big Ten season.
Any Nebraska baseball stat I throw out is going to skewed because of their ranked opponents, I realize that. Their opponents’ ERA has been a miniscule 2.47, right? That said, the ‘Huskers haven’t showed a whole lot of power this season. As of Tuesday, they have just four homers and a slugging percentage of .298.
Their pitching staff has a few arms that have shown some promise for 2013 but were victims of hard luck pitching. Starter Christian DeLeon and relievers Aaron Bummer and Dylan Vogt all sport ERAs under 2.85 but have a combined record of 2-6. Starter Ryan Hander (0-2) has shown he can throw hard. He has 19 strikeouts in 22 1/3 innings.
The Cornhuskers are coached by former MLB firstbaseman Darin Erstad. In his first year as head coach in 2012, Erstad brought the Nebraska to the postseason for the first time in three years.
Random Ramblings
FightingIllini.com notes that this year’s 13-4 start by the Illini is the best start by a UI baseball team since 1998. That year, the team began the year 13-1.
Who was on that team? Players like Dusty Rhodes who scored 62 runs that year and D.J. Svihlik who drove him home with the help of 15 homeruns. Starting pitcher Brett Weber sported a 1.52 ERA. Jason Anderson (who was last year’s volunteer assistant coach) was just a freshman but was already showing promise and was 6-0 against Big Ten teams.
A quick note: Illinois Baseball conference games as a general rule will be broadcasted by AM-1400 WDWS throughout the 2013 season. This Friday’s game will not, however. Saturday and Sunday’s game will be broadcasted as normal.
Illinois announced home game promotions for the 2013 season Wednesday. This includes the very popular Bleacher Bum Barbeque which will be held on April 14th against Purdue.
Finally, here are some photos Dewi Krug took during last weekend’s series against SIU.
Great photos!
See you at the ballpark!!