Opposing pitchers must get unnerved by Jordan Parr’s menacing stare
Illinois travels to Bloomington, Indiana to face the #16 Hoosiers who are one the toughest Big Ten Baseball teams I have seen since following the conference. FightingIllini.com has the official preview notes up and probable starters are already named for Friday and Saturday. Curiously not for Sunday, though.
As for those who have been announced, it will be Kevin Johnson and John Kravetz (right) respectively. Both pitched excellent games for wins versus Oakland last weekend. Johnson (4-1) took care of Oakland in record time using only 79 pitches. Kravetz (3-0) took his no-hitter into the eighth inning on Saturday before getting into a little trouble.
Bart Kaufman Field |
Bloomington, IN |
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Fri. April 5 5:05 pm CT Sat. April 6 12:05 pm CT |
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Indiana |
Just how good is the Indiana baseball team? Well, pretty dang good.
As of April 4th, they:
- have the longest current NCAA winning steak at sixteen straight games
- are unbeaten (6-0) in the Big Ten and lead the conference in hitting and and ERA
- outpace their opponents in all major hitting and pitching categories
So the Illini have their work cut out for them this weekend. But the eternal optimist that I am, I have hope that we can eke a win or two out if we get get lucky enough. Let’s not forget, we hold the edge over the Hoosiers the past two seasons by a 5-1 margin.
Some Hoosier trivia: Sophomore 1B Sam Travis who won last week’s Big Ten Player of the week award, is from Orland Park, Illinois. That’s the same hometown of Illini pitcher Charlie Naso and former Illinois star Dominic Altobelli.
Random Ramblings
Justin Parr (left) is back on a 13 game hit streak after starting the season with a 10 game streak. Let’s put that another way… there have been just two games this season where JP did NOT get a hit. That’s one reason the Daily Illini chose him to be the UI Athlete of the Week. Congrats, Justin!
You’ll find my latest musings on the Illini baseball team (along with my photo of Adam Walton doing some fine acrobatics) posted on C-U’s online magazine Smile Politely.
Not to say I told you so but it looks like after losing their first eight games, Nebraska is showing the college baseball pundits what they’re made of. The Cornhuskers now stand at 11-15 and more importantly, 5-1 in conference play and solidly in second place.
Finally, Thomas Lindauer didn’t have a homerun for the Illini before this year. This year, he already has four which is tied with Jordan Parr for the team lead. Dad Derek Lindauer attributes Thomas’ deceiving power to his golf swing. Keep it coming, Thomas!
Good luck in Bloomington, guys!!