Four and Ohhhh! Illini off to a spectacular start!

Johnson, McDonnell, Kravetz and Jay get the job done at the Cardinal Classic

If there was any question as to Illinois baseball’s standing in the preseason polls, they have been put to rest.  The Illini baseball team shone in the Lamar University’s Cardinal Classic down in Beaumont, Texas winning all four games.  They team took two against the New Mexico State Aggies by the scores of 5-1 and 4-2 and won both against host Lamar 8-1 and 9-3.

As touted as the starting pitching has been in the preseason, they simply dominated.  Starters Drasen Johnson, Rob McDonnell, John Kravetz and Tyler Jay gave up a total of one run in the four games.  The Fighting Illini offense proved they are up to the task with key, late-inning hits.  They hit .357 as a team with three starting position players collecting seven hits on the weekend.

Here are some quick recaps:

 

 

Late inning heroics was story of Friday’s game.  Down by a run and down to their last out, the Illini tied in the ninth and exploded for a four-run rally in the tenth to defeat New Mexico State 5-1.  David Kerian who went 3 for 4 was a key player in the victory.  He scored the tying run in the ninth and in the 10th, drove in the winning run with a base hit.

Starter Drasen Johnson was on task as he pitched six plus shutout innings.

 

 

 

 

Game 2 on Saturday was a nail-biter too.  Going into the bottom of the eighth, the Illini were again down by a run.  This time it was Ryne Roper who came through with a two-run base hit to put the Illini ahead.

Rob McDonnell pitched one of his best games for the Illini.  He kept the Aggies scoreless through seven innings and struck out ten batters and only allowed two hits.

 

 

 

 

Speaking of good pitching performances, John Kravetz ate his Wheaties before his game against the Lamar Cardinals on Saturday.  He flirted with a no-hitter, not allowing a safety until the eighth inning.  He was lifted that inning after giving up two hits and run.  He struck out four and walked none.  J.D. Nielsen got the done after that, pitching a perfect 1 1/3 innings.

The Illini didn’t need them but they scored five runs in the ninth inning.  For the game, Will Krug, Reid Roper both collected three hits and David Kerian had two.

 

 

 

The big surprise starter for Sunday’s game against Lamar turned out to be none other than Tyler Jay.  Jay who had already pitched in relief for a save earlier, proved he was up to the task of toeing the rubber for first career start.  His numbers:  5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, and 6 K.

The Lamar Cardinals finally scored a run in the sixth and two more in the ninth but by that time it was over.  Helped by a couple Cardinal errors, the Illini had already scored eight runs by the fourth inning.  Both Reid Roper and Ryne Roper got three hits while Adam Walton, Ryan Nagle, Casey Fletcher and again, David Kerian had two-hit games.

 

 

Weekend Summary

Looking at the offensive stats, you can tell the guys were ready.  With a team average of .357, every starter batted at least .300.  In the four games, three Illini (Kerian, Nagle, and Reid Roper) got seven hits and three more (Krug, Walton, and Ryne Roper) got six.  Even Pat “the Bat” McInerney who started just two games went 4 for 8.  Reid Roper leads the team in rbis and Jason Goldstein has his team’s only homer.

But the pitching!!  Check these team stats out for the four game weekend.

• team ERA of 1.46
• 35 strikeouts but only 6 walks
• BA against of .130

The most important statistic to look at of course, is the four wins.

 

Random Ramblings

I happen to love the new format of the recap pages (like this one) on the Fighting Illini website.  Along with the standard written text update, they incorporate a quick box score, stats, extra photos, video, and some nice graphics.  I feel it goes a long way to telling the story of the game and its players.

Adam Walton is leading off now.  That’s a good move in my opinion.  He proved he could hit last year.  Placing him in the top spot can leverage his speed and take advantage of Krug in the #2 slot.

Next up:  Illinois faces Florida Gulf Coast on February 20 in Fort Meyers, Florida.