Illinois baseball hope to warm up their bats against Florida Gulf Coast

Cody Sedlock’s 10 Ks paces the Big Ten after the first week

We’ve had a good spell of winter weather here in Champaign-Urbana this week.  If nothing else, the boys will enjoy some nice weather down in Fort Myers, Florida this weekend.  It’s the second weekend of college baseball play and Illinois (1-2) has another tough matchup.  The Florida Gulf Coast Eagles aren’t ranked but are have good prospects for the 2016 season.  They will play host to Illinois for a three-game set. 

Fighting Illini Weekend Preview

The Illini scored just ten runs in three games last weekend against the Tulane Green Wave.  However, Coach Hartleb must have liked what he saw from his three starting pitchers because he’s not making any changes from last weekend.  Cody Sedlock, Doug Hayes and Andrew Mamlic all did well so we’ll see more of the same. 

• Friday  Cody Sedlock: 0-0, 1.50 ERA
• Saturday  Doug Hayes: 0-1, 4.50 ERA
• Sunday  Andrew Mamlic: 0-0, 1.59 ERA

    

My take on FGCU:

Illinois is no stranger to the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles.  We have played the Eagles seven times in the last five years.  The good news is that Illinois has gone 5-1-1 in those meetings. 

FGCU’s preview of their series against Illinois

Like Illinois, FGCU started out the season against a tough opponent… a VERY tough opponent in #1 Florida.  They were swept but eked out a win against Southern Florida for a overall 1-3 record.  

Similar to Illinois’ opponent last weekend, Tulane, Florida Gulf Coast is bringing back many of their 2015 team.  That team went 30-26-1 and got as far as the A-Sun semi-final. 

Buckle up.  It’ll be another fun ride. 

 

Random Ramblings

You can follow this weekend’s games via Fighting Illini Sports Network or WDWS AM 1400.  Live Stats will be available at FGCUathletics.com. 

A little bird tipped me off that last week’s opponent Tulane, had a volunteer coach named Phil Haig.  Indeed, he is the same Phil Haig that pitched for the Illini.  Haig (pictured left, during the 2008 Big Ten Tournament) spent the 2008 and 2009 with Illinois as a starting pitcher for the baseball team and a backup quarterback on the football team. 

I’m glad to seen designated hitter Anthony Drago get off to good start.  I know it’s early but he now leads the Big Ten conference with four doubles after one weekend.  Up until this year, Drago has been relegated to the pinch hitter role but it was clearly evident that his enthusiasm for the game was there.  He spent his time on the edge of the dugout encouraging the starting nine.  Now, it’s his turn to make a difference with the bat. 

Go Illini!