I didn’t want to jinx it but I had a sneaky suspicion that Illinois firstbaseman Matt Dittman’s efforts against Michigan might have been good enough to garner him Big Ten Player of the Week. They were. Dittman had started in only one Big Ten game before this weekend and boy,…
Once again, Michigan scored first but Illinois came back to win another one from Wolverines to take the series from UM in Ann Arbor. Michigan scored two in the first but Illinois rallied to put three on the board in the second inning thanks to consecutive singles by Aaron Johnson…
I admit it. From down here in Illinois, things didn’t look too good for the Orange and Blue Saturday afternoon. Down by scores of 4-0 and 6-3, it looked like Michigan might go up 2-0 in the series. But wow, what a comeback! Behind the offensive efforts of Joe Bonadonna…
After two home weekends against Big Ten teams, Illinois goes on the road. More specifically, to Ray Fisher Stadium in Ann Arbor to play 2008 Big Ten champs University of Michigan. We decided that the Q&A with the Indiana baseball blog Behind the Plate went so well, we decided to…
MSU fan Tom Tomkins posted some Spartan photos from last weekend’s series against Northwestern on his blog, Oak Openings and Observations. It looks like we played MSU at just about the right time. After we swept them, they mightily defeated Central Michigan 20-3. The Roof Brothers (brothers of former Illinois…
Okay, considering we were playing the last place team in the Missouri Valley Conference, that was awfully difficult. We came out on top 11-9 but it was a rollercoaster battle with Bradley coming back from a 7-2 deficit to tie it 7-7. Even when Illinois had it wrapped up 11-7…
Ben Reeser tossing over to first during the first game against Indiana on Saturday After a 1-2 weekend against the Hoosiers, the Illini will host the Bradley Braves at Illinois Field. By Tuesday game time, it looks to a bit chilly but nothing like the MSU Sunday. My source says…
The difference was night and day for the Illini. Compared to Friday night’s game against the Indiana, our pitchers pitched well, we had good defense and we kept Josh Phegley at bay (1 for 9, 1 rbi, 1 run). Ben Reeser was one strike from a shutout Unfortunately, we only…
Note: Because of impending bad weather on Sunday, the two remaining games will be played Saturday as a doubleheader starting at noon. Something happened at Illinois Field that hasn’t occurred all year. Illinois lost. Josh Phegley It wasn’t a close game, it wasn’t a heartbreaker. It was a train wreck. …
This week, we’re going to have a special edition of the weekend series preview. The editor of Behind the Plate, an Indiana Baseball blog, suggested that we both do a Q & A interview for each other’s blogs as an exciting preview for the upcoming Indiana-Illinois series. I thought it…