Go Illinois!
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Game #1 |
Friday, Feb. 22 3pm |
Record: 0-0 |
vs Sam Houston State |
at Edinburgh, TX |
Tomorrow night, the University of Illinois begin their 2008 season. They take on Sam Houston State in the first game of the Al Ogletree Classic Tournament in warm Edinburgh, Texas.
Word from the clubhouse is that the guys are ready to play and that they are “excited to get outside and see a different-colored jersey”. After an off-season of playing each other in scrimmages, I don’t doubt it.
Game One will see Scott Shaw on the mound for the Illini. Shaw was 5-5 with 6.42 ERA last year but showed some real stuff when he was on his game.
Sam Houston will be coming into the game with the same record as the Illini, 0-0. Here is their rundown.
| Opponent: | Sam Houston State |
| Nickname: | Bearkats |
| Conference: | Southland Conference |
| Location: | Huntsville, Texas |
| Current Record: | 0-0 |
| Baseball Program website: | Link |
| Players to watch: | Bobby Verbick, Jacob Howard, Keith Stein |
| Comments: | Verbick, Howard and Stein have all been named to the Brooks Wallace Watch list. Sam Houston is the only team in the state that has three players on the list. Considering the state is Texas, that says a lot. |
No doubt, they look tough. But it bears repeating that this year no team gets a head start and that helps the northern teams.
For those of you wanting to follow the game, go to the Fighting Illini web site and you can follow along with Gametracker. Gametracker had gone through some major enhancements last year and it’s very nice.
Good luck to the Illini!!
Sam Houston is a very good, underrated team. I am not really sure about their pitching, so that is probably their “weekness.” Verbick is the real deal. Should be a fun game.