In past years, the Illinois baseball program sure appreciated the hospitality of the football program as they extended the use of the Irwin Indoor Football Practice Facility when it was too cold to practice outdoors. Now, Illinois baseball has a training home they can call their own. On Thursday, Coach…
If anyone in town has been waiting to attend an Illinois baseball game, this is your last chance! The Illini series against Nebraska will be the last three games at home. It has been over ten years since I’ve missed two Illinois baseball weekends. Between a wedding in the family…
Illinois baseball has an in-state weekend series starting tomorrow. They travel (just a little) south to visit the Southern Illinois Salukis. The Salukis are off to a good start in 2022. Not only are they 13-4 but they are 8-1 at home. Gametime Friday is 6pm. There’s a strong connection between…
Powered by first baseman slugger and hometown hero Kellen Sarver, Illinois (21-20) won two of three games against Penn State (17-23) this past weekend for their last home series at Illinois Field. That gives Illinois a winning record at 21-20! To be fair, Champaign native Sarver had a lot of…
Not surprisingly, Riley Gowens earned the Big Ten Pitcher of the Week award this week. Based on his seven-inning, no-hit performance on Sunday, Gowens’ honor is the first weekly honor for an Illini player in 2021. This award comes on top of his Collegiate Baseball Newspaper National Player of the…
Just last week, I was wondering last week when this year’s baseball schedule would be released. Sure enough, Coach Hartleb announced at an online press conference the state of the 2021 Illinois baseball season. The good news is that schedule has been finalized pending last minute changes and of course,…
Even during these times, Illini baseball head coach Dan Hartleb and his crew have been busy. Recruitment never takes a back seat. It was announced on Wednesday that a total of eight national letters of intent (NLIs) were signed by high school athletes to play for the University of Illinois…
What a day to be at the ballpark! Yesterday, it was about perfect. I had been going through baseball withdrawal. Normally at this time, it would have been a few months without baseball but this year, I haven’t seen (or photographed) an Illini baseball game since the first home game.…
Infielder Jackson Raper has signed a national letter of intent to play for the Illini. Jackson will be joining as a graduate transfer from Catawba College in Salisbury, North Carolina. He will have one year of eligibility beginning in 2021. Jackson played in 22 games at Division II Catawba this…
It’s been six days since the announcement was made that the Illinois baseball spring 2020 season along with all Big Ten spring sports, has been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To be sure, this has hit the team, the parents and the baseball program hard. Beyond just canceling games,…