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Sophomore Will Strack will open the 2010 season on the mound for the Illini against Notre Dame on Friday.
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Feb. 24, 2010
Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge Notes 
Illinois at Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge
Feb. 26 // Notre Dame // Jack Russell Stadium // 3:30 pm
Feb. 27 // South Florida // Bright House Networks Field // 6:30 pm
Feb. 28 // St. John's // Naimoli Complex // Noon
Tournament Insider
Notre Dame (3-0) vs. ILLINOIS (0-0)
ILL Probable: Will Strack (RHP, 6-1, 3.84 ERA)*
UND Probable: Cole Johnson (RHP, 1-0, 3.38 ERA)
Live Stats: Gametracker on fightingillini.com
Series: Illinois leads 36-24
Last Meeting: Notre Dame won 14-7 (2/21/09)
Streak: L5
South Florida (3-0) vs. ILLINOIS (0-0)
ILL Probable: Brian de la Torriente (RHP, 2-2, 7.79 ERA)*
USF Probable: Ray Delphey (RHP, 0-1, 3.60 ERA)
Live Stats: Gametracker on fightingillini.com
Series: Illinois leads 4-3
Last Meeting: Illinois won 7-6 (3/5/06)
Streak: W3
St. John's (3-0) vs. ILLINOIS (0-0)
ILL Probable: Kevin Johnson (RHP, Fr.)
SJU Probable: Miguel Valcarcel (RHP, 0-0, 6.75 ERA)
Live Stats: Gametracker on fightingillini.com
Series: Illinois leads 1-0
Last Meeting: Illinois won 6-5 (3/11/00)
Streak: W1
*2009 statistics
Probable Lineup
Pos Name '09 Avg Ht B/T Yr Note C Aaron Johnson .333 6-0 R/R Sr. College Baseball Insider named him the Best Catcher Arm in the Big Ten 1B Matt Dittman .278 6-2 L/R Jr. Made only 5 errors in 2009, his first year as a starter 2B Pete Cappetta .384 6-2 R/R Jr. Baseball America's preseason All-Big Ten second baseman SS Josh Parr .337 6-0 R/R So. Returns to natural shortstop position after playing 2B in 2009 3B Brandon Hohl --- 6-1 R/R Fr. True-freshman brings strong arm, good instincts to third base LF Casey McMurray .289 5-8 R/R Jr. Has made 97 of 102 career starts in LF; Has started 87 consecutive games CF Willie Argo .355 6-1 R/R So. BA's preseason All-Big Ten center fielder and league's best athlete RF Craig Lutes .216 6-0 L/L Sr. Defensive replacement at RF, 1B in '09 looking to be lineup regular in '10 DH Mike Giller .231 6-3 L/R Sr. Earned Rawlings Big Stick Award as best-hitting SS in Northwoods League
Illinois is...
...95-34-1 all-time in season-openers
...2-2 in season-openers under Dan Hartleb
...6-4 in season-openers since 2000
...4-8 on the season's first weekend under Hartleb
...14-14 on the season's first weekend since 2000
Illini Open 2010 at Big Ten/Big East Challenge
Illinois opens its 131st season of baseball at the second-annual Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge in the St. Petersburg/Clearwater, Fla., area. The Fighting Illini will begin the campaign against Notre Dame at Clearwater's Jack Russell Stadium before facing South Florida at Bright House Networks Field in Clearwater and St. John's at the Raymond A. Naimoli Complex in St. Petersburg. The event returns for its second season after a highly successful first edition in 2009 and features all 10 Big Ten squads along with 10 teams from the BIG EAST Conference.
Jack Russell Stadium is the former spring training home to the Philadelphia Phillies, while Bright House Networks Field is the Phillies' current spring training home. The Naimoli Complex was the spring training home of the Tampa Bay Rays through the 2008 season.
Illinois Against Challenge Field
The Fighting Illini have a 36-24 edge in the all-time series with Notre Dame but have lost five in a row dating back to 2000. The teams most recently met in last year's Challenge, where the Fighting Irish took a 14-7 victory.
The Illini are 4-3 all-time against South Florida and have won three straight after sweeping a three-game set at the Bulls' home park in 2006, which followed a loss to USF in the second game of the season. Illinois has only faced St. John's once in program history, defeating the Red Storm 6-5 on March 11, 2000, at the UNF/Jacksonville Greyhound Racing Baseball Classic in Jacksonville, Fla.
Illini Return Offensive Firepower
Illinois returns six of its regular starters from 2009 and six of its top eight batting averages from a year ago. Leading hitter Pete Cappetta (.384) and the top two home run hitters - Willie Argo (12) and Aaron Johnson (10) - from 2009 return this season and the Illini will have 60 percent of its runs scored back in 2010. Illinois also returns 63 percent of its RBIs from a year ago.
Experience Highlights Illini Pitching Staff
The Orange and Blue boast two returning weekend starters in Bryan Roberts and Will Strack, as well as Lee Zerrusen who thrived in 2009 as a middle reliever, spot starter and closer. Illinois also returns relievers John Anderson, Corey Kimes, Nick Chmielewski, Mike Sterk, Kevin Manson, Wes Braun and Billy Barrett in 2010, meaning that 57 percent of Illinois' innings pitched from a year ago are back this season. Pitchers who accounted for eight of the Illini's 11 saves in 2009 return for another year, and the Orange and Blue welcome back 56 percent of their strikeouts from a year ago.
Orange and Blue Switcheroo
Three Illini players likely will be playing different positions this year than they did in 2009, with sophomore Josh Parr moving from second base back to his natural shortstop position and junior Pete Cappetta moving from right field to second base. Sophomore Willie Argo also will move into center field this season after serving as the designated hitter a year ago.
Homegrown Talent Abounds
The Illinois roster is made up of 33 players, 29 of whom are from the state of Illinois. Of the four players who don't hail from the Land of Lincoln, sophomore outfielder Willie Argo is from Iowa, sophomore outfielder Daniel Parker is from Kansas, redshirt-freshman catcher Thomas Shelton is from Tennessee, and senior catcher Aaron Johnson is from New Brunswick, Canada.
Celebrating 130 Years of Illinois Baseball
The Fighting Illini will celebrate 130 years of Illinois baseball this season, with a reunion scheduled for the Purdue series on May 14-16. The reunion will honor all past players, coaches, managers, athletic trainers and support staff, and will culminate with the live broadcast of Saturday night's game on the Big Ten Network. For more information, contact Chris Tuttle of the Varsity I Association at 217.333.7777.
*Complete game notes are available in the above PDF.
