March 27, 2008

Illinois-Michigan State Game Notes

Games 16-19 // Michigan State

SERIES INSIDER
ILLINOIS (9-6) vs. Michigan State (7-9)
Live Stats: Gametracker on fightingillini.com
Radio: Games 2-4 - WDWS AM-1400; All Games - fightingillini.com (Dave Loane, play-by-play; Ben Taylor, analyst)
Series: Illinois leads 56-54 // MSU leads 30-21 at MSU
Last Year: Split, 2-2
Streak: W1

Game 1 Probables
Illinois: Kevin Manson (RHP, 2-0, 3.79 ERA)
Michigan State: Mike Monterey (RHP, 0-1, 3.70 ERA)

Game 2 Probables
Illinois: Scott Shaw (RHP, 1-1, 8.68 ERA)
Michigan State: Mark Sorensen (RHP, 0-2, 4.02 ERA)

Game 3 Probables
Illinois: Mike Stankiewicz (RHP, 1-2, 6.38 ERA)
Michigan State: A.J. Dunn (RHP, 0-2, 13.03 ERA)

Game 4 Probables
Illinois: Aaron Martin (RHP, 3-1, 2.61 ERA)
Michigan State: TBA

Last ILL Sweep: 1999
Last ILL 3-1 Series: 2005
Last Split: 2007
Last MSU 3-1 Series: 1994
Last MSU Sweep: 1979 (Two-game series)

Illini Line Drives
• Holding a .360 career average heading into this season, Kyle Hudson has put an all-out assault on the Illini record book with his hot start to 2008. Hudson currently is hitting .456 after going a blistering 14-for-27 (.519) with six RBIs, six runs and 4-for-6 steals on Spring Trip. Hudson currently leads the Illini in hits (26), RBIs (12), runs (15), on-base percentage (.529), on-base-plus-slugging (1.020) and steals (9) while playing a perfect center field so far. He currently stands No. 2 on the career hitting list with a .376 average, behind Darrin Fletcher's school-record .392 mark.

• Hudson currently holds a career-high eight-game hitting streak, with seven being multiple-hit games. In his last eight games, Hudson is 18-for-35 (.514) with seven RBIs, 10 runs and five steals.

• Shortstop Brandon Wikoff has taken hold of the No. 3 spot in the batting order, despite being an unconventional three-hole hitter. Wikoff raked at a .467 clip on Spring Trip while hitting exclusively in the third spot. For the season, he is hitting .471 in the No. 3 hole with two triples, 10 runs and seven RBIs. Wikoff also was quite consistent over Spring Trip, starting a hitting streak that has now reached nine games, one short of his career best.

• Illinois had an exceptional last nine games at the plate, raising the team batting average 69 points over that span. The Illini have had eight straight games with 10 or more hits, averaging 14 hits per game over that stretch. The Illini are averaging 9.6 runs per game during that span after averaging 4.7 runs over the first seven games of 2008.

• After having five doubles as their only extra-base hits through the first seven games, the Illini have displayed some power recently, hitting 20 doubles, five triples and eight homers in the last nine games. The homers have come from a number of players, as Dominic Altobelli, Ryan Hastings, Daniel Webb and Craig Lutes each have two homers during that span.

• Aaron Martin currently has a 13-inning scoreless innings streak after tossing a complete-game shutout against Maryland-Baltimore County and pitching four shutout innings in a start against Indiana State. He has allowed only 10 hits over that span along with one walk and seven strikeouts. Against UMBC, Martin tied a career high with five strikeouts.

• For the third time in his career, Ryan Hastings heated up during the team's Spring Trip in Bradenton, Fla., as Hastings hit .391 and slugged a whopping .870 with a double, two triples and two homers. Those two triples move him into 10th place on Illinois' career triples list, tied with D.J. Svihlik.

• Illinois also has become more active on the basepaths recently, successfully stealing its last seven bases and nine of its last 10 bags. This streak comes after the Illini opened the season by swiping eight consecutive bases to start 2008.

• The Illini currently stand third in the Big Ten in batting average with a .325 team mark and lead the conference in defense with a .977 fielding percentage. Illinois also leads the league in on-base percentage (.411) and walks allowed (41), and has committed the fewest errors among conference teams (13).

• Two of the starting times for games in Illinois' season-ending series with Purdue have been changed because of the Big Ten Outdoor Track and Field Championships being held at the Illinois Track and Soccer Complex that weekend. Thursday's game will remain a 6:05 start, but Friday's doubleheader will begin at 4:05 p.m. and Saturday's final game will start at 7:05 p.m.

Illini Open Big Ten Season
A red-hot Illini team heads to Lansing, Mich., to face Michigan State in the Big Ten-opening season at Oldsmobile Park, home of the Class A Lansing Lugnuts. Both teams have faced some weather-related headaches this season, with Illinois having six games cancelled or postponed because of weather and MSU losing four to weather. The two seem to be going in opposite directions as MSU has lost three of its last five games and six of its last 10, while the Illini have won six of their last seven.

Illinois Against Michigan State
Illinois holds a 56-54 all-time advantage against the Spartans and is 21-30 in games in East Lansing. The teams split a four-game series a year ago, but the Sunday contest sticks in the minds of both teams as the Illini roared back from a 7-0 deficit to win, 8-7, and reach the Big Ten Tournament.

Last Year Against Michigan State
Last season, the Fighting Illini won a 6-5 nailbiter against Michigan State on Friday to open the final Big Ten series of the year. That meant Illinois needed just one win in the final three games of the series in order to reach the Big Ten Tournament.

However, the Spartans had to win the final three games to reach the postseason and they started on that path by sweeping Saturday's doubleheader and taking a 7-0 lead in the fourth inning of the Sunday game. But Nick Stockwell smacked a three-run homer off the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth, then Lars Davis blasted a solo homer and Illinois added another run in the sixth, making the MSU lead 7-5.

In the eighth, with one run already in, Brandon Wikoff hit a two-out triple and Davis knocked his second homer of the day to put Illinois ahead, 8-7. Jake Toohey finished off his 4 1/3 masterful innings of relief to get the win and lift Illinois into its third-straight Big Ten Tournament.

Last Time Out: Spring Trip, Judson, Indiana St.
The Fighting Illini went 5-2 over the week-long Spring Trip, then defeated Judson, 15-5, on Monday and Indiana State, 15-4, on Wednesday. The Illini have posted 10-plus hits in eight-straight games and are averaging 9.6 runs per game over that stretch after averaging 4.7 runs over the first seven games of the season. Illinois hit a blistering .344 on Spring Trip, scoring nearly eight runs per game and slugging a .522 percentage as a team. The Illini have won six of their last seven games, with wins over Eastern Kentucky, Akron, Maryland-Baltimore County, Kansas, Central Connecticut St., Judson and Indiana State.

Aaron Martin tossed a complete-game shutout against UMBC, scattering eight hits and walking just one with five strikeouts. Kyle Hudson hit .519 and stole four bases, while Brandon Wikoff went 14-for-30 (.467) with a team-high nine runs and four steals over Spring Trip. Hudson continued his hot streak with a 3-for-5 night against Judson with two RBIs and two runs. Casey McMurray caught fire against the Sycamores, notching his first career four-hit game by going 4-for-5 with three runs, a double and an RBI.

Hudson Streaking Through 2008
Center fielder Kyle Hudson already has put together two solid hitting streaks in just 15 games. Hudson started the year with a six-game string before going 0-for-3 against Eastern Kentucky. Since then, he has posted nine consecutive games with a hit, eight of which have been multiple-hit games, including three-hit games against Miami (OH), the second game of the doubleheader against Central Connecticut State and Judson. He is now hitting a robust .456 with 12 RBIs and a team-best 15 runs.

Webb Delivers in Bunches
The 2007 Illini team had players post just five different games with four or more RBIs. But designated hitter Daniel Webb was impressive over Spring Trip, posting consecutive four-RBI games against Akron and Maryland-Baltimore County. After going 0-for-4 against the Zips, Webb had Ryan Hastings intentionally walked ahead of him to load the bases. He then stepped up with a walk-off line-drive grand slam to give the Illini a 15-11 win. The next day, Webb stayed hot with a 3-for-4 outing with a two-run homer and a two-run single.

Altobelli Comes of Age
After two years of bouncing in and out of the Illini lineup, Dominic Altobelli has found a regular spot at third base this season, thanks to a combination of improved hitting and defense. Altobelli is currently hitting .317 with a team high-tying two homers and 12 RBIs, which is tied for second on the squad. He also has been clutch so far, hitting .429 with runners in scoring position and a blistering .600 with runners in scoring position and two outs. In fact, seven of his RBIs have come with two outs. Amazingly, Altobelli is hitting .429 with runners on base and is hitting .077 with the bases empty. He also has made just two errors in 13 games.

*Complete game notes in above PDF file.