March 29, 2006

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Games 18-21: Purdue

March 31 • 6:05 pm
ILL: Brian Blomquist (1-2, 2.16 ERA) vs. PUR: Jay Buente (3-0, 1.70 ERA)

April 1 • 3:05 pm/6:05 pm
Game 1 - ILL: TBA vs. PUR: Dan Sattler (2-2, 4.43 ERA)
Game 2 - ILL: TBA vs. PUR: Brent Coudron (1-2, 4.91 ERA)

April 2 • 1:05 pm
ILL: TBA vs. PUR: Ricky Heines (1-0, 4.32 ERA)

Probable Lineup
Pos. Name Ht. B/T Yr. Note
C Lars Davis 6-3 L/R So. Leads Illini with 25 hits and 9 two-out RBI
1B Dave Schultz 6-0 L/L Sr. Went 4-for-6 with 2 HR and 5 RBI vs. Cornell on 3/24
2B Ryan Hastings 6-0 L/R r-So. Led team on Spring Trip with .526 average and .789 slugging pct.
SS Shawn Roof 6-0 R/R Jr. Third on team with .417 average with runners in scoring position
3B Mike Rohde 6-3 L/R Jr. Six doubles and 17 runs are team highs
LF Ryan Snowden 5-10 R/R Jr. Reached base in all six plate appearances vs. Cornell on 3/24
CF Kyle Hudson 5-11 L/L Fr. .419 average and six stolen bases lead team
RF Trevor Huisinga 5-7 L/L Sr. Hitting .750 in last two games with five runs and four RBI
DH Chase Kliment 6-1 R/R Jr. Second on team in slugging with .490 mark

Illini Storylines
• Illinois is...
...9-3 in day games
...5-1 when scoring first
...8-1 when ahead through 7 innings
...3-0 when tied through seven innings
...8-1 when out-hitting its opponent
...6-1 when the bullpen gets the decision
...3-1 on Friday
...6-1 when making fewer errors than its opponent
...5-4 when making more errors than its opponent
...5-1 when scoring first
...11-1 when scoring four or more runs

• At Least They're Consistent: Just like clockwork, after going on a three-game losing streak at the Collegiate Baseball Classic, Illinois responded with a winning streak. This time, however, it is a seven-game string, covering the whole Spring Trip and Tuesday's game at Indiana State. The Illini swept through contests against Northern Iowa, Illinois-Chicago, Massachusetts, Vermont and Cornell twice during spring break to mark the first undefeated Spring Trip since 2002.

• Hastings Hits His Stride: No Illini had a better Spring Trip than Ryan Hastings, who hit .526 with eight runs, seven walks, five RBI, three doubles, a triple and two stolen bases. He led the team in hitting, slugging percentage and on-base percentage while playing five games at second base and making his first career start in left field.

• Breakout Week for the Juicer: First baseman Dave Schultz, who grew up on a dairy farm in Chaseburg, Wis., made the most of his time in Florida last week by raising his batting average 88 points and nearly doubling his slugging percentage. Known for his offensive pop, Schultz finally displayed it in the Orange and Blue, knocking a pair of home runs against Cornell on March 24 and hitting three doubles on the trip.

• Offensive Explosion: Illinois hit a whopping .379 and slugged .553 on Spring Trip while winning all six games. Illini hitters combined for six home runs, three triples and 17 doubles on the way to outscoring opponents 61-36 on the trip. Hits were 89-65 in Illinois' favor and the Illini also were 13-of-16 stealing bases while drawing 24 walks against only 27 strikeouts.

• Reeser Pieces Together Wins: Freshman reliever Ben Reeser recorded the first two wins of his career last week, earning victories against Northern Iowa and Cornell (March 23). Reeser struck out eight and walked two in 7 1/3 innings, allowing opponents to hit only .192.

• Whit's at the End: The Illini have found a new closer this season in senior Matt Whitmore. The righthander has recorded four saves in four chances this season, recording a 1.00 ERA in nine innings. Only one of the four runs he's given up has been earned and opponents are hitting a measly .176 against him.

• Snow at the Top: After trying a few different players in the spot, leftfielder Ryan Snowden has taken hold of the lead-off role, hitting .370 with a .485 on-base percentage as Illinois' lead-off man on Spring Trip. He capped the trip by reaching base in all six plate appearances against Cornell on March 24, going 4-for-4 with two walks. He led the team with 11 runs on the spring break trip and is second overall with 16.

• Earning Their Way: For the most part, Illinois pitchers have made opponents earn their way on base as of late. Illini hurlers gave up only 17 walks over the six-game Spring Trip, fewer than three per game. In fact, before the March 24 game against Cornell, Illinois pitchers had given up only 11 walks on the trip against 32 strikeouts. The Illini continued this trend at Indiana State, walking only one Sycamore while striking out seven.

• Davis Named All-Tournament: Lars Davis was named to the all-tournament team of the Baseball Express Collegiate Classic, largely because of his clutch hitting and defense. Davis hit only .250 over the four games, but had four two-out RBI. He also threw out three of seven runners who attempted to steal on the weekend (43 percent).

• New Faces All Around: Illinois has had 16 players see their first action in the Orange and Blue this season, and 10 saw their first game action in an Illinois uniform in the season's first weekend. Six started their first game with the Illini and four others saw action in a reserve role at the Stetson Invitational. Nick Stockwell became the 11th player to see his first action as an Illini at South Florida, while Ben Reeser, Aaron Martin and Blake Hopkins all made their Illini debuts at the Baseball Express Collegiate Classic. Tanner Roark made his first collegiate start against Vermont and Danny Schroeder pinch-hit against the Catamounts on Spring Trip.

• We're Going Streaking: Shawn Roof saw his career-best 13-game hitting streak end when he went 0-for-2 in Illinois' 19-12 win over Cornell. It was the second streak of more than 10 games by an Illini this season, with Mike Rohde's 14-game string dating back to last season the best so far in 2006. Currently, Chase Kliment leads Illinois with a career best-tying six-game hitting streak, his second of the year.

Scouting the Boilermakers
Purdue enters the weekend series as one of the best teams in the Big Ten, despite losing to Ball State on Wednesday. The Boilermakers took three games from Chicago State last weekend.

• Shortstop Mitch Hilligoss leads Purdue with a .403 average and 20 runs. He is also tops on the squad with four stolen bases in nine attempts, but has made nine errors in the field. Six Boilers carry averages over .300 into the series, including Eric Wolfe at .381, the Big Ten Player of the Week each of the past two weeks.

• Jay Buente has been Purdue's No. 1 starter all season, with a 3-0 record and 1.70 ERA in 37 innings. He has a 36:9 strikeout-to-walk ratio and has allowed just under one hit per inning. Reliever Chris Toneguzzi has been the Boilers' best out of the bullpen, boasting a 2-0 record with a 0.00 ERA and one save in 12 2/3 innings. Toneguzzi has given up just seven hits as opponents hit only .159 off him.

• Purdue has played one of the toughest schedules in the Big Ten, winning two of three games at then-No. 18 Missouri and winning a game at then-No. 2 North Carolina.

• The Illini and Boilers have one common opponent so far, with both playing Louisiana-Lafayette. Purdue defeated the Ragin' Cajuns in its opener at Lafayette, 5-1, and the Illini also defeated UL, 14-12, at the Baseball Express Collegiate Baseball Classic.

Series History
• Illinois leads the all-time series 145-63-1, but the teams haven't squared off in a regular season series since 2003, when Purdue took three of four games. The Boilers won the most recent meeting, 4-3 in 11 innings, in last year's Big Ten Tournament to eliminate the Illini. Illinois starter Jimmy Conroy pitched 10 valiant innings, allowing 12 hits and throwing only 109 pitches, but the Illini's first five hitters in the order combined to go 4-for-24 on the day. Purdue's Eric Wolfe and Mitch Hilligoss each had three hits, with Wolfe tripling and driving in two runs.

• Only a handful of current Illini have ever faced Purdue, with Trevor Huisinga, Shawn Roof and Mike Rohde the only position players to see the field against the Boilers. Brian Blomquist pitched 1 1/3 innings of relief against Purdue in 2003 as the only Illinois pitcher to face the Boilermakers.

Murphy Returns to Illinois
While Illinois and Purdue may lack recent history, Boilermaker assistant Todd Murphy has some history with the Fighting Illini. Murphy was an assistant coach along with current Illinois coach Dan Hartleb under Itch Jones from 1995-98 before taking his current spot at Purdue. He worked with outfielders and hitters at Illinois while coordinating recruiting and off-season conditioning.

A Look Back
Illinois is currently riding its longest winning streak since last season after defeating Indiana State 4-2 on Tuesday. Tanner Roark threw five innings of shutout ball and allowed only two hits to earn his first collegiate win. Joe Bonadonna went 2-for-2 with two RBI, adn Dominic Altobelli was 2-for-3 with two runs. That win followed on the heels of a perfect 6-0 Spring Trip, the first since 2002. The Illini opened the trip with a 13-8 win over Northern Iowa in which Ryan Hastings, Lars Davis and Kyle Hudson each had three hits. Ben Reeser earned his first collegiate win with four shutout innings of relief in which he struck out five and didn't give up a walk.

Illinois followed with a 4-2 win against Illinois-Chicago, led by Dave Schultz's 3-for-5 game with three RBI. Scott Shaw won his first game as an Illini with 6 2/3 shutout innings in which he scattered five hits. The Illini then downed Massachusetts 4-3 in a come-back win that hinged on a three-run seventh inning. Chase Kliment homered and went 2-for-3 with two RBI, and Hastings, Hudson and Shawn Roof also had two hits apiece. Omar Kadir continued the string of pitchers getting their first win as he collected his first victory after six solid innings of work.

After an off day, the Illini used a seven-run fifth inning to top Vermont 15-7 behind home runs from Mike Rohde and Dominic Altobelli. Schultz was 4-for-5, Roof went 2-for-3 with three runs and Davis went 3-for-5 with two RBI and two runs. The next day, Illinois and Cornell finished nine innings tied 1-1 before both teams' offenses exploded. The Illini scored five runs in the 10th inning before giving up three to take a 6-4 victory. Illinois managed only four hits but took advantage of four Big Red errors as Reeser picked up his second win.

The same two teams hooked up again one day later as Illinois took a 19-12 slugfest. Schultz hit 4-for-6 with two homers, a double and five RBI. Trevor Huisinga hit 3-for-4 with a homer, four RBI and four runs, and Ryan Snowden collected four hits while reaching base in all six plate appearances.

'80s Night to Open Home Slate
Friday is '80s night at Illinois Field, where anyone dressed like a "blast from the past" will receive free admission. Each Illini player will have his own introduction music from the 1980s and '80s paraphernalia will be hanging around Illinois Field. Saturday's doubleheader will fittingly be April Fool's Day, with the losers of promotions winning the prizes and fans getting to learn interesting and odd facts about Illini players between innings. Sunday caps off the weekend with a Relay For Life fundraiser. Admission will be $2 for everyone, with all gate proceeds going to the American Cancer Society. Packs of the freshman class of Illinois baseball cards will also be given away throughout the weekend, as will schedule magnets.

No Classes, More Power
With only 18 doubles, two triples and one home run through 10 games, Illinois looked to be almost primarily a singles-hitting team. But that all changed when the Illini headed to Bradenton, Fla., for their annual spring break trip. Illinois hitters nearly doubled their doubles production, smacking 17 two-baggers, in addition to three triples. But the most marked improvement was in home runs as Illini hitters swatted six bombs in six games over Spring Trip. Illinois compiled a whopping .553 slugging percentage over the trip as a result.

Chicks Dig the Short Ball
Despite the recent power surge, Coach Hartleb's preseason mantra that Illinois would have to manufacture runs still holds true to an extent. Thus far, 76 percent of Illinois' hits have been singles. The Illini have also advanced runners at a .515 clip, with Shawn Roof leading the way moving 27 runners over in 43 chances (.628). Illinois also has drive in a runner from third with less than two outs 45 times in 69 chances (.652).

A Little Help From My Friends
Illinois' bullpen has been solid over the last seven games, earning four wins and three saves. During that span, the Illini relievers have allowed only 34 hits in 28 2/3 innings of work, striking out 20 while walking only nine. Ben Reeser picked up a pair of wins over Spring Trip, and Joel Barickman and Aaron Saving each got one as well. Matt Whitmore has earned two saves in the last five games and Jake Stewart got the save against Cornell on March 23.

Load 'em Up, Bring 'em In
Illinois has already recorded 11 hits with the bags juiced for a .440 (11-for-25) percentage. That's a much faster pace than a year ago, when it took 27 games for the Illini to get seven bases-loaded hits. Two hitters have been especially clutch so far, with Lars Davis batting 1.000 (4-for-4) and Dave Schultz going 4-for-6 (.667) in the situation.

Two Down? No Problem
Three Illini hitters seem to excel with two outs, as Lars Davis, Kyle Hudson and Dave Schultz are all hitting over .400 with two down. Davis leads the team with a .458 two-out average, Hudson is hitting .417 with two down and Schultz holds a .409 average. Davis also leads the team with nine two-out RBI, while Schultz has seven. Chase Kliment has six RBI with two outs.

Graduated but Not Gone
Illini pitchers Brian Blomquist and Jake Stewart are unique among college baseball players in that both have finished their undergraduate degrees while still retaining a year of eligibility. Both righthanders finished their B.S. degrees in sport management in December, but they must take courses on a degree path to remain eligible. So Blomquist is pursuing a second B.S. in community health while Stewart works on a master's degree in human and industrial resources.