Joe Bonadonna went 5-for-8 in two mid-week games against Southern Illinois and Greenville, scoring six runs and driving in two with two doubles and a triple.

May 3, 2007

Complete Illinois-Michigan Game Notes in PDF Format
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Games 43-46 // Michigan
May 4 // 5:35 pm
April 28 (DH) // 3:05 pm
April 29 // 12:05 pm
Ray Fisher Stadium // Ann Arbor, Mich.

ILLINOIS (22-20 // 8-10) at Michigan (32-8 // 15-1)

Live Stats: Gametracker on fightingillini.com
Radio: WDWS AM-1400; Live streaming on fightingillini.com
(Dave Loane, play-by-play; Ben Taylor, analyst)
Series: Michigan leads 120-93-2 overall
Michigan leads 59-38 in games in Ann Arbor
Last Year: Split series 2-2
Streak: L1

Game 1 Probables
Illinois: Tanner Roark (RHP, 5-1, 4.99 ERA)
Michigan: Zach Putnam (RHP, 5-3, 4.18 ERA)

Game 2 Probables
Illinois: Mike Stankiewicz (RHP, 3-4, 7.77 ERA)
Michigan: Mike Wilson (LHP, 7-0, 1.29 ERA)

Game 3 Probables
Illinois: Scott Shaw (RHP, 3-3, 6.41 ERA)
Michigan: Andrew Hess (RHP, 6-0, 3.05 ERA)

Game 4 Probables
Illinois: Kevin Manson (RHP, 2-1, 5.40 ERA)
Michigan: Chris Fetter (RHP, 5-1, 4.28 ERA)

Illini Line Drives
• Illinois enters this weekend 5-0 in conference openers. The Illini are 4-0 in conference Friday games and also defeated Ohio State in that series opener, which was played on a Sunday because of inclement weather.

• Not only was Tuesday's win at Southern Illinois meaningful for Illini coach Dan Hartleb because he defeated his alma mater, but it also was his 50th career win as a head coach.

• After this weekend, the Illini can finally take a breath. Starting on April 13, Illinois has played an incredible stretch of 22 games in 24 days. With no mid-week game following the Michigan series because of final exams, the Illini get a break before finishing the regular season with nine games in 10 days.

• Illinois played 12 of its first 14 Big Ten games (86 percent) away from Illinois Field this season after two games of the Ohio State home series were cancelled because of frigid temperatures. It is the most road games Illinois has ever played in a first half of a conference season, surpassing the 1988 and 1991 seasons when Illinois played 10 of its first 14 games (of a 28-game conference season) on the road.

• The end of that incredible stretch of games didn't offer any rest for the Illini, either, as Minnesota is ranked No. 21 in the latest RPI figures (through games of 4/29), Southern Illinois is No. 53 and Michigan is No. 31. So far, Illinois is 2-3 in the nine-game segment against those three squads.

• A singles-hitting team much of the season, Illinois has amped up the power recently, hitting 25 extra-base hits in the last six games. That accounts for 37 percent of Illinois' hits (25-of-68), which is much higher than the Illini's season average of 25 percent of total hits.

• Lars Davis has had an incredible season, hitting .439 for the year and putting together a career-best 19-game hitting streak. Davis bounced back from that oh-fer in the doubleheader nightcap at Northwestern by going 4-for-5 in the series finale, then hitting an inside-the-park home run at Illinois State, the first Illini to do so since Brady Ballard circled them all at Indiana in 2000.

• Ryan Snowden has been an incredible lead-off hitter for the Illini this season, hitting .417 when he leads-off the game. Snowden has 15 hits to start the game and seven first-inning doubles. As the lead-off batter in any inning, Snowden is hitting .358.

• Two members of Illinois' Mattoon connection have been especially hot lately, with Ryan Hastings hitting 13-for-26 (.500) and Ryan Snowden hitting 16-for-34 (.471) in the Illini's last eight games. Snowden has five-straight multiple-hit games, eight RBI and seven runs in that span, while Hastings has scored nine runs and driven in seven.

• The Illini pitching staff once again stifled a Tuesday opponent, this week holding Southern Illinois, ranked No. 56 in the most recent RPI ratings, to five runs in a 13-5 win. Kevin Manson gave the Illini five strong innings, Mike Stankiewicz pitched two scoreless frames of relief and Jake Toohey got the final five outs in a shutout relief appearance.

• Tanner Roark has been very strong on Fridays recently, allowing just six earned runs on 25 hits and five walks while striking out 17 in 21 innings for a 2.57 ERA in his last three starts. Roark struck out a career-high nine Northwestern hitters in seven innings on April 13 before fanning six Hawkeyes in seven innings on April 20. He is 4-0 in the Big Ten with a 4.91 ERA over 33 innings of work.

• Shawn Roof continues his ascent up the stolen base and HBP record lists. Roof now is tied for the season HBP record and is second on the career HBP record list, and is second and tied for third on the season and career steals lists, respectively. Roof has stolen seven-straight bases without being caught - tying his second-longest streak of the year - and 14 of his last 15. On April 8, Roof was hit by a pitch four times in the second game against Ohio State, breaking the single-game school record. He also tied the single-game steals record on March 4 against Stephen F. Austin by swiping four bags.

• Through Wednesday's games, the Fighting Illini are third in the conference in hitting with a .332 team average in all games and are sixth in conference games at .314. Michigan leads the league with a .344 overall mark and a .372 average in conference games. Illinois is first in the league in hits (495) and steals (91-of-115), and is tied for the league lead in runs scored (323) The Illini also have the second-fewest strikeouts (177) in the Big Ten.

• Davis leads the Big Ten in hitting in all games at .439 and Kyle Hudson's .434 mark is third. Davis also leads the league in hits (75), total bases (115), slugging percentage (.673) and home runs (9). He's second in RBI (45) and runners caught stealing (18) and tied for fifth in runs (41).

• Roof leads the Big Ten in stolen bases (32), steal attempts (37) and hit by pitch (19) in all games, Mike Rohde leads the league in doubles (18), triples (4) and fielding double plays (41), and Ryan Snowden is fourth in the league in hits (64) and doubles (14).

• Davis leads Illinois with 20 multiple-hit games (11 two-hit, 3 three-hit, 6 four-hit) and his 12 multiple-RBI games (6 two-RBI, 6 three-RBI) are tops on the squad. For comparison's sake, Illinois had only nine four-hit games as a team in 2006.

• Kevin Manson has been a solid mid-week starter the past three weeks for the Illini, getting a no-decision in four innings against Robert Morris before picking up wins against Blackburn and Southern Illinois each with five-inning outings. He has allowed just three earned runs on 10 hits in 14 innings, walking just two and striking out 10.

• Illinois earned an academic honor on April 26 when it was awarded the NCAA's Public Recognition award for recording a multi-year Academic Progress Rate (APR) score in the top 10 percent of all Division-I baseball teams. The Illini had a multi-year APR score of 981, which was in the 90th-100th percentile of all D-I baseball teams.

• The Orange and Blue continue to bring large crowds to Illinois Field, with 4,100 fans watching the Illini's series with Minnesota, the seventh-largest series crowd in school history. That total also included a total of 2,166 fans on Saturday, the seventh-best crowd in school history. Illinois opened the season strong, as 1,060 fans came to the Illini's first home game, against Indiana State on March 27. Through May 2, Illinois is averaging 710 fans over 11 home dates.

Illini Visit Ann Arbor for Weekend Series
Illinois travels to Michigan for a weekend series for the first time since 2004. The last two years, the Illini have hosted the Wolverines and split both series 2-2. In fact, Illinois hasn't lost a series to Michigan since 1991, splitting or winning every series between the teams and going 26-18 in 11 regular-season series over that span.

Last Year vs. Michigan
The Illini split a four-game series with Michigan last year at Illinois Field, winning 3-1 on Friday and 7-4 in the second game of the doubleheader. Matt Whitmore pitched a complete-game on Friday, giving up just one run on six hits and a walk while striking out a career-high eight.

On Saturday, Michigan won the first game 1-0 after Mike Schmidt hit a solo homer off Ben Reeser, one of only five hits Reeser allowed in a seven-inning complete game. In the nightcap, the Illini used a six-run fifth inning to take the lead for good in a 7-4 win. Ryan Snowden and Ryan Hastings each had two hits and Lars Davis drove in a pair. Michigan came out strong on Sunday, though, and won 9-6 behind four RBIs from Adam Abraham and three from Nate Recknagel. Shawn Roof was 3-for-5 and Kyle Hudson went 3-for-4 for Illinois.

Current Illini vs. Michigan
Kyle Hudson leads all returning Illini against Michigan, having hit .600 two RBI and two runs in four games against the Wolverines last year. Ryan Hastings has hit 464 in his career against Michigan with six RBI and four runs, reaching base at a .545 clip in two series. Mike Rohde also has enjoyed facing the Wolverines, hitting .417 in eight games with two doubles, six runs and four RBI. Shawn Roof is a .381 hitter against Michigan after hitting .533 last year. On the mound, Ben Reeser gave up just one run on five hits in seven innings against Michigan last year, while Tanner Roark is 1-0 after throwing five solid innings in the doubleheader nightcap a year ago.

Last Time Out: Minnesota, SIU, Greenville
Illinois went 3-3 in the last week, losing three of four games against Minnesota before rebounding with a pair of mid-week wins against Southern Illinois and Greenville. The Illini won the opener vs. the Gophers on the arm of Tanner Roark, who tossed seven quality innings, pushing Illinois past Minnesota, 10-5, on Friday. The Illini struggled the rest of the way, giving up 48 runs in 23 innings the rest of the series.

On Tuesday, Kevin Manson tossed five quality innings at Southern Illinois and the Illini heated up the bats, knocking 14 hits for 13 runs in a 13-5 win over the Salukis. Ryan Snowden went 4-for-5 with four runs and Joe Bonadonna was 3-for-4 with four runs. Mike Stankiewicz had two shutout innings of relief and Jake Toohey got the final five outs of the game without allowing a run.

Wednesday was an offensive display for the Illini, backed by some strong pitching, against Greenville. Illinois won 16-1 behind a 17-hit attack that was led by Ryan Hastings' 4-for-6 effort and Lars Davis' 2-for-3, three-RBI, three-run night. Aaron Martin started and gave up just one run in three innings, while Mike Sterk, Luke Obukowicz, Brian Long, Aaron Ifft and Ben Reeser combined for six shutout innings of relief.

Illini in National Stat Rankings
In the official NCAA statistical rankings released Wednesday and taking stats through Sunday's games, Illinois ranks 12th in the nation in batting average (.331), 12th in stolen bases per game (2.18), ninth in double plays per game (1.15) and 37th in scoring (7.4 runs/gm). Below are where Illinois players rank nationwide:

Batting Avg.
8. Lars Davis	.439
45.	Kyle Hudson	.405
Doubles per Game
13.	Mike Rohde	0.46
Stolen Bases/game
5. Shawn Roof	0.78
Toughest to Strike Out (AB/K)
30. Daniel Webb	15.6
31.	Brandon Wikoff	15.5
Slugging Percentage
44.	Lars Davis	.671
Hit By Pitch per Game
14.	Shawn Roof	0.45

Lars Davis, Canadian Hitting Machine
Catcher Lars Davis is having an All-American-caliber season with his eye-popping .439 average along with 45 RBI, 41 runs, a .673 slugging percentage and a .487 on-base percentage. He recently had a 19-game hitting streak, which ranks fourth-best in Illinois history, snapped at Northwestern, but he responded by going 4-for-5 with a double and two runs. The next game, at Illinois State, Davis hit his first career inside-the-park home run, his seventh dinger of the year.

• Halfway through the Big Ten season, Davis is the first Illinois hitter to hold an average over .450 through four Big Ten series since Darrin Fletcher's 1987 season to which all other Illini players are compared. Fletcher finished that year with a mammoth .497 average.

• Davis currently has a nine-game hitting streak, going 16-for-36 (.444) during that span with five multi-hit games, 14 RBI, eight runs and four extra-base hits.

Roof at it Again
Shawn Roof continues to be a thorn in the side of opponents, owning a .411 on-base percentage thanks to 11 walks and a team-high 19 HBP. He also leads the team with 32-of-37 stolen bases. He is now second on the career HBP record list, just two from breaking Andy Small's 15-year-old record of 43. His 57 career steals sit even with Wil Parsons for third on the all-time chart. Roof currently leads the Big Ten in steals and HBP.

• Roof opened the season with 11 straight swipes and also has two streaks of seven consecutive steals and a six-steal streak.

• Roof now has nine multiple-steal games on the season and 13 in his career. His back-to-back multiple-steal games against Illinois State and Robert Morris mark the first time he has ever accomplished that feat.

• Taking after assistant coach Eric Snider on the basepaths, Roof is close to surpassing Snider's base-stealing accomplishments during his two years at Northern Iowa. Snider holds the top two single-season marks in Panther history with 33 steals in 1987 and 32 in 1986 for a career mark of 65, which Roof still has a shot at also besting.

Streaks End, Rank Among Illini Best
Leftfielder Ryan Snowden lost his 25-game hitting streak on April 15 at Northwestern when he went 0-for-4, but his hit in the first game of the Saturday doubleheader with the Wildcats broke the school record. Catcher Lars Davis also broke a lengthy streak when he went hitless in the second game of the Northwestern double-dip, ending a 19-game streak. Here is where both hitters rank on the all-time hitting streak chart:

	Player	Dates of Streak	# of Games
1.	Ryan Snowden	2/25/07-4/14/07	25
2.	Tom Sinak	4/17/94-3/5/95	23
3.	Andy Schutzenhofer	5/21/00-3/17/01	20
4.	Lars Davis	3/10/07-4/14/07	19
	Danny Rhodes	5/3/97-3/14/98	19

Webb Getting Untangled
Junior Daniel Webb has taken to the designated hitter slot of late. After moving to an offense-only role at the beginning of the Northwestern series, Webb has hit .404 (23-for-57), in those 18 games, with four doubles, 12 RBI and six runs. He's even better in the team's last eight games, starting at Illinois State on April 24, hitting .458 (12-for-29) with two doubles, five RBI and four runs. He has a career-best nine-game hitting streak with seven multiple-hit games in his last 14 and has raised his batting average 78 points since the start of the Northwestern series.

Wikoff Rarely Whiffs
A rarity for a freshman, Brandon Wikoff is incredibly difficult for opposing pitchers to strike out. The rookie from Peoria is 31st in the nation in the Toughest to Strike Out category, whiffing just once in every 15.5 at bats.

Tanner Takes Charge
With the Illini pitching staff needing a pick-me-up in recent weeks, No. 1 starter Tanner Roark has provided just that with 21 innings over three starts in which he has allowed just six earned runs on 25 hits and five walks while striking out 17.

• Roark struck out a career-high nine Northwestern hitters on April 13 and his two seven-inning outings the past two Fridays have been career-long appearances.

• Roark is now 4-0 in Big Ten play, tied for the wins lead in conference games. *Complete game notes in attached PDF file.