May 10, 2007

Illinois-Indiana Game Notes in PDF Format
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Games 47-50 // Indiana
May 11 // 6:05 pm
May 12 (DH) // 3:05 pm
May 13 // 1:05 pm
Illinois Field // Champaign, Ill.

Indiana (17-29 // 6-17) at ILLINOIS (24-22 // 10-12)
Live Stats: Gametracker on fightingillini.com
Radio: WDWS AM-1400; Live streaming on fightingillini.com
(Dave Loane, play-by-play; Eric Loy, analyst)
Series: Illinois leads 94-60-1 overall
Illinois leads 51-24 in games in Champaign
Last Year: Indiana won series, 3-1
Streak: L2

Game 1 Probables
Illinois: Tanner Roark (RHP, 5-2, 5.01 ERA)
Indiana: Jason Ferrell (LHP, 3-3, 5.77 ERA)

Game 2 Probables
Illinois: Mike Stankiewicz (RHP, 3-4, 7.13 ERA)
Indiana: Tyler Tufts (RHP, 3-7, 3.84 ERA)

Game 3 Probables
Illinois: Scott Shaw (RHP, 4-3, 6.02 ERA)
Indiana: Matt Bashore (LHP, 4-5, 4.03 ERA)

Game 4 Probables
Illinois: TBA
Indiana: Chris McCombs (RHP, 1-3, 4.34 ERA)

Illini Line Drives
• The Fighting Illini return to action after a week of final exams in sixth place in the Big Ten standings, 1.5 games ahead of Purdue and Michigan State for the final spot in the Big Ten Tournament. Indiana is in ninth, 4.5 games behind the Illini, and Northwestern has been all but eliminated from postseason consideration, six games back of Illinois with eight games to play.

• Illinois is 5-1 in conference openers, losing its first Big Ten series opener last week at No. 13 Michigan. The Illini are 4-1 in conference Friday games and also defeated Ohio State in that series opener, which was played on a Sunday because of inclement weather.

• On Thursday, Ryan Hastings and Ryan Snowden were named first team Academic All-District for District 5 by ESPN the Magazine. Hastings, who will graduate with a degree in sport management on Saturday, has a 3.46 GPA, and Snowden, who earned a degree in community health on Saturday, holds a 3.39 GPA. Both now move on to Academic All-America balloting, which begins on Tuesday, May 15.

• As this is graduation weekend on the UI campus, Illinois Baseball has eight members earning degrees either in May or August and all such candidates are eligible to participate in graduation ceremonies. May 2007 Illini graduates are Ryan Hastings, Aaron Ifft, Omar Kadir, Mike Rohde, Jonathan Smiley, Ryan Snowden, Jake Toohey and volunteer assistant coach Dave Schultz. Hastings, Ifft, Snowden and Toohey plan on taking part in the ceremony for their respective colleges.

• Before this week, Illinois had played an incredible stretch of 22 games in 24 days (4/13-5/6). With no mid-week game following the Michigan series because of final exams, the Illini got 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.

• A singles-hitting team much of the season, Illinois has amped up the power recently, hitting 33 extra-base hits in the last 10 games. That accounts for 33 percent of Illinois' hits (33-of-101), higher than the Illini's season average of 25 percent of total hits.

• Mike Rohde holds the longest active hitting streak on the team heading into the series with Indiana with a career high-tying 14-game streak and hitting .388 during that time. He also had a 14-gamer May 15, 2005-March 4, 2006. Daniel Webb is right on his heels with a 13-game streak, though, collecting at least one hit in each game since the series finale at Iowa and hitting .439 in that span.

• Daniel Webb has caught fire since moving to the No. 5 hole in the batting order in the third game at Northwestern, hitting .439 (29-for-66) with 13 RBI, seven runs, five doubles and a home run in those 19 games. He currently has a 13-game hitting streak and has hit safely in 19 of his last 20 games.

• Ryan Snowden has been an incredible lead-off hitter for the Illini this season, hitting .390 when he leads-off the game. Snowden has 16 hits to start the game and seven first-inning doubles. As the lead-off batter in any inning, Snowden is hitting .338.

• Tanner Roark has been very strong on Fridays recently, allowing just nine earned runs on 35 hits and eight walks while striking out 22 in 28 innings for a 2.89 ERA in his last four 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 4-1 in the Big Ten with a 4.95 ERA over 40 innings of work. He currently ranks fifth in both innings pitched and strikeouts in Big Ten games.

• Lars Davis has had an incredible season, hitting .413 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.

• Shawn Roof continues his ascent up the stolen base and HBP record lists. Roof is now tied for both the single-season steals and HBP records and stands in second on both career lists. In addition, he is one steal from tying his Big Ten season mark from 2006 and is currently tied with his Big Ten season HBP record from last year. 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 .327 team average in all games and are tied for fifth in conference games at .305. Illinois leads the league in hits (528) and steals (99-of-127), and is tied for the league lead in runs scored (344). The Illini also have the second-fewest strikeouts (192) in the Big Ten.

• Davis is fifth in the Big Ten in hitting in all games at .414. Davis leads the league in hits (77), total bases (117) and home runs (9). He's second in slugging (.629) and runners caught stealing (18), third in RBI (47) and fifth in runs (42).

• Roof leads the Big Ten in stolen bases (35), steal attempts (41), hit by pitch (19) and defensive assists (148) in all games, Mike Rohde leads the league in doubles (18) and fielding double plays (49), and Ryan Snowden is third in the league in doubles (15) and fifth in hits (67).

• Davis leads Illinois with 21 multiple-hit games (12 two-hit, 3 three-hit, 6 four-hit) and his 13 multiple-RBI games (6 two-RBI, 7 three-RBI) are tops on the squad. For comparison's sake, Illinois had only nine four-hit games as a team in 2006.

• 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. Illinois is averaging 710 fans over 11 home dates.

Illini Back Home for Final 2 Big Ten Series
After becoming one of the most well-traveled teams in the Big Ten, the Fighting Illini return to the friendly confines of Illinois Field for the final two Big Ten series of the year, facing Indiana this weekend and Michigan State next week. The Hoosiers took three of four games at Sembower Field a year ago during a rain-drenched series that was played in two doubleheaders.

This Weekend's Promotions
Illinois baseball has a variety of promotions for fans this weekend. Junior class baseball cards, featuring such Illini starters as Lars Davis and Daniel Webb, will be available while supplies last. Saturday is Boy Scout Day, meaning boy scouts can receive free admission by wearing their uniform, and MIX 94.5, WLRW, will be holding a tailgate before the doubleheader. On Sunday, in honor of Mother's Day, all moms are free with one paid admission.

Last Year vs. Indiana
Illinois dropped three of four games at Indiana last year, winning the second game of the first doubleheader the teams played. The series was adjusted because of rain in Bloomington, with doubleheaders being played on Sunday and Monday since both schools were finished with classes.

In the opener, Illinois tied the game with a run in the top of the ninth, but Indiana scored after a dropped pop-up on the infield, a sacrifice and a base hit put runners at first and third. Jake Toohey walked the next two hitters, though, forcing in the game-winning run with two outs. Illinois won the second game, thanks to three big innings that resulted from four Hoosier errors and four walks.

On Monday, Illinois came back from a pair of one-run deficits in the first game but allowed two runs in the bottom of the sixth to fall, 5-4. In the series finale, the Illini managed to get just two runners into scoring position as Illinois fell, 2-0.

Last Time Out: Michigan
Illinois split the series with No. 13 Michigan at Ray Fisher Stadium in Ann Arbor, sweeping the doubleheader on Saturday. The four-game set started on shaky ground for the Illini, as they lost their first Big Ten series opener, 4-3. Mike Rohde stole a pair of bases and scored a pair of runs, but the Illini never really got the offense going as Michigan starter Zach Putnam tossed a complete game.

On Saturday, the pitching favored Illinois and Mike Stankiewicz pitched 6 2/3 solid innings before giving way to Jake Toohey, who got the win in the 7-4 Illini victory that took eight innings. Leading 4-2 in the bottom of the seventh, Stankiewicz gave up a two-run game-tying homer to Nate Recknagel, but Illinois bounced back with three runs in the top of the eighth for the win.

In the nightcap, Scott Shaw was stellar, recording four 1-2-3 innings and striking out a career high-tying six batters. He gave up three runs in the fourth but retired the Wolverines in order in the fifth and seventh innings, and got a double play to finish the sixth. Illinois scored five in the first inning and added another in the third on Daniel Webb's first career homer, winning 6-3.

Sunday was a different story, though, as Michigan used four runs apiece in the third and fifth innings to cruise to a 10-5 win.

Illini in National Stat Rankings
In the official NCAA statistical rankings released Wednesday and taking stats through Sunday's games, Illinois ranks 11th in the nation in batting average (.327), 13th in stolen bases per game (2.15), third in double plays per game (1.24) and 33rd in scoring (7.5 runs/gm). Below are where Illinois players rank nationwide:

Batting Avg.
22. Lars Davis	.414
Doubles per Game
30.	Mike Rohde	0.41
Stolen Bases/game
5. Shawn Roof	0.76
Toughest to Strike Out (AB/K)
26. Daniel Webb	15.9
47.	Shawn Roof	14.4
Hit By Pitch per Game
20.	Shawn Roof	0.41

Lars Davis, Canadian Hitting Machine
Catcher Lars Davis is having an All-American-caliber season with his .414 average along with 47 RBI, 42 runs, a .629 slugging percentage and a .467 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.

• Davis was 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.

Roof at it Again
Shawn Roof continues to be a thorn in the side of opponents, owning a .395 on-base percentage thanks to 11 walks and a team-high 19 HBP. He also leads the team with 35-of-41 stolen bases, tying Todd Schmitke's single-season steals record. He is now second on the career HBP record list, just two from breaking Andy Small's 15-year-old record of 43. His 60 career steals sit even with Ken Warmbier for second 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.

Webb Getting Untangled
Junior Daniel Webb has taken to the designated hitter slot of late. After moving to an offense-only role and moving to the No. 5 hole in the third game of the Northwestern series, Webb has hit .439 (29-for-66) with 13 RBI, seven runs, five doubles and a home run in those 19 games. He knocked his first career home run in the third game of the Michigan series and finished that four-game set by going 5-for-8 with two RBI, a run, a homer and a double in the last two contests. He has a career-best 13-game hitting streak with nine multiple-hit games in his last 18 and has raised his batting average 83 points since the start of the Northwestern series.

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 nine earned runs on 35 hits and eight walks while striking out 22.

• 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 4-1 in Big Ten play, tied for the wins lead in conference games. He also ranks fifth in innings pitched and strikeouts in Big Ten contests.

*Complete game notes available in the above PDF file.