May 19, 2008

PARK RIDGE, Ill. - Freshman left-hander Phil Haig was named Big Ten Co-Pitcher of the Week, the conference office announced Monday. Haig tossed a two-hit shutout against Purdue in Saturday's first game, blanking the Boilers, who finished second in the Big Ten standings. The honor marks the third-straight year that Illinois has won the final Pitcher of the Week laurel of the season, with Brian Blomquist grabbing the award in 2006 and Jake Toohey taking it in 2007.

The Inver Grove Heights, Minn., native struck out three and gave up just two walks in his first career complete game. He allowed just three runners to reach scoring position and recorded 13 groundball outs out of a possible 21 in the seven-inning game.

Haig held Purdue to a .100 batting average in the contest and compiled a WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) of 0.57. He needed just 76 pitches, throwing 61.8 percent of them for strikes, in Illinois' first two-hitter since March 5, 2005.