April 7, 2000

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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Illinois swept Northwestern over a four-game series this weekend in Evanston. Illinois won game one, 5-0, behind a two-hit complete game from ace Jason Anderson. Illinois would go on to win the final three games of the series in extra innings. In the second game, Brady Ballard hit a solo home run in the top of the ninth and Matt Vorwald closed out the bottom half of the inning to earn the win. In game three, Jeff Gertz executed a perfect suicide squeeze to plate pinch runner Greg Belcher, also in the ninth inning. Vorwald would come in again to earn the win, his second of the day. In game four, it was Craig Marquie's turn to lay down the suicide and he did so, scoring Joe Parenti in the 13th. Illinois would go on to add two more insurance runs as Joe Sprengard picked up the win, his second of the season.

Anderson Big Ten Pitcher of the Week
Illini ace Jason Anderson was named Big Ten Pitcher of the Week after posting two wins last week, breaking into Illinois' career wins top 10. Anderson is 20-3 in his career at Illinois, good for fourth place on the career winning percentage list and sixth on the career wins list. Anderson is 10-1 in his career in Big Ten games. He threw the first two-hitter of his career Friday in Evanston, shutting out the Wildcats, 5-0. It was his third career shutout and his third in Big Ten play. He lowered his overall ERA by more than a point last week, to 3.99, and he owns a miniscule 0.56 ERA over two starts and 16 innings of work in conference.

Gertz Making Life Difficult on the Basepaths
Ask the Illinois coaching staff and they'll tell you they were thrilled when Jeff Gertz threw out 46.5 percent of potential base stealers last year (25 of 54). Ask them this year and they're just as happy, as the junior has already thrown out 16 (or 48 percent) of the runners who have tried to steal a base on him this year. In his two-year career at Illinois, Gertz has thrown out 41 of 87 runners, or 47 percent over his career.

Basak Big Ten Player of the Week
Illinois junior shortstop Chris Basak earned the team's first Big Ten Conference honors of the year when he was named Big Ten Player of the Week March 27 for his efforts against Iowa. Basak hit .500 over the week with five doubles against the Hawkeyes along with flawless play in the field.

Illini Start Big Ten Quick for Fifth Consecutive Year
By winning three of four from Iowa in the first weekend of conference play, Illinois made it five years in a row that the team has won at least three games in its opening conference series. In 1996, Illinois swept Michigan State in a four-game set at Illinois Field, while Illinois took three of four games in both 1997 (against Michigan State) and in 1998 (against Michigan). In 1999, Illinois swept Michigan State over a four-game set to open Big Ten play. All of those games have taken place at Illinois Field.

Illinois (20-8/7-1) vs. MICHIGAN (9-15-1/2-6)
Friday, April 7, 2000 - 6:35 p.m.
Champaign, Ill. - Illinois Field

probable starting line-up

illinois

Illinois/Michigan at a Glance

Illinois
Head Coach: Itch Jones
34th year overall/10th year at Illinois

2000 Record: 20-8
2000 Big Ten Record: 7-1
1999 Record: 34-22
1999 Big Ten Record: 15-12/3rd

Michigan
Head Coach: Geoff Zahn
5th year overall/5th year at Michigan

2000 Record: 9-15-1
2000 Big Ten Record: 2-6
1999 Record: 34-30
1999 Big Ten Record: 15-13/4th

Comparing the Teams

University of illinois

Top Three Hitters

Top Three Pitchers

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

Top Three Hitters

Top Three Pitchers

Seniors Vying to Become Winningest Class
The Class of 2000 is attempting to become the winningest class in the history of Illinois Baseball in Big Ten games. The Class of 2000 enters the season with a 112-70/.615 overall record and 51-28/.646 mark in Big Ten play. The 2000 team will need to win 18 conference games to take over the record, which is currently held by the Class of 1999, which posted a 68-38/.642 record in its four years of conference play. The winningest class in terms of overall winning percentage was the Class of 1987 that posted a 158-83/.656 record and the winningest class in terms of overall wins was the Class of 1985 with a 164-87/.653 record.

Illinois Looking for Fifth Consecutive Big Ten Winning Season
The University of Illinois baseball team is attempting to claim its fifth-consecutive winning season in Big Ten play this year. The last time Illinois put together five consecutive winning seasons in Big Ten play was from 1943-1953, an 11-year stretch of winning seasons in conference.

Anderson Anchors Pitching Corps
Right-hander Jason Anderson, a second-team preseason All-American, returns to Illinois for his junior campaign in 2000. The Danville, Ill., native is beginning his third year as a mainstay in the Illini rotation and second as the staff ace. He has a 20-3 career record and he was 9-2 a year ago. After his 5-0 two-hit complete game win over Northwestern last week, Anderson improved his Big Ten record to 10-1 over three years. His only conference loss was a 1-0 decision over Northwestern on an unearned run. The 1999 first-team All-Big Ten selection ranks fourth on Illinois' career winning percentage list and sixth on Illinois' career wins list.

Vorwald Finding Success as Closer
Illinois sophomore Matt Vorwald has stepped into the closing role for the Illini this season. A starter who was injured from the start of Big Ten play a year ago, Vorwald opened the season closing as part of his rehab. But it's working so well the coaches may keep him there permanently. Vorwald has a team-low 1.91 ERA and a 6 -1 record to go along with four saves. He earned his first save at nationally-ranked Houston in March and added another against Iowa before picking up two wins in one day at Northwestern.

Houston Trip a Highlight
When Illinois took two of three games from Houston March 3-5, it marked the first time in the Itch Jones era at Illinois that the team had won a series from a school ranked in the nation's Top 10. Houston, ranked No. 3 in the nation at the time, has since gone on to sweep nationally-ranked USC.

Newcomers Find Their Way into Line-up
A number of Illinois newcomers are seeing significant playing time. Freshman Joe Ziemba is Illinois' game three starter. He earned his first career win over No. 3 Houston and has an ERA of 3.49. Offensively, freshman Andy Schutzenhofer is hitting .365 as a first baseman/DH, and fellow freshman Joe Parenti, an outfielder, is hitting .333. Other newcomers making contributions include outfielder/first baseman Brady Ballard, who has started all but one game and is hitting .350 and pitchers Derek Throneburg and Ryan Kvasnicka.

Returning Offensive Production
The Illinois offense that has been the best in the Big Ten for the past two years should be just as strong this season. Returning starters Craig Marquie (3B), D.J. Svihlik (2B), Chris Basak (SS), Luke Simmons (1B) and Jeff Gertz (C) represent over 50 percent of 1999's hits, runs, RBI, home runs and walks.

Seniors Chase Offensive Records
Jason Anderson isn't the only Illini entering the 2000 campaign with preseason accolades. Craig Marquie and D.J. Svihlik, Illinois' senior leaders in the infield, have no intentions of letting their senior seasons turn into disappointments. Svihlik, a two-time All-American and the 1998 Big Ten Player of the Year, enters the 2000 season among Illinois' career leaders in batting average (9th) and home runs (34). He needs 15 home runs this year to break the Illinois career mark of 48. Marquie, a two-time All-Big Ten selection, ranks among the Illinois career leaders in batting average, hits, runs, home runs, total bases and RBI.

All-Americans in the 1990s
The University of Illinois has had more baseball players (17 in all) earn All-American honors in the past decade than any other school in the Big Ten Conference. Illinois has two All-Americans on this year's squad - right-hander Jason Anderson and second baseman D.J. Svihlik. First baseman Luke Simmons was also named a freshman All-American last season.

Big Ten Tournament Streak
The University of Illinois has the longest current streak of appearances in the Big Ten Tournament of any team in the conference. Illinois has been in the last four Big Ten Tournaments, the first team in conference to put together a four-year streak since both Ohio State and Minnesota appeared in the postseason tournament from 1992-95. And with the tournament expanding to six teams this year, Illinois has a better chance than ever to make it five-straight.

Radio Schedule
This season WDWS AM 1400, the flagship station of Fighting Illini athletics, will broadcast almost 40 Illinois baseball regular season games, in addition to all postseason action. The station will carry all of Illinois' games, both at home and on the road, starting after the Spring Trip. Games WDWS will not carry after the Spring Trip are games at Southern Illinois and Eastern Illinois. Big Ten games played on Friday on the road that start before 4 p.m. central time will be broadcast tape delay Friday evening. Dave Loane, the voice of Fighting Illini baseball, volleyball and women's basketball will call the action all season. WDWS broadcasts of Illinois baseball games can be heard live on the internet at www.fightingillini.com.

Promotional Dates
The Univeristy of Illinois has announced a number of promotional dates for the 2000 baseball season. All season long, any fan eighth grade and under who comes to a game in a baseball uniform will get in free when accompanied by a paying adult. Following is a list of the rest of the 2000 season promotions.

Night Games
The 2000 season will mark the first in which Illinois plays a full schedule under the Illinois Field lights. The lights will allow Illinois to play night games after April 1. Illinois is the third Big Ten school, along with Minnesota and Ohio State, to have lights on its home field.

This is Illinois Baseball
Illinois Baseball has 17 All-Americans in the last decade - more than any other school in the Big Ten Conference . . . Illinois Baseball's last two senior classes have set records for Big Ten wins by a single class . . . Illinois Baseball is the only Big Ten team to have qualified for the past four Big Ten Tournaments . . . Illinois Baseball's 2,041 all-time wins rank 12th in NCAA Division I Baseball history . . . Illinois Baseball has led the Big Ten in offense the past two years, ranking ninth in the country in 1998 with a school-record .347 team batting average and 12th in the country in 1999 with a .338 team batting average . . . Illinois Baseball has had three Big Ten Players of the Year and one Big Ten Pitcher of the Year in the 1990s . . . Illinois Baseball has 52 Academic All-Big Ten selections over the last 10 years . . . Illinois Baseball has 27 Big Ten Championships in the program's history.

National Baseball Polls

Collegiate Baseball (4/3)

Baseball America (4/3)

Big Ten Standings (as of 4/6)

Around the Big Ten This Weekend

Friday, April 7
Michigan at Illinois
Northwestern at Indiana
Ohio State at Minnesota
Penn State at Michigan State
Purdue at Iowa

Saturday, April 8
Michigan at Illinois (DH)
Northwestern at Indiana (DH)
Ohio State at Minnesota (DH)
Penn State at Michigan State (DH)
Purdue at Iowa (DH)

Sunday, April 9
Michigan at Illinois
Northwestern at Indiana
Ohio State at Minnesota
Penn State at Michigan State
Purdue at Iowa

Illinois' Record When . . .