March 14, 2002

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Quick Hits - Illinois is off to its third 4-1 start in the last four years . . . Illinois saw its planned trip to Lexington, Ky., cancelled March 2-3 due to cold weather. The Illini had been scheduled to play three games in Lexington, two against Kentucky and one vs. Miami (Ohio) . . . Illini ace Andy Dickinson enters this week with a personal seven-game winning streak intact . . . Junior first baseman Andy Schutzenhofer has now started 125 straight games, or every game except the first of his freshman season . . . That streak is the third-longest in school history, ranking behind only Tim Richardson's 232 straight starts from 1980-83 and Brian McClure's 167 straight from 1994-96 . . . Schutzenhofer has also started 75 straight at first base and 57 straight in the three-hole of the line-up . . . Other notable consecutive start streaks include senior third baseman Luke Simmons with 79 straight starts at third and DH and junior shortstop T.F. Meagher with 56 straight starts . . . Illinois was hit by a pitch 15 times over the three-game series at UTPA. Both Simmons and Meagher tied the school single-game record by being hit by a pitch three times in one game . . . Every regular starter with the exception of Schutzenhofer was hit at least once in the series . . . Illnois has 10 stolen bases through its first five games. It took until game10 last season for Illinois to swipe its seventh base. Brandon Cashman leads the team with four swipes in four attempts, while Patrick Arlis and Joe Parenti have two apiece.

The Week's Matchups - Illinois faces a slew of new opponents over its Spring Break trip to Bradenton, Fla. Of the five games, four are against teams Illinois has never faced before, including Dartmouth, UMass, Wright State and Northeastern. Bucknell, Illinois' opening game opponent, is the only team the Illini have squared off against. Illinois leads the overall series between the schools, 1-0, an 18-6 decision at last year's Johnny Quik Classic in Fresno, Calif.

Outfielders Make Immediate Impact - Illinois' two new outfielders, transfer Brandon Cashman and freshman Drew Davidson, have made an immediate impact with their play. Hitting out of the seven-hole, Cashman owns both a game-winning run and RBI. He won game three at Texas-Pan Am with a ninth-inning double. Davidson, meanwhile, is hitting a team-leading .455 with a .955 slugging percentage, three home runs, a triple and four RBI. He led off both games of Illinois' doubleheader at Louisville with home runs and added a game-winning homer in the game against Kent State.

Gotta Have An Ace - Illini ace Andy Dickinson started his season just where the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year ended it last year - in dominating fashion. In Illinois' season-opener Dickinson allowed a run in the first inning and then shut down the Bronc attack over the next six frames, allowing only one run in seven innings while striking out eight. He followed that up with a win over Louisville March 9, throwing eight-plus innings for a 6-5 win, the 21st of his career. Game W/L CG IP H R ER K Inning 1st R Allowed UTPA W - 7.0 5 1 1 8 1st L'ville W - 8.2 10 5 5 6 1st

Defending the Crown - Illini seniors Andy Dickinson and Luke Simmons are both defending Big Ten crowns this season. Dickinson is the defending Big Ten Pitcher of the Year and Simmons won both the Big Ten batting and RBI titles a year ago. Dickinson is the first Big Ten pitcher with a shot at defending his pitcher of the year title since OSU's Justin Fry won the award as a sophomore in 1999, and Simmons is the first Big Ten hitter to defend his batting title since OSU's Jason Trott won the title three-straight years, from 1997-99.

Winning Game One - If there's one thing the Illinois baseball team counts on, it's winning game one of its Big Ten series. From 1997-2001, with Big Ten Pitchers of the Year Brett Weber (97-98), Jason Anderson (99-00) and Andy Dickinson (01-02) on the mound, Illinois has won game one 25 of 34 times in conference play. And when the Illini got the first win out of the way on Friday, the team has gone on to win 16 of the 25 series, and of the nine the team has not won, the Orange and Blue split five and lost four. In the nine series in which Illinois did not win on Friday, the Illini have been unable to come back a win a series, instead splitting four and losing five.

Home Sweet Home - Illini ace Andy Dickinson owns a personal nine-game winning streak at Illinois Field. The senior has a career 9-1 record pitching at home, with his only loss coming in relief against Ohio State in 1999. Dickinson was 3-0 at home in 2000 and 6-0 at Illinois Field last season. Dickinson continues a long tradition of Illini aces protecting their home park - Jason Anderson (98-00) posted a career 13-0 record at Illinois Field and Brett Weber (95-98) was 15-3 in his career at home.

The .300 Streak - Illinois has hit .300 as a team for four straight seasons. The Illini just made it last year, hitting .300 as a team. Illinois also hit .316 in 2000, .338 in 1999 and a school-record .347 in 1998. That '98 batting average ranked ninth in the nation, and the 1999 team's .339 mark was good for 12th-best in the country. Illinois fell just short of having a five-year streak after hitting .299 in 1997.

The Class of 2002 - The fourth-year members of Illinois' Class of 2002 (Andy Dickinson, Justin Olson and Luke Simmons) are attempting to become the fourth-consecutive Illini baseball class to advance to the Big Ten Tournament all fours years of their eligibility. The three classes before them to accomplish the feat ('99, '00, '01) are the first to have done so in school history. The only other senior classes in the Big Ten with a chance to accomplish the same feat of four straight appearances this year are the classes at Minnesota and Ohio State.

Seeking Seven - 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 six Big Ten Tournaments, the longest streak since Minnesota qualified for six-straight tournaments from 1990-95. Last season Illinois made it close, wrapping up the fifth seed on the last weekend of Big Ten play. During the streak, Illinois has won the conference outright once (1998), taken home one tournament title (2000) and finished second twice (1996, 98).

Illini Debuts - Eight players made their Illini debuts in the season-opening series at Texas-Pan American. Two started every game: freshman left fielder Drew Davidson and transfer Brandon Cashman. One, freshman Dusty Bensko, started games two and three at designated hitter and another, transfer Brett Wicker, started game two at second base and appeared in all three games. Freshman James Morris and transfers Josh Lane and Ted Rowe all made it into games out of the bullpen, and catcher Sean Patrick also pinch hit on Friday in his first appearance for Illinois.

Big Ten Career Honors - There are a number of Illini on this year's team who have Big Ten honors under their belts. Andy Dickinson was the 2001 conference Pitcher of the Year and a first-team All-Big Ten selection. The other first-team All-Big Ten selection on the team is first baseman Andy Schutzenhofer, who was voted to that honor in 2000. Others with career Big Ten honors include: Schutzenhofer (second-team All-Big Ten 2001), Luke Simmons (second-team All-Big Ten 1999 and 2000, third-team All-Big Ten 2001), Dickinson (Big Ten Pitcher of the Week 3/26/01), Patrick Arlis (Big Ten Player of the Week (4/2/01).

Wiffle Ball Sundays - Every Sunday during the home season the Illinois baseball players play Wiffle Ball with children eighth grade and under on the field after the game. The tradition, which started two years ago based on an idea from former Illini catcher Jeff Gertz and current third baseman Luke Simmons, was judged one of the best promotions in college baseball by Collegiate Baseball magazine.

Preseason Predictions - Baseball America has picked Illinois to finish third in the Big Ten and advance to the NCAA Regionals as an at-large team. Baseball America picked Ohio State to win the Big Ten and Minnesota to finish ahead of the Illini. In addition, Baseball America picked Illini returning ace Andy Dickinson as a member of its all-conference team, as well as tabbing Dickinson as the pitcher with the best control in the conference. Illini outfield newcomers Drew Davidson (1st) and Brandon Cashman (3rd) were rated two of the top three newcomers to the conference, while Davidson was also named the preseason Freshman of the Year in the conference. Catcher Patrick Arlis was named the seventh-best prospect in the Big Ten along with being named the best defensive catcher in the league and the catcher with the best arm in the Big Ten.

Returning Offensive Production - Illinois returns the majority of its offensive firepower this season, most notably in the bats of third baseman Luke Simmons and first baseman Andy Schutzenhofer. Simmons won the Big Ten batting title with a .426 average in conference play last year, while Schutzenhofer hit .392 on the year to up his career average to .383, which ranks second in school history to Major League all-star catcher Darrin Fletcher. Other notable returnees to the starting line-up include catcher Patrick Arlis, who hit .308 a year ago, shortstop T.F. Meagher (.278) and right fielder Joe Parenti, who missed last year due to injury but hit .314 as a freshman in 2000.

Returning Pitching - Headlining the returning pitchers is defending Big Ten Pitcher of the Year Andy Dickinson. The senior, who went 11-1 a year ago to win the honor, is the first Big Ten athlete with a chance to defend his Pitcher of the Year title since Ohio State's Justin Fry won the award as a sophomore in 1997. Other returning pitchers include sophomore Tim Gorski, who stepped into the No. 2 slot in the rotation by the end of the year, seniors Justin Olson and Josh Gold and sophomore Reilly Smith. Sophomore Joe Ziemba, who was Illinois' No. 3 starter in 2000 before going down with an elbow injury, also returns after having missed all of the 2001 season and should figure into the conference rotation.

Summer Ball - University of Illinois baseball players compete in some of the most prestigious collegiate summer leagues every year and this coming summer will be no exception. Twenty-three of Illinois' top underclassmen will suit up for various summer leagues as far north as Alaska, east as New Jersey and south as North Carolina. Below is a tentative list of which players are going where.

Alaska Baseball League:
Peninsula Oilers - Tim Gorski, Andy Schutzenhofer

Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League:
New Jersey Colts - Josh Lane, Joe Parenti

Central Illinois Collegiate League:
Decatur Blues - Brian Raymond, Quincy Gems - Ted Rowe, Springfield Rifles - Dusty Bensko, Twin City Stars - Dave Mazurek

Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League:
Lake Erie Monarchs - Vince DiMaria, Trevor Frederickson

Northwoods League:
Alexandria Beetles - Brandon Cashman, Rochester Honkers - Jimmy Conroy, Pat Flynn, Brett Wicker, Waterloo Bucks - Patrick Arlis, Brian Blomquist, Drew Davidson, Chad Frk, Wausau Woodchucks - James Morris, Sean Patrick

Virginia Valley League
Harrisonburg Turks - Craig Lechowicz, T.F. Meagher, Joe Ziemba

Line of Aces - Over the past four seasons Illinois' aces have accomplished something never before done in the Big Ten - take home three of the four Big Ten Pitcher of the Year awards handed out in that time span. Brett Weber ('98), Jason Anderson ('00) and Andy Dickinson ('01) have raised the bar in defining what it takes to be an Illinois ace. In the years they won the Pitcher of the Year award, the three posted a 16-3 combined record in game one of the Big Ten series' they pitched in. In addition, they led Illinois to two NCAA Regional appearances and posted a 4-1 combined record in the postseason during the year they were named the Pitcher of the Year.

All-Americans in the 1990's - The University of Illinois has had more baseball players (20 in all) earn All-American honors in the past decade than any other school in the Big Ten Conference. Returning Big Ten Pitcher of the Year Andy Dickinson enters this year with two preseason All-American accolades, earning second-team preseason honors from Collegiate Baseball and third-team preseason honors from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association of America after earning third-team All-America honors following last seaosn. Illinois also has two former freshmen All-Americans on this year's squad - first baseman Andy Schutzenhofer (Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball, 2000) and third baseman Luke Simmons (Collegiate Baseball 1999).

You're Listening to Fighting Illini Baseball . . . 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' home games and the majority of road games, starting after the Spring Trip. Games can be heard on the Illini Sports Network and, courtesy of the Fighting Illini Dugout Club, live on the internet at www.fightingillini.com.

This is Illinois Baseball - Illinois Baseball has 20 All-Americans in the last decade - more than any other school in the Big Ten Conference . . . Illinois Baseball is the only Big Ten team to have qualified for the past six Big Ten Tournaments . . . Illinois Baseball's 2,106 all-time wins rank 11th in NCAA Division I Baseball history . . . Illinois Baseball has hit over .300 as a team the past four years, ranking ninth in the country in 1998 with a school-record .347 team batting average, 12th in the country in 1999 with a .338 team batting average, hitting .316 as a team in 2000 and .300 as a team in 2001 . . . Illinois Baseball has had three Big Ten Players of the Year and three Big Ten Pitchers of the Year in the 1990s . . . Illinois Baseball has 70 Academic All-Big Ten selections over the last 11 years . . . Illinois Baseball has 27 Big Ten Championships in the program's history.