April 30, 2009

Illinois-Northwestern series notes

#28 Illinois at Northwestern
Rocky Miller Park // Evanston, Ill.
May 1 // 3:05 pm
May 2 // 1:05 pm
May 3 // 1:05 pm

Series Insider
#28 Illinois (27-13, 11-4 Big Ten) at Northwestern (12-27, 3-10 Big Ten)
Live Stats: Gametracker on fightingillini.com
Radio: Games 2 and 3 on WDWS AM-1400 (PBP: Dave Loane; Color: Ben Taylor)
Live Audio: Available on fightingillini.com
Series: Illinois leads 153-82
Games in Evanston: Illinois leads 67-54
Last Season: Illinois won the series 3-1
Streak: W2

Game 1 Probables
Illinois: Phil Haig (LHP, 5-2, 5.16 ERA)
Northwestern: Joe Muraski (LHP, 3-4, 5.03 ERA)

Game 2 Probables
Illinois: Ben Reeser (RHP, 3-0, 2.55 ERA)
Northwestern: Eric Jokisch (LHP, 3-5, 4.54 ERA)

Game 3 Probables
Illinois: Bryan Roberts (RHP, 4-2, 6.40 ERA)
Northwestern: Zach Morton (RHP, 1-5, 4.93 ERA)

Illinois is...
...24-3 when leading after the seventh inning
...14-4 when scoring in the first inning
...18-7 when scoring first
...18-3 when out-hitting its opponent
...17-4 when a starter gets the decision
...20-3 when holding an opponent to 5 or fewer runs
...outscoring its opponents 51-13 in the 6th inning
...22-5 when making equal or fewer errors than its opponents

Illini Line Drives
• Illini Off to Hot Start: Illinois is 27-13 with three weeks remaining in the season, the fourth-best record over the first 40 games of a season since the schedule expanded to 40+ games in 1975. For a list of best 40-game records since 1975, see page 3.

• Illinois Slays the Giants: The Fighting Illini have found success against ranked foes in 2009, going 4-3 against ranked opponents with series victories against then-No. 1 LSU and then-No. 23 Minnesota. Illlinois dropped a 5-1 contest to No. 29 Eastern Illinois on April 14.

• Illini Collect Weekly Honors: Illinois has had a school-record six Big Ten Player or Pitcher of the Week honors already this season, with four position players and two pitchers earning the awards. Most recently, DH Willie Argo was named Big Ten Player of the Week on April 27. For a complete list, see page 4.

• Illini Become Lion-tamers: Illinois swept a three-game series at Penn State last weekend, the first time the Illini have ever swept the Nittany Lions and Illinois' first Big Ten road sweep since 2000. The Illini now are tied for the Big Ten lead with Ohio State.

• Illinois Returns to National Polls: The Fighting Illini re-entered the Collegiate Baseball rankings on April 27 at No. 28, marking the fifth time Illinois has been ranked this season. The Illini first jumped into the CB poll at No. 21 on March 9, moved to No. 19 on March 16, slipped to No. 25 on March 23 and were No. 26 on March 30 before falling out of the rankings the following week.

• Argo Mauls Nittany Lions: Freshman DH Willie Argo hammered Penn State pitching last weekend, hitting .667 with three homers, a double and a triple for a 1.667 slugging percentage and a 2.359 on-base-plus-slugging percentage. He had a two-homer game on Saturday and earned Big Ten Player of the Week honors on April 27.

• Argo Drops Bombs in Bunches: Willie Argo leads Illinois and ranks seventh in the Big Ten with nine home runs, but six of them have come in two weekend series. Argo hit three homers in his first career game, March 7 at then-No. 1 LSU, and blasted three more dingers at Penn State April 24-26. He also homered against Akron (3/14) and Army (3/20).

• Dom Delivers Daily: Third baseman Dominic Altobelli has hit 19-for-37 (.514) in the last 10 games with eight multiple-hit games and seven consecutive two-hit games to raise his average 51 points. He has 13 RBIs and 16 runs in that span with six walks and only three strikeouts. He's scored a run and had a hit in each of Illinois' last 10 games.

• Big Mac Attack: Left fielder Casey McMurray also has picked up the offensive production of late, going 17-for-46 (.370) with 10 RBIs and 10 runs in the last 10 games to raise his average 23 points after seeing it dip below .300 for the first time since March 6. He currently has a 44-game streak in which he has reached base safely, dating back to May 17, 2008.

• Martin Mows Down Opponents: Starter-turned-closer Aaron Martin has been extremely effective out of the bullpen this year, going 2-1 with three saves and a 1.95 ERA in 26 2/3 innings of relief. Wednesday marked the first earned runs he had allowed since March 20, a string of 13 2/3 innings over nine appearances.

• Wikoff Proves to Be Pesky: Shortstop Brandon Wikoff was kept off base against No. 29 Eastern Illinois on April 14, the first time all season he hadn't reached base in a game, breaking a streak of 29 games this season and 30 counting the 2008 finale. In 2009, Wikoff has reached base in 39 of 40 games.

• Play Me a Little Ditty: First baseman Matt Dittman, known as "Ditty" to his teammates, had an 11-game hitting streak from April 4-19. At Michigan, he earned Big Ten Player of the Week honors by hitting .545 (6-for-11) with a .909 slugging percentage, four RBIs and four runs.

• Wikoff Won't Go Down Swinging: Shortstop Brandon Wikoff defies the cliché, as he won't go down swinging. In the latest NCAA stats (4/28), he ranked as the third-toughest hitter to strike out in the nation, whiffing once every 26.0 at bats.

• Dom Does it All Versus Gophers: Senior third baseman Dominic Altobelli did a little bit of everything against No. 23 Minnesota, hitting .500 (6-for-12) with seven RBIs, seven runs, a double and a homer. He also hit .571 with runners on base, was 4-for-4 with two outs, advanced runners in 8-of-8 opportunities and reached base when leading off an inning in 4-of-5 opportunities. In addition, six of his seven RBIs came with two outs.

• Joey B. Gets Going: Senior center fielder Joe Bonadonna continued his career trend of being a Gopher killer, hitting .538 against Minnesota with two doubles and six runs. He had two multiple-hit games in the series, hit .400 with runners in scoring position and reached base to lead off an inning in 3-of-6 chances.

• Wikoff Makes History: Brandon Wikoff became the first Illini to hit for the cycle since 1990 on April 7 when he accomplished the feat against Bradley. He popped out in the first inning before singling in the third, homering in the fourth, doubling in the fifth and tripling in the seventh. Sean Mulligan was the last Illini to hit for the cycle, doing it against Michigan on Feb. 25, 1990.

• Is That Weapon Registered?: Left fielder Casey McMurray collected four outfield assists in Illinois' four games from April 11-15, throwing out two runners at second and two more at home plate. Not to be outdone, right fielder Pete Cappetta hosed two runners at the plate in the series opener against No. 23 Minnesota and center fielder Joe Bonadonna nailed a runner trying to stretch a double into a triple in that same game. For the season, McMurray leads the team with six outfield assists on the season, Cappetta and Bonadonna each have three and Nick Stockwell has two.

• Illini Face Tough Early Big Ten Slate: Illinois faced the third-toughest first half of the Big Ten schedule by opponents' winning percentage. The Illini faced a schedule with a .543 percentage, behind only Penn State (.587) and Minnesota (.545). For a full list, see page 6.

• Illini Break Out Bats in Big Ten Play: After scoring only 12 runs in its previous four Big Ten games, Illinois has exploded for exploded for 81 runs in its last eight conference games.

• Zerrusen Finds Work: Sophomore pitcher Lee Zerrusen has made the most of his opportunities lately, pitching 33 2/3 innings over 10 appearances in the last 28 games after throwing only two innings in Illinois' first 14 games this year. He's 2-0 with a 4.71 ERA and a save in 21 innings over five Big Ten appearances.

• M-A-R-T-I-N Spells Relief: Senior pitcher Aaron Martin has taken to his relief role this season after starting for most of his first three years. He's 2-1 with three saves and a 1.95 ERA in 27 2/3 innings out of the pen this year, allowing only 19 hits with 21 strikeouts.

• Road Warriors: While Illinois has only played 12 true road games, the Illini are 8-4 in those contests, including 2-1 at then-No. 1 LSU. Willie Argo leads the Illini with a .459 road average, six homers, 16 RBIs and 13 runs, while Aaron Johnson is hitting .390 with three homers, 13 RBIs and nine runs. The Illini are fielding .971 on the road and Phil Haig has a 2.25 ERA in 28 innings on the road this season.

• Pitchers Turn it Around: Illinois currently has a 4.91staff ERA after finishing 2008 with a staff ERA of 6.44. More impressively, the Illini have a 3.22 ERA in games they have won, allowing just 86 earned runs in 27 games. The Illini are third as a team in the league ERA race.

• 4 is the Magic Number: The Illini have had six players collect a total of eight four-hit games this season, with Brandon Wikoff doing it three times and Casey McMurray, Joe Bonadonna, Dominic Altobelli, Josh Parr and Willie Argo each getting four hits in a game once. Wikoff and Altobelli both had four hits in the series-opener against Indiana, Wikoff had four hits in the second game at No. 1 LSU and also against Bradley on April 7. Parr collected four hits at Texas-Pan American on Feb. 27, Willie Argo had four hits in the series finale at Michigan on April 12 and, most recently, McMurray had four hits at Penn State on April 25.

Illini Visits Northwestern for Big Ten Series
After a mid-week split, No. 28 Illinois looks to stay atop the Big Ten when it travels to Northwestern for a three-game weekend series. The Illini had a four-game winning streak snapped with an 11-10 loss at Indiana State Wednesday and look to start May strong after going 11-8 in the month of April. Illinois has won seven of its last eight Big Ten games, resulting in three consecutive series wins.

Northwestern has lost four of its last six games and seven of its last 12, including nine of its last 11 conference games. The Wildcats showed some heart last weekend against Big Ten leader Ohio State, though, leading late in all three games and winning the series finale.

Illinois/Northwestern Series History
Illinois leads the all-time series with Northwestern, 153-82, including a 67-54 advantage in Evanston. The Illini have won the past two series the teams have played and head coach Dan Hartleb is 7-5 against the Wildcats after NU won the series in 2006 with three wins coming by a total of six runs. Illinois also swept the series in 2005, but the Illini and Wildcats have played competitive series since 2000, with Illinois winning five of the nine series.

Last Week: Illini Split Midweek After PSU Sweep
The Illini ran their winning streak to four with a 5-1 win over Southern Illinois on Tuesday, thanks to a fourth-inning grand slam from Willie Argo. Brandon Wikoff also homered in the inning and five pitchers combined to scatter eight hits. Wikoff and Dominic Altobelli both were 2-for-4. On Wednesday, the Illini staged a four-run ninth-inning rally only to fall short, 11-10, at Indiana State after the Sycamores posted a four-run frame in the bottom of the ninth on five walks and two singles. Josh Parr tied the game with a base hit up the middle and Wikoff dealt the big blow with a two-run double before coming home on Altobelli's single to give Illinois a 10-7 lead. But the Illini couldn't manage an out in the bottom half as Indiana State increased its winning streak to eight and improved to 28-13 on the year.

Illinois continued its strong play in Big Ten action with a three-game sweep at Penn State, the Illini's first sweep in State College in school history and the first time the Nittany Lions had been swept in their three-year-old ballpark. DH Willie Argo hit .667 with a 1.667 slugging percentage and a 2.359 on-base-plus-slugging percentage after hitting five extra-base hits, including three homers. Third baseman Dominic Altobelli also hit .600 with a .900 slugging percentage as Illinois hit .355 as a team. The Illini also committed two errors on the weekend and compiled a 3.00 team ERA. Five Illini relievers combined to pitch 6 1/3 shutout innings of relief, allowing three hits and a walk with six strikeouts.

Illinois Arms Shoulder Larger Load
Although it was a question mark heading into the season, pitching has been a strong suit for the Fighting Illini in 2009. Ben Reeser is 3-0 with a 2.55 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 42 1/3 innings, and Will Strack is 4-0 with a 2.94 ERA in 49 innings as a spot starter and key reliever. Meanwhile, Bryan Roberts has 42 strikeouts in 52 innings, and Aaron Martin has allowed six earned runs in 27 2/3 innings of relief work for a 1.95 ERA. In addition, reliever John Anderson has allowed three earned run and 13 hits in 16 1/3 innings.

So far, starters have accounted for 59.4 percent of Illinois' innings and have 24 outings of six innings or more. In Big Ten play, starters have accounted for 69.9 percent of innings with 13 outings of 6-plus innings in 15 conference games.

*Complete series notes available in above PDF file.