May 24, 2011
Illinois notes for Big Ten Tournament 
Illinois at Big Ten Tournament
May 26 // vs. TBD // Huntington Park // 6:05 pm // Columbus, Ohio
May 27 // vs. TBD // Huntington Park // TBD // Columbus, Ohio
All times Central
Tournament Insider
No. 1 Illinois (25-25, 15-9 Big Ten) vs. TBD
Radio: WDWS AM-1400 (PBP: Dave Loane; Color: Ben Taylor)
Live Audio: Available on fightingillini.com
Live Stats: Gametracker on fightingillini.com
Game 1 Starter
Illinois: Kevin Johnson (RHP, 2-6, 4.30 ERA)
Game 2 Starter
Illinois: John Anderson (RHP, 6-6, 4.68 ERA)
Game 3 Starter
Illinois: Corey Kimes (LHP, 3-4, 5.81 ERA)
Illinois Is...
...On a 5-game winning streak
...8-2 in its last 10 games
...13-4 in its last 17 games
...14-9 when the bullpen gets the decision
...21-4 when out-hitting its opponent
...22-1 when tied or ahead after the 7th inning
...20-2 when scoring 7 or more runs
...15-7 when holding opponents to 4 or fewer runs
...17-5 when scoring 4 or more runs in an inning
...12-5 when wearing its white uniforms
...Out-scoring opponents 30-7 in the 9th inning
Illini Line Drives
• Illini Share Big Ten Title: The Orange and Blue won a share of the Big Ten title with their sweep of Indiana last weekend, Illinois' first Big Ten championship since winning it outright in 2005. After opening the Big Ten season 4-6, the Illini went 11-3 to tie Michigan State for the league championship. Illinois earned the No. 1 seed in this week's Big Ten Tournament by virtue of its series win over MSU on April 23-24.
• Illini Finish Strong: Illinois has won eight of its last 10 games and 13 of its last 17, the team's best finish to a regular season since the 1998 Illini squad went 9-1 in its last 10 and 14-3 in its last 17. In 1998, Illinois won the Big Ten and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, where they took Florida to the wire before falling, 7-6.
• Illini Heating Up in Stretch Run: After scuffling for much of the season, Illinois has hit its stride in the stretch run. The Illini have won 13 of their last 17 games after losing 11 of their first 15 games in the month of April. Their current 25-25 record is the first time the Orange and Blue have been at the .500 mark since they started the season 3-3 after a series win at Florida Gulf Coast on Feb. 25-27.
• Illini Records Most Series Wins in History: Illinois won six of its eight Big Ten series in 2011, marking the school record for Big Ten series victories. That surpasses the 1990 team, which won five Big Ten series.
• April Struggles Bring May Success: The Illini struggled throughout the month of April, going 8-12 with a .280 team batting average and 5.15 team ERA. But that has changed as the calendar has turned to May, with Illinois holding a 9-3 record so far in May with a .310 team average and 5.43 team ERA. No players have responded to the new month better than Josh Parr and Chris Pack, as Parr is hitting .385 in May compared to .229 in April and Pack has a 1.23 ERA in 14 2/3 IP in May after posting an 8.10 mark in 10 IP in April.
• Bats Come Around Recently: Illinois' offense has started to click in the last 16 games, as the team batting average has jumped 16 points to .282. In that span, the Illini have averaged 10.9 hits and 7.2 runs per game, recording double-digit hits 10 times and double-digit runs five times. Illinois has recorded more than nine hits 13 times in its last 16 games and more than six runs 12 times.
• Dittman Saves Best for Last: Senior first baseman Matt Dittman saved his best effort for his last game at Illinois Field as he hit a two-out, two-run walk-off home run to clinch Illinois' series sweep over Indiana last Saturday, earning Big Ten Player of the Week honors in the process. Dittman went 6-for-10 in the series with two home runs, a double, five RBIs and six runs to lead the Illini offense. He also raised his batting average 20 points in the series.
• `Pistol Pete' Becomes Automatic: Second baseman Pete Cappetta has nearly become automatic at the top of the Illini order lately, raising his average 111 points by hitting .439 in the last 16 games. He earned Big Ten Co-Player of the Week honors on May 2 after hitting .667 with a .714 on-base percentage at Northwestern and went 6-for-12 in the Purdue series. He has 10 multiple-hit games in the last 16, including a four-hit day and three three-hit games, and had a 16-game hit streak in Big Ten play from April 10-May 15 (see page 6). Cappetta finished the Big Ten season second in average in conference games at .403, second in steals (10) and OBP (.478) and tenth in slugging (.545).
• Justin Playing Above Parr: Justin Parr has thrived after being reinserted into the starting lineup at designated hitter against Illinois State on March 30, hitting a blistering .395 in the last 33 games with nine doubles, a triple, 20 RBIs and 18 runs. He had three hits in each game of the Ohio State series, posting a .600 series average with six RBIs and two runs. He won the Big Ten batting title with a .411 average in conference games, ranked second in hits (39) and sixth in on-base percentage (.454). It was the first batting title for an Illinois player since Luke Simmons in 2001.
• Illini Win 5 Consecutive Series: Illinois caught fire at the end of the Big Ten season, winning five straight series over Michigan State, Northwestern, Ohio State, Purdue and Indiana. It is the first time in school history that the Illini have won five consecutive series. The key has been Illinois' above-average play in series finales, going 6-2 in the last game of Big Ten series in 2011.
• Streaking Through 2011: The Fighting Illini have had four losing streaks of three games or more this year and three winning streaks. Illinois lost five straight games from Feb. 27-March 11, four straight from April 2-6 and three in a row from March 13-18 and April 17-23. The Illini put together a five-game winning streak from March 19-April 1, a three-game winning streak from April 23-26 and a five-game winning streak from May 14-present.
• The Difference Between Winning and Losing: Coaches always talk about the fine line between winning and losing, but the difference has been quite obvious for Illinois in 2011. In wins, the Illini have averaged 8.2 runs, 11.9 hits, 7.7 hits allowed and 0.76 errors. In losses, Illinois has averaged 3.4 runs, 7.5 hits, 10.8 hits allowed and 1.4 errors. The Illini are out-scoring their opponents 8.2-4.4 in victories, compared to a 3.4-7.3 deficit in losses. Head coach Dan Hartleb often refers to "moving runners" and Illinois has advanced runners at a .561 rate in wins compared to a .391 rate in defeats.
• Pack Pours it On: Reliever Chris Pack has picked it up recently, going 3-0 with a 1.23 ERA over 14 2/3 innings across seven appearances in May. He has allowed only seven hits while striking out seven and not giving up a walk this month, posting a .140 opponent batting average. He has lowered his ERA by 1.94 runs since April 24, most recently pitching 3 1/3 solid innings of relief on May 20 to pick up the win against Indiana.
Illini Head into Big Ten Tournament as Top Seed
Illinois, winners of eight of its last 10 games, takes the No. 1 seed into the 2011 Big Ten Tournament at Huntington Park in Columbus, Ohio, home of the Triple-A Columbus Clippers. The Illini won a share of the Big Ten title by sweeping Indiana last week as Michigan State took two of three games from Northwestern. Illinois went 11-3 over its final 14 Big Ten games, including a dramatic walk-off home run in the final game of the regular season to tie MSU for the Big Ten title. It is the first time since 2005 that the Illini have grabbed the top seed in the Big Ten Tournament and only the third time since the field was seeded for the first time in 1988 (also 2005, 1998). Illinois returns to the tournament field after a one-year hiatus, marking its sixth Big Ten Tournament appearance in the last seven years and 18th in the 31 years of the event.
Illinois at the Big Ten Tournament
Illinois is 22-29 all-time in the Big Ten Tournament and last won the event in 2000, when the Illini advanced to the Clemson Regional in the NCAA Tournament. Since then, Illinois is 4-12 in the Big Ten Tournament, never winning more than its first game on Wednesday and never advancing past Friday. The Illini have won three Big Ten Tournaments in the history of the event, also taking titles in 1989 and 1990.
Illinois Against the Big Ten Tournament Field
Illinois faced four of the five other teams in the Big Ten Tournament this season, going a combined 7-5. The Illini did not play Minnesota despite being scheduled to face the Gophers in the Metrodome Tournament early in the year. But both teams had to make other plans when the Metrodome roof collapsed and the venue wasn't able to be used for college baseball this spring.
The Illini lost the first Big Ten series of 2011 at Penn State April 1-3, took two of three from Michigan State (April 23-24) and Ohio State (May 6-8) in Champaign and won the series at Purdue May 13-15. Illinois is 25-25 all-time against Penn State, 66-58 against Michigan State, 90-96-2 against Ohio State and 154-76-1 against Purdue. The Illini are 93-104-1 all-time against Minnesota. Full overall statistics from Illinois' 2011 series against tournament opponents can be found at the back of these notes.
*Complete notes available in the above PDF file
