April 9, 2012
PARK RIDGE, Ill. -
Illinois junior Matt Milroy was named Big Ten Co-Pitcher of the Week and redshirt-freshman second baseman/pitcher Reid Roper was named Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Week for their performances in the Illini's series victory over Indiana this weekend, the conference office announced Monday.
Milroy struck out a career-high 10 in five innings of scoreless relief on Sunday, while Roper hit .455 in the series. It is the first career weekly honor for both players, Illinois' second Big Ten Pitcher of the Week award this season and the team's third Freshman of the Week honor in 2012. Milroy shares the honor with Purdue's Joe Haase, while Roper shares his honor with Ohio State's Patrick Porter. Iowa's Phil Keppler was named Big Ten Player of the Week.
Milroy was phenomenal in lifting the Illini to the series victory on Sunday, striking out 10 of the 21 Hoosiers he faced over five innings of relief, the most strikeouts by a single pitcher at Illinois Field since 2004. He struck out the side in both the third and sixth innings, and fanned five straight Indiana hitters across the fifth and sixth. He gave up just one hit to a right-handed batter (1-for-8) and allowed the Hoosiers to hit only .176 against him. He didn't allow a hit with two outs (0-for-5) and only gave up one hit with men on base (1-for-10).
Roper has heated up recently, hitting .455 (5-for-11) during the Indiana series and adding a 2-for-4 effort against Bradley on April 3 to hit .467 on the week. He drove in three runs and scored twice over the course of the week, and added a double and a triple for a .667 slugging percentage. He recorded three multiple-hit games and pitched a perfect ninth inning on Sunday to seal the Illini series victory. He also was clutch, going 3-for-4 with runners and scoring position and 3-for-4 with two outs over the weekend.
The Illini return to action on Tuesday, when the host Eastern Illinois at 6 p.m. to wrap up a season-long eight-game home stand. Illinois then travels to St. Louis to take on Missouri at Busch Stadium at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday in the second-annual Battle at Busch.
