2021 Baseball Roster
Jersey Number 25
Nathan Lavender
- Position:
- LHP
- Class:
- Sophomore
- Height:
- 6-2
- Weight:
- 210
- Hometown:
- Hudson, Ill.
- High School:
- El Paso Gridley
MLB Draft
- 2021 MLB Draft - 14th Round - New York Mets
Career Highs
- Innings pitched: 6.0, at Rutgers, May 29, 2021 ; at Iowa, May 15, 2021 ; at Indiana, Apr 09, 2021
- Strikeouts: 13, at Iowa, May 15, 2021
- Walks allowed: 4, Illinois State, Mar 24, 2019
- Batters faced: 25, 4 times - last at Iowa, May 15, 2021
- Field chances: 2, Coastal Carolina, Apr 03, 2019 ; Illinois State, Mar 24, 2019
- Assists: 2, Illinois State, Mar 24, 2019
- Runners CS: 1, Penn State, May 22, 2021 ; Michigan State, Apr 17, 2021
Sophomore - 2021
- Academic All-Big Ten
- Pitched in 13 games with nine starts
- 7-2, 4.11 ERA, 57.0 IP, 15 BB, 79 SO
- First Illinois pitcher to start a season 5-0 since RHP John Kravetz in 2015
- Big Ten Sportsmanship Award
- Led the conference in strikeout/walk ratio (5.27)
- Tied for the conference lead with seven wins
- Sixth in the conference in strikeouts per nine innings (12.47)
- Led the team in wins and strikeouts
- W, GS, 6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 10 SO at Rutgers 5/29/21
- W, GS, 6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 3 BB, career-high 13 SO at Iowa 5/15/21
- Made his first start since 4/30/19 at SIU against Nebraska 4/2/21
- W, 4.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 9 SO vs. Northwestern 3/26/21
- W, 3.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 6 SO at No. 13 Michigan 3/19/21
Sophomore - 2020 (COVID-19 Shortened)
- Missed the season with an injury
- No. 5 MLB Draft prospect for 2021 in the Big Ten by Baseball America
- No. 18 MLB Draft prospect for 2021 in the Big Ten by D1Baseball
Freshman - 2019
- 1-2, 4.08 ERA, 28.2 IP, .202 BAA, 24 BB, 37 SO
- Fourth on the team with a .202 batting average against
- Sixth on the team with 37 strikeouts
- First career win at Saint Louis 3/20/19
- First career appearance at Coastal Carolina 3/1/19
- 4.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 6 K during the six-game foreign trip to Curaçao and Aruba
High School
- Four-year letterwinner
- Played for head coach Mike Souhrada at El Paso Gridley
- No. 11 recruit in Illinois by Prep Baseball Report
- No. 5 left-handed pitcher in Illinois by Prep Baseball Report
- 7-1, 0.85 ERA in high school
- 2017 all-state
- 2017 all-conference
- Also golfed in high school and was a two-time conference champion
- Volunteered at nursing homes playing music
- Volunteered on construction projects, including building a church in Bloomington
- Committed to Illinois in the fall of his junior year
- Chose Illinois over Missouri State, Indiana State, Michigan State, Purdue and Southern Illinois
Personal
- Born Jan. 20, 2000
- Son of Jim and Lisa Lavender
- Father, Jim, played baseball at Marian College
- Uncle, Darrin Frye, played baseball at Marian College
- Cousin, Ryan Frye, played baseball at Evangel University
- One younger brother, Caleb
- Majoring in political science
- Aspires to pursue a career in law following his playing career
- Enjoys classical music and plays instruments, including the piano
- Chose Illinois because, "the stellar education they offer and because of the solid athletic program I will enjoy being a part of. Also, I chose Illinois due to the prime location in the heart of Illinois."
Wednesday, March 19
Thursday, February 13
Monday, December 09
Friday, September 22
