Come Thursday afternoon when his baseball team takes the field at Purdue, Illinois head coach Dan Hartleb said he will tell his players the same thing he’s told them all season.
The Ohio State Buckeyes beat the Illini baseball team, 12-7, in Champaign on Sunday afternoon to seize control of the Big Ten race, despite Illinois senior center fielder Joe Bonadonna’s 2-for-3, four-RBI performance.
In front of a record crowd, the Illini baseball team took game one of a three game series vs. Ohio State in dramatic fashion. Click the audio icon for a game recap.
The Illinois baseball team lost 10-7 in a hard-fought contest against Ohio State on Saturday afternoon. With the loss, the Illini (32-15), 15-5 Big Ten) now trail Minnesota by a half-game in the conference race. Ohio State (35-14, 14-6) trails the Gophers by 1 1/2 games.
Illinois head coach Dan Hartleb didn’t shy away from voicing his thoughts to home plate umpire Mark Winters after a questionable call in the bottom of the ninth inning in a 10-inning, 4-3 home loss to Evansville.
After a late rally gave the Illinois baseball team a 10-7 lead at Indiana State, the Sycamores put together a rally of their own, defeating the Illini 11-10.
Junior catcher Aaron Johnson batted 2-for-4 with one RBI and freshman Willie Argo hit 3-for-4 with three RBIs in leading Illinois to a 7-3 win in University Park, Pa.
The midweek woes continued for the Illinois baseball team Tuesday night, as the Illini lost 11-10 at St. Louis. The Illini (23-12), who have gone 4-2 in their last two weekends, have lost their last three weeknight contests.
The Illini are 22-2-1 all-time against the Billikens, and their formidable batting order hopes to produce plenty of runs and avoid a midweek letdown in this year's contest.
