Last weekend the University of Illinois baseball team played a three game series against Saint Louis University at Illinois Field. The Illini swept the series, bringing their all-time record against the Billikens to 27-3-1 and bringing the Illini back above the .500 mark (17-16) for the season. All three games were very well attended, drawing over 1000 fans each game, over 200 on Saturday, which the Illini drew inspiration from. While they are still a young, developing team, the Illini remained focused and composed throughout the weekend which is an encouraging sign as they head into the tail end of the season.
Another encouraging sign for the Illini is that they received contributions from many different players, especially the bottom half of the lineup, which they will need to continue if they hope to compete in the conference tournament at the end of the season.
Leading the offense and now standing with a nine game hitting streak was second baseman Michael Hurwitz who has not gone hitless since April 2 at Nebraska. Also leaving the weekend with hit streaks are shortstop Adam Walton with a five game streak as well as a three game stolen base streak, taking four bases on the weekend and third baseman Trent Hammond who had hits in all three games this weekend.
Solid pitching was also a key in the series sweep with Illinois allowing a total of only seven runs against in the three games played. The three Illini starters, Cody Wedlock, Doug Hayes and Cole Belair all had quality performances and went for at least 5 innings a piece. Perhaps the most significant performances of the weekend were had by member of the Illinois bullpen, who allowed no runs in any of the three games.
The Illini return to action on Tuesday at Eastern Illinois University before returning home to Illinois Field for a weekend in-conference series against Ohio State University who also sits in the bottom half of the conference standings with a 4-5 record, identical to that of the Illini.
See the full gallery here: [gallery sweeps_and_streaks_-_illini_baseball_claims_the_weekend]
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About Tyler: