Illinois 2008 schedule released

The Fighting Illini have announced their 2008 schedule which is highlighted by trips to Texas Tech, Baylor, and University of Texas-Pan American. The team will take part in tournaments at Baylor and UTPA while playing a three game set against the Red Raiders of Texas Tech. The team will make their annual spring break trip to Florida from March 14th-21st where they will play six games against Northern schools. The Illini will play conference home series against Michigan, Penn State, Northwestern, and Purdue. They will head on the road to play Michigan State, Indiana, Minnesota, and Ohio State for conference series. The conference tournament will take place from May 21st-24th at the regular season champs field. The full schedule is available here.

Two Illini players honored for Summer Success

The University of Illinois infielders Joe Bonadonna and Brandon Wikoff were recognized for their summer accomplishments. Bonadonna played for the Duluth Huskies in the Northwoods League where he received the Silver Glove Award (top defensive player) for second basemen. He was also named to the league's post season All-Star team. Bonadonna also broke the Northwoods league record for stolen bases in a season with 45 in 56 attempts. Wikoff received accolades from Perfect Game Crosschecker as the 24th best prospect in the Northwoods League and picked up a spot on the post season All-Star team. The full release is available here.

O Canada??

We recently came across some information that Illinois has added another player from Canada for next season in catcher Aaron Johnson from Sussex, New Brunswick. He is now the fourth player in the last seven years from Canada to join the Illinois program. He is following in the footsteps of Lars Davis who was a third round pick of the Colorado Rockies in 2007. Johnson is currently playing for the Lethbridge Bulls in the Western Major Baseball League in Canada which is a summer league which is comparable to many of the top summer leagues in the United States. He is hitting .341 with the team this summer. The full press release is available here.

Maine picks up four transfers

According to multiple sources, The University of Maine has picked up four transfers for the 2008 season. Joe Mercurio is coming from Illinois where he was the backup to All-American catcher Lars Davis. Mercurio was only able to get into eleven games while only starting three games. (The Baseball Zealot has more on Mercurio.) The Black Bears also picked up High Point University right-hander Joe Miller. he pitched in only six games in 2007 while making one start with no record and a 8.31 ERA. The other two players are Greg Doogan and Tony Patane who played with UConn-Avery Point in 2007. Doogan is a 6'5 230 pound right-hander while Patane is a 6'0 shortstop from New Milford CT. It should be interesting to see how this Maine program does under second year head coach Steve Trimper who led the program to a disappointing 22-31 record in his first year.

Baseball Zealot Chat

The Baseball Zealot has recently posted an interview with Illinois Head Coach Dan Hartleb. It gives you some insight into the baseball program they are building. The full article is available here.