Happy Valley Hardball with a sabermetrics twist

The Illini recovered from a crushing loss Friday by winning Saturday and Sunday. Joshua Beckman The Daily Illini Sunday’s matinee contest against Penn State was the type of game the Illinois baseball team had to have if it wants to compete in the upper echelon of the Big Ten. With head coach Dan Hartleb challenging [...]

Nittany Lions fall victim to four Illini home runs in a weekend that featured 11 total long balls. CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Penn State baseball team hung tough early on, but a five-run Illinois sixth inning proved to be too much as the Nittany Lions went on to fall, 15-3 in the series finale on [...]

By Paul Casella Collegian Staff Writer Eight strong innings were not enough to overcome a treacherous first inning for the Penn State baseball team, in which it gave up six runs against Illinois. The large first-inning deficit was too much for the Nittany Lions, as they fell to the conference foe Illini, 10-8. Penn State [...]

Penn State scores in five of nine innings, but can never pull even. CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Despite allowing six first-inning runs, the Penn State baseball team slowly chipped away to pull within one, but could never even the score as Illinois held on for the 10-8 victory on Saturday. Junior catcher Ben Heath (Huntersville, N.C.) [...]

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — An exceptional effort by Mario Eramo carried the Penn State Nittany Lions to a 16-9 win over the Illinois Fighting Illini (9-10) on Friday. Eramo blasted two home runs for Penn State (11-13). The junior designated hitter went 3-for-6 in the game with five RBIs and three runs scored. Eramo homered in [...]

Courtesy of Tom Nelshoppen of The Illinois Baseball Report

By Alex Angert Collegian Staff Writer The Penn State baseball team’s bats came alive Friday night against Illinois to power the Nittany Lions to a conference-opening 16-9 victory. The Lions hit four home runs, including two by designated hitter Mario Eramo, who finished with five RBIs and three runs scored. The other two long balls [...]

Penn State scored three or more runs against all six Illini pitchers. CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Penn State baseball team opened Big Ten play on Friday by scoring a season-high 16 runs on 18 hits to top Illinois in convincing fashion, 16-9 at Illinois Field. The Nittany Lions (11-13, 1-0 Big Ten) hit a season-high [...]

By Alex Angert Collegian Staff Writer Coach Robbie Wine is being cautious. With the Nittany Lions winning four of their last five games and gaining confidence along the way, Wine is well aware of the dangers of peaking too soon. “Big Ten play is such a grind,” he said. “The teams in this league, if [...]

By Paul Casella Collegian Staff Writer Senior David Lutz has never started a game. But, as a reliever, he has made more appearances than any other pitcher on the Penn State baseball team this season — and could be on his way to making more than any Nittany Lion ever has. Having already pitched in [...]

Peter Zervakis   Sports staff writer, blogger After an up-and-down week in which Illinois baseball gave up 13 runs one night and scored 18 the next, head coach Dan Hartleb said the team is experiencing a mild identity crisis. “If you look at what we did (Tuesday and Wednesday), we were two completely different teams,” [...]

Just a reminder that this game will be live streamed at BigTenNetwork.com for a $2.99 fee. It will also be rebroadcast on the Big Ten Network tomorrow at 3PM. Go here for the live stream.

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