After last weekend’s canceled series against Texas Tech, the University of Illinois baseball team heads south for spring break. Their destination is the IMG Academies in Bradenton, Florida where they will play five games. In between, they will take on Miami of Ohio at Ed Smith Stadium (the Cincinnati Reds’ spring training grounds) on Saturday and University of Northern Iowa at Manatee Community College on Thursday.
What it comes down to is a busy seven game run in eight days. The good news is that Illinois is 6-1 against the teams they will be facing (their one loss is against Central Connecticut State). That bodes well for the good guys who have a chance to improve their 2-4 record.
| Date | Opposing Team | Location |
| March 14 | Eastern Kentucky | Academy Park |
| March 15 | Miami (OH) | Ed Smith Stadium |
| March 16 | Akron | Academy Park |
| March 18 | Maryland-Baltimore County | Academy Park |
| March 19 | Kansas | Academy Park |
| March 20 | Northern Iowa | Manatee Community College |
| March 21 | Central Connecticut State | Academy Park |
Thanks to his six game hitting streak, Kyle Hudson is hitting .421 so far this young season. He also has a .522 OBA and 3 steals which might have prompted Coach Hartleb to move him from his usual #9 spot in the order to leadoff two weeks ago against UI-Chicago. We’ll see what he does with him this coming week.
The Illini have been out-homered 0 to 6 in the first six games. I went to the Orange-Blue Series last fall so I know they’re capable of hitting it out. Again, we’ll see what happens this week.
Go Illini!!