NIU vs Arizona State this weekend

And to Danny Skelly, LHP St. Pats, too.

Had the chance to coach a couple of the above mentioned players in the past couple yrs. Great kids. Bobby looks great has is even quicker, he will be a good one.

Also worked the NIU camp with their staff a couple weeks ago. Great bunch . Good luck guys...
And good luck to Brandon Copp who will come out of the pen at ASU and get a start at St Mary of California next week.
We'll be rooting for you.

who is brandon copp? just kidding, good luck to him and all the NIU boys. Thats a rough way to start but....if your going to get better you gotta play the best...thats what you coaches always say anyway..im just a dad what do i know?

4 of the NIU guys...Behren (C), Skelly (LHP), Couwenhoven (1B/DH) and Heinz (RHP) from NIU will be on my summer team this year. Stevens will be going to the CICL. Don't be surprised if NIU takes at least 1 of the 3 this weekend! You heard it here first!

Like your enthusiasm pitchdoc and hope you're right. Leaving shortly for the weekend series and looking forward to 75 & sunny.
There is certainly some talent at NIU. Had a few well-regarded recruiting classes & coaching staff is working hard to build consistent winner. They are very,very young & have had their share of injuries.
Not sure what to expect but ready to watch outdoor baseball!

Denny ,

have a safe trip and tell him to throw em all for strikes...

Good luck to Copp and the NIU boys!!

Good luck to Pat Minogue and Scott Simon!

Not having Kyle Cherney's bat may hurt them....

BigMW

Where did Kyle end up at after NIU? I heard Triton.

06BBDad,

You heard correct. He is at Triton from what I understand.

Tuzi, what year in school is Skelly?

Hawk88

Freshman, might be redshirt, not for sure though.

Anyone interested in following tonight's ASU vs. NIU game at 9:00 PM CST here is a link to the ASU Schedule where you can access Gametracker coverage of the game.

Enjoy!

Arizona St. is going to be tough this year. Does anyone want to know the results from tonights game?

5-3 ASU....Nice close game for NIU...I'm impressed...Good Luck to Brandon and all the Illinois guys.. Denis, can't wait to see you's at Southern March 3,4and 5th!

There was a decent article about Scott Simon and the other local (primarily McHenry County) members of the NIU baseball team in today's Northwest Herald, PR grad Simon ready for NIU return.

Only, Scott Simon attended Marian Central Catholic HS and not Prairie Ridge HS!

Ok ASU has a very good rep, no doubt but they are far from the "power house" that people think they are. Most of it is the press. They are loaded with freshman who are unproven in the college game. A lot of the AZ kids have talent but are behind the midwest kids when it comes to fundementals and work ethic. They are a light hitting team that will play lots of "small ball" this year. They got smoked in their opening game by Cal-Northridge 13-2 and it is the first time in 20 years that Cal-Northridge had beaten a "ranked" team. ASU you doesn't have any projected high draft picks or players who were even in the top 10 rounds. The ones who were never made it to ASU campus. I agree with pitchdoc, NIU could win one, maybe two. But the advantage they will have over NIU is that they have been on the field 5-6 days aweek since they hit campus. The lights are on almost every night for them to use. Hope to maybe get out to see a game if I can find the time

Mde5, I agree with your comments about Arizona St. Though it's way to early to evaluate the season after this 5-3 victory.

Strength of Schedule for Illinois D1s, interesting:

School, All Games, Non-Con Games

IL St, 57, 56
Northwestern, 87, 49
IL, 107, 112
N IL, 118, 95
S IL, 132, 179
Bradley, 162, 240
IL Chicago, 194, 118
Chicago St, 197, 166
E IL, 211, 177
W IL, 228, 222

Skelly is a Fresh and is on the trip.

NIU held their own against ASU. Need to execute the little things better. They got out executed, and Denny you must be a pretty proud father.

Smokey, Brandon apperared in all three games , short stints but no runs , and only one roll of TP.. lol

Following the game tracker over the weekend, they held their own and more. I am sure this series will give NIU some knowledge of their weaknesses, strengths as well as skills that need to be improved, resulting in a successful season. As an alumni, I was very proud of their efforts.

I'm just happy that they got to go to Arizona in Feb! Thats better than SEMO or Western KY!
Play the big guys and you will get better.
2 top 60 classes, improved facilities, same staff.
I think this is a big year for Ed.

All things considered not a bad weekend for NIU. Had a legit chance to win first 2 games.
Pitching was pretty good & lots of young players got experience & held up pretty well.
Deuce, wish you could of been there. Used entire tp roll on Fri. but got their #4 on Sat & Sun including a k on best deuce of his life.
Great weather & baseball atmosphere at ASU.
Looking forward to seeing Viscomi's & 2bmom at Evansville & SIU.

Denis,

Congrats on Brandon's performance this weekend. What an experience for both of you. I wish him good luck the rest of this season and for many seasons to come.

denis:

Must have been a blast! Congrats to Brandon on his bigtime debut. BTW - where's Tom Dore on the roster???

TARatko,

Thomas Dore transfered to Parkland college, from what I understand.

Look like parkland has a good team again

Yes, I can confirm Thomas Dore did transfer. Good luck to him.

Cubs,

Thanks for confirming this for me.

ISC59, well said.

Denis,

Had GameTracker going. Great to be there when Brandon got his first official D1 K.

Arizona St. will be a .500 team in the Pac Ten this year. My opinion.

I have no idea where they'll finish in Pac 10 Hawk but I did sit with many of their season-ticket holders behind home plate.
Most felt they were a bit overrated as they lost lots of talent to graduation & draft. Consensus was they are a year or 2 away from being typical ASU powerhouse again.
Who knows - still a good early season test for a northern school though.