Team competes in final series

The IU baseball team is looking to win its first weekend series in the final series of the 2001 season at Illinois. \nThe baseball team is finishing the year at seventh-place Illinois for a four-game set, bringing an end to a season coach Bob Morgan described as unsuccessful.\n"It's been a long and frustrating season," Morgan said in a press release. "We just look to finish on a positive note and play as well as we possibly can."\n The Hoosiers head into this weekend's season finale with a 6-16 conference record, putting them in the Big Ten cellar. The Fighting Illini are three spots ahead of the Hoosiers with a 10-13 conference standing.\nLeading the Illini is sophomore first baseman Andy Schutzenhofer. Schutzenhofer was first-team All-Big Ten as a freshman last year and is currently fifth in the Big Ten with a .383 batting average. Senior Rob Fischer and junior Luke Simmons are second and third on the team in batting average, both hitting over .350 and are tied for the team lead in home runs with 10.\nJunior Andy Dickinson leads the Illini pitching staff with nine wins and a 3.39 ERA, leading the Big Ten with 91 strikeouts and 98.1 innings.\nTrying to hold the Illinois offense in check this weekend will be junior Brad Edwards on Friday, senior Nick Otte in the first game of Saturday's double header, sophomore Jacob Cary in the second and junior Matt Rice starting the final game of the season.\nSeniors Blake St. Clair, Dan Haegele, junior Eric Blakeley and red-shirt sophomore Nick Evans lead the Hoosier offense into the series as all are batting above .315 and have combined for 120 RBIs. Sophomore Vasili Spanos leads the team with with 10 home runs and is currently in the middle of a four-game hitting streak.\nThis weekend's series can be heard on the Internet at the Illinois Athletics Web Site,\nhttp://fightingillini.fansonly.com/sports/m-basebl/ill-m-basebl-sched.html.