Club defeat of ranked opponent highlights 8-3 fall record

The IU club baseball team shut out regional powerhouse Illinois on Oct. 21, capturing not just its biggest win of the season but arguably the most important in the young club's brief history, club baseball founder and president Matt Ostrega said.\nThough it was an exhibition matchup, the 4-0 defeat of No. 11 Illinois marks the club's second victory over a National Club Baseball Association top-20 team in club baseball's two-year existence at IU. Team leaders said the win boosted the 8-3 club's confidence entering the winter training period before games resume in the spring.\n"It's right up there with the opening game win over, then nationally ranked, Ball State last spring," Ostrega, a graduate student, said.\nSophomore pitcher Adam Myers struck out four batters and escaped five innings without allowing a run to Illinois, the defending champion of IU's conference, the Great Lakes Region South Division.\n"That's what he's capable of," said Adam Perlman, IU sophomore and club vice president. "We know that Myers can throw hard, and when he's on, he's on."\nA pair of home runs by catcher Ostrega lifted the IU offense before freshman Bryant Gastineau pitched the final two innings to earn a save.\nFor IU, the game highlighted a three-team tournament held at Bloomington High School North, the club's home for competitions and practices. IU earned two wins over Ball State but dropped a rematch to Illinois.\nIU looked to be on its way to a second victory against the Illini in as many days when an Erik Pedersen home run brought the score to 2-1 in the home team's favor. Sophomore Chris Pardo struck out six but not before Illinois scored five times in his five-and-a-third innings pitched. Six unanswered runs lifted Illinois in the second contest, 7-2.\nAn early scoring barrage paced a 3-1 IU win over Ball State on Oct. 21. Freshman second baseman Michael Yonke went 2-for-3 with a stolen base.\n"That's just Yonke being Yonke," Perlman said.\nThe club bested Ball State again on the following day, 10-5. Ostrega went 3-for-3 with two runs batted in and two runs scored in a game that was IU's last competitive outing for more than four months.\nOn Monday, the team concluded its preseason with a practice, two days after club officials and counterparts at Michigan State canceled a weekend doubleheader in Bloomington. Inclement weather made the field surface at Bloomington High School North unplayable Saturday, and team leaders mutually decided Michigan State need not travel to IU for a single exhibition Sunday, Ostrega said.\n"We had our ups and downs last year," Ostrega said, "but we've played pretty competitive baseball all fall."\nAfter a break of two weeks, players will resume lifting and conditioning about three times per week in preparation for the regular season. Pedersen, a junior and vice president with safety duties, said the club hopes its productive autumn will translate into a successful spring campaign, which begins Feb. 24, 2007, with a doubleheader at Clemson University.\nPedersen is excited to play in warm South Carolina to open this year's competitive portion, but he said the team will not be satisfied with just beginning the year in the South.\nThe first-place finisher in the eight-team South Division of the Great Lakes Region qualifies for the playoffs, which leads to the National Club Baseball Association World Series May 23-30, 2007, in Bradenton, Fla.\n"If Illinois did it last year, there is no reason we can't do it this year," Perlman said of reaching the eight-team finale.\nThe postseason might seem far away for a squad formed just two years ago, but IU finished second in the South Division in its first attempt. The team is now looking to improve upon its 12-11 finish a year ago.\n"There's a big possibility that we can advance if we just keep our heads in the game and don't let it get too far away from us," Pedersen said.