Farthest left, Illinois assistant Drew Dickinson takes us inside facing the four teams in bracket 2.
Illinois pitching coach Drew Dickinson lead an Illini charge which faced Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Ohio State this year, the lone team to do so. Illinois went 6-6 in the 12 contests, with three losses coming by a run. Dickinson shares his insight into what type of contests favors each club, the strength of the staffs, which player you can’t let beat you and how to attack the entire lineup, 1-9.
No. 1 Minnesota
What type of matchup favors them?
Their strength to me is that lineup. They have hit all year and can slug it out with the best of them.
What’s the strength of their pitching staff?
There strength is their starters. They need them to be efficient and go deep in games.
How do you attack their lineup, 1-9?
Have to be able to throw off-speed for strikes because they are hyper aggressive to the fastball. When attacking with the fastball you better locate because they don’t miss often.
No. 4 Ohio State
What type of matchup favors them?
I think they can and have done it in a variety of ways. When their starters are on they can roll, but there lineup has the ability to hit ball out of the park so they are never out of a game.
What’s the strength of their pitching staff?
I thought the strength of their staff was the ability to bring in a bunch of guys out of bullpen to match up with whatever the situation called for.
Which hitter in the lineup brings the most attention to gameplan around?
Ronnie Dawson. He has power to all fields but can play the small game and use legs as well. Comes up big in high leverage situations.
How do you attack their lineup, 1-9?
The lineup is very top heavy, can let top half of order beat you. Make bottom guys beat you.
No. 5 Michigan
What type of matchup favors them?
Michigan is an interesting club. They hit will as they have a .310 team batting average, and as a staff have the ability to strike guys out. They don’t play a lot of close games, its seems they are either winning by for runs or more or losing by the same. What i think the strength of the club is is that they can play a slugfest type game, but also have a stable of arms to play a bullpen game with you.
What’s the strength of their pitching staff?
The strength in their staff is the ability to strike out guys. They have great stuff, but they walk a lot of guys, but also strike out a bunch as well. One of their strengths is the sheer amount of guys they have that can come in and get it done on any given night.
Which hitter in the lineup brings the most attention to gameplan around?
For me its Cody Bruder. He takes very aggressive swings, but has the knack for always coming through with the big hit. He’s not the biggest power threat, but in my mind he can’t beat you.
How do you attack their lineup, 1-9?
You have to be able to pitch backwards and throw your off-speed stuff for strikes. If you don’t, you are in trouble because they are very aggressive to the fastball and have guys who won’t miss.
No. 8 Iowa
What type of matchup favors them?
Iowa will want to keep the game a low scoring game. Their offense is not equipped for a slugfest. They have a few good back-end guys in their bullpen, but they will want to ride that starter out thru at least seven to give them best chance at winning.
What’s the strength of their pitching staff?
The strength of their staff is the efficiency of the starters to go deep in games.
Which hitter in the lineup brings the most attention to gameplan around?
For me, its Joel Booker. He seems to always come up big in big situations.
How do you attack their lineup, 1-9?
Need to limit walks. They will do a good job of getting guys over and then getting them in, so not allowing free passes is a must. From 1-9 the lineup isn’t scary, but you still have to locate and pound the strike zone.
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