Wikoff looks to do damage in Texas again for Illini baseball

Jeremy Berg

Jeremy Berg

By Peter Zervakis

Maybe nobody ever told Brandon Wikoff not to mess with Texas.

Or if someone did, maybe he ignored them.

The Illini’s junior shortstop has been known to do some damage when visiting the Lone Star State, and this weekend the baseball team heads south to take part in the Al Ogletree Classic in Edinburg, Texas, a tournament hosted by UT-Pan American (0-4).

“They have a nice field and a good atmosphere down there,” Wikoff said. “You get outside, get that good backdrop in there, and it just gets you geared up and ready to play.”

As a freshman in 2007, Wikoff hit 6-for-14 with two RBIs and was named to the all-tournament team following a weekend in which the Illini went 2-1. Illinois again went 2-1 at the tournament in 2008. Although Wikoff did not garner all-tournament accolades, he was named all-tournament a week later at the QTI Baylor Classic, also hosted in Texas.

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The Illini (2-1) will play three games in three days in this weekend’s tournament. It pits them against host UT-Pan American, Stephen F. Austin (2-1) and the University of Texas-Arlington (3-2).

The Mavericks of UT-Arlington, who took No. 4 Texas into extra innings on Tuesday night, are just one team in a lineup of talented opponents who head coach Dan Hartleb said should not be taken lightly.

“They’ll all be teams we need to play well against,” Hartleb said. “There are no gimmes in college baseball.”

Hartleb also told his team they need to take the weekend one game at a time, and that starts with Friday’s showdown against Pan American.

He and the Illini expect the Broncos to be a tough opponent, especially when playing on their home turf.

“They’re a team that will run the bases well,” Hartleb said.

“I don’t think they’ll be an overpowering team, but they always have some guys in the middle of the order that could hurt you.”

But Wikoff and the Illini plan on delivering the hurt rather than taking it. To do that, they will lean heavily on Joe Bonadonna.

The senior is playing at center field this season after primarily lining up at second base in 2008. Bonadonna also has taken over the leadoff spot in the Illini batting order after hitting second most of last year.

Hartleb does not think Bonadonna is the type of player who needs any time to adjust.

“He’s one of those people that’s confident no matter what position he’s at,” Hartleb said. “I have no problems moving Joe around.

“Some other people may not handle it as well, but mentally, Joe’s a very strong person.”

The versatile Bonadonna not only provides the Illini with quality hitting, but also with dangerous baserunning. He stole 41 bags in 2008, good for fourth in the Big Ten.

Bonadonna said the key to Illinois finding success this weekend is consistency and avoiding mental errors. Wikoff said that although a 2-1 record at the Big East/Big Ten Challenge last weekend was a nice start to the season, there is definitely room for improvement.

“We were pretty inconsistent last weekend,” Wikoff said. “Hitting, defense and pitching all could have been better. But if we can string all three things together, we can be a pretty good team.”

Bonadonna has also been thinking along those lines.

“We know what we can do,” Bonadonna said. “With the talent we have, both in pitching and offensively, we should be able to go out and, on any given day, beat any team.”