“I ain’t as good as I once was,” the 2005 song released by country singer Toby Keith, plays over the loud speakers at Illinois Field as Bryan Roberts comes jogging out of the bullpen. The fifth-year senior and oldest member on the Illinois baseball team chose that as his walk-up song.

“I’ve got a few years on me now, so I’m kind of the old grandpa on the team,” Roberts said. “So I’m sure I can make a few kids laugh with it. Plus I’m a big country fan, and a little Toby Keith never hurt anyone.”

For the first time since 2010, Roberts is getting a chance to be a regular contributor for the Illini. In his six appearances, all out of the bullpen, Roberts is 3-0 with two saves, and has yet to allow a run in his 10 innings pitched. He’s got command of his sweeping curveball, the reason for most of his 12 strikeouts on the season, and has only allowed one walk.

He notched his second save of the season against Indiana on Sunday with 1 and 2/3 scoreless innings. 

It’s been a long journey back to the mound for Roberts, starting with Tommy John surgery in the summer of 2010 that forced him to redshirt the 2011 season. He would try to return in 2012, scattering three appearances over the course of the season, but arm soreness would keep him from remaining a part of Illinois bullpen.  

Roberts hadn’t been traveling with the Illini on road games until March 16 when he debuted against Southern Illinois with two outs and the bases loaded in the ninth inning of a tie game. 

“For me, that was my most exciting moment I’ve personally ever had on the mound,” Roberts said last Wednesday. “A lot of emotions are coming back, because there’s so many times that I doubted I ever would get a chance to be out there again, especially in a situation like that.”

Roberts said he didn’t feel nervous on the mound that first day, as he came through with a five-pitch strikeout to force the game into extra innings, where Illinois would win in the 10th. That gave him his first victory since May 2010.

And one of the biggest moments for him was the next day when he didn’t feel any soreness in his arm. 

Roberts changed his rehab approach this time around. Instead of trying to build strength and lifting, he focused more on recovery workouts, icing his arm and getting his arm massaged and stretched out.

“It’s feeling like it did back when I was a sophomore,” he said. 

So Roberts came into the game the next day, again with the score tied and the bases loaded against Southern, this time in the seventh inning. Once again, Roberts escaped with a strikeout.

He’d pitch the Illini into their second straight 10-inning victory by finishing off a scoreless eighth and ninth, allowing Roberts to improve to 2-0. His third victory was a little less pressure-filled, but it was against Nebraska in a game the Illini won on a walk-off squeeze bunt in the ninth.

His scoreless inning streak was in its greatest danger against Oakland two weekends ago. Illinois was up 3-2 in the ninth, when Roberts gave up a single into left field with the would-be tying run on second base attempting to score before he was thrown out by Will Krug to end the game.

“I owe him dinner for a week,” Roberts said. “I didn’t think he had a shot throwing him out. I saw him running the bases, and I was already thinking about how to get the next guy out and then Krug just threw a perfect throw, and I couldn’t have been happier.”

That allowed Roberts to secure his first save since May of 2010 and his 10th career save — moving him to seventh in school history.

The last line of that Toby Keith song: “Maybe not be good as I once was, but I’m as good once, as I ever was.”

Jamal can be reached at [email protected] and @jamalcollier.

Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Roberts had secured his seventh career save. Roberts secured his 10th career save. The Daily Illini regrets the error.