One undeniable difference between boys and girls  contributing to the gender equity fuss  is that so many guys believe, down deep, that they can play baseball.

   Illini coach Itch Jones had 125 of these wanna-bes clamoring for batting cage swings last fall.

CHAMPAIGN – When the Big Ten Conference hands out its annual baseball awards, you won't find Comeback Player of the Year among them.

That doesn't mean, however, the league lacks for worthy candidates each year. And this year, says University of Illinois pitching coach Dan Hartleb, it's hard to imagine anyone any more worthy than Cody Salter.

   Two years from now  if college baseball coaches'' recommendations are passed at the NCAA''s January convention  we''ll just be moving into the thick of the Big Ten race on May 1.

   You know, that period when the sun becomes persistent against Midwestern clouds, when the echo of horsehide to bat reminds of warmer times, when Coke is preferred to steaming coffee, when sweat replaces numb fingers.

CHICAGO – Illinois racked up 15 hits Wednesday night in rolling to an 11-0 nonconference baseball victory over Illinois-Chicago in a game halted after six innings by rain.

The victory was the Illini's eighth in a row, their longest such streak since 1994. Illinois is 26-25 heading into a four-game Big Ten Conference series against Northwestern starting Friday at Illinois Field.

CHAMPAIGN – There's no worse feeling in baseball, Itch Jones says, than heading to the field with nothing at stake.

"You always want every game to mean something," the University of Illinois coach said.

News-Gazette staff writer Jeff Huth takes a look at

the Big Ten standings as the 1997 UI baseball season draws to a close

CHAMPAIGN – Todd McClure started the game with a homer and punctuated the scoring with a grand slam as Illinois crushed Chicago State 14-3 Tuesday in college baseball action at Illinois Field.

Tom Zidlicky, who won two games over the weekend during Illinois' series sweep at Minnesota, today was named Big Ten Conference Pitcher of the Week.