The following post was written by staff writer Kate Munson.

While the Illini (27-26, 6-8 Big Ten) may not have a particularly remarkable record, their offensive statistics are impressive.

The Fighting Illini are third in the Big Ten with a team batting average of .290. Senior shortstop Angelena Mexicano is leading the charge. She has belted 20 homeruns on the season, breaking the record she and teammate Shanna Diller set for most Illini long-balls in a single season when they each hit 16 in the 2007 season. Mexicano’s 20 homers are good for most in the Big Ten and the nation. She also has 53 RBIs for the Illini, second in the Big Ten, and is batting .367 on the season for eighth in the conference.

But she isn’t the only productive Illinois hitter. Lana Armstrong and Sarah Bryers are also in the top five of Big Ten run producers. And Shanna Diller is right behind Mexicano in average, batting .353 on the season.

So how can a team be close to the top of their conference in average and leading or in the top in individual offensive categories, especially RBIs, and still be below the .500 mark in conference play?

Look no further than pitching. As a staff, Illinois pitchers have a 4.09 ERA. Michigan has the lowest ERA in the Big Ten at 0.62. Indiana (13-31, 3-11) is the only team in the conference with a higher team ERA than the Orange and Blue at 4.79.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008 at 12:19 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.