Tuesday, April 14, 2009 11:01 AM CDT
Questions about Eastern baseball, Mattoon football
By Brian Nielsen, Sports Editor
bnielsen@jg-tc.com
How many times do you think Eastern Illinois’ baseball coach Jim Schmitz was asked this question Monday?
How is Brett Nommensen?
“He’s doing fine,” Schmitz said. “He got x-rays and they’re negative. He’s day-to-day.”
The Panthers’ remarkable baseball season that last week received a No. 27 national ranking took a scary turn Friday when Nommensen, the All-American candidate near the top of national hitting lists, left a game with sore wrists and did not play in the second game of the doubleheader or Saturday’s game.
Nommensen still might not play in today’s 6 p.m. game at Illinois that fans would consider big and actually could be a factor when an selection committee considers its NCAA tournament field.
But the bigger games in Eastern’s week might actually be Saturday and Sunday when preseason favorite and last year’s regular season champion Jacksonville State visits Coaches Stadium for a three-game Ohio Valley Conference series. The fact former pitching great Marty Pattin is to be here to have his number retired just adds to the flavor.
Jacksonville State, standing third in the OVC at 5-4, certainly would like to gain ground and regain some of its usual baseball swagger when visiting Eastern, which pulled a surprise winning last year’s conference tournament for an NCAA berth and now leads the league at 9-1.
This weekend has the games when the Panthers would really like to have Nommensen, whose .521 batting average, 11 home runs, .649 on-base percentage and 1.021 slugging percentage all lead the OVC.
If the senior center fielder with those amazing numbers has to miss another game, keep in mind the Panthers posted a 30-3 win Saturday at UT Martin without him.
The Panthers did not have a stolen base attempt or sacrifice bunt in this blowout but Schmitz could hardly stop his players from swinging the bat, which resulted in nine home runs among their 30 hits.
The coach did receive a complaint about running up the score but it was not from UT Martin.
“I got a text message from one of our football coaches saying ‘don’t embarrass us; you’re scoring more than we do,’ ” Schmitz said with a laugh.
Mattoon fans are bound to ask this question as Eastern, 24-6, visits Illinois, 21-8:
Will Blake Fairchild pitch against the Panthers?
Ken Westray, the former EIU pitcher now in his fourth season as Illinois’ pitching coach, indicated that the junior from Mattoon could see mound time today.
After two seasons plagued by injuries, Fairchild has made six relief appearances this year. The left-hander has allowed seven earned runs in 4 2/3 innings.
Brian Morrell, is the scheduled starting pitcher for Eastern, which beat Illinois 13-3 last year in a game played at Mattoon’s Grimes Field.
Another often-asked question in Mattoon these days is what’s new in the search for a football coach following the resignation of Nat Zunkel.
Athletic Director David Vieth said he has received 25-30 applicants.
Asked about the qualify of candidates, Vieth said, “We’ll have to sit and talk to them and see how they pan out. We’re getting ready to interview. We’re just looking at the applications. There’s no set number (to interview). We just want to get the right one.”
Jarad Kimbro, who was an assistant under former Mattoon coach Gerald Temples and then the defensive coordinator last season in Zunkel’s only year with the Green Wave, had earlier said he would be seeking the head coaching position.
Apparently not looking to move to the IHSA Class 5A level after giving it some consideration is Jarod Kiger, who has taken Arcola to three straight Class 1A playoff appearances.
“I’m 95 percent sure I’m staying at Arcola,” Kiger said. “Not that it wouldn’t be a great job. It would be a great job. I’m pretty happy where I am.”
Brian Nielsen is sports editor of the Journal Gazette/Times-Courier. Contact him at bnielsen@jg-tc.com or 238-6856.
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