CHAMPAIGN — Michael Hurwitz felt 100 percent healthy the first day of this season. It was a complete 180 from last spring, when a torn labrum in his hip suffered in July 2014 playing in the Northwoods League and subsequent surgery robbed him of his senior season and a chance to contribute as Illinois set a program record with 50 wins and reached a super-regional.
But there’s a difference between feeling healthy and feeling right at the plate. Hurwitz spent the better part of the first 23 games of this season with a sub-.200 batting average. He racked up his fair share of O-fers, including five straight in mid-March.