George Horton (Photo by Eric Evans Photography)

Oregon, Oregon State Nab Midwest recruits

A fierce recruiting battleground has seen two marquee programs join the fray.

Over the last five years, programs such as Arizona State, Louisville, LSU and Vanderbilt have turned to the states of Illinois and Wisconsin with frequency for premier players. After South Holland, Ill. native Brett Lilek moved onto professional baseball after three seasons as a Sun Devil, Arizona State’s freshman class is headlined by Tracy Smith plucked towering righthanded pitchers Liam Jenkins and Fitz Stadler from Chicago suburbs.

In the footsteps of All-American older brother Nick, Louisville junior righthander Zack Burdi made his way to Dan McDonnell’s program by way of[…]