O 2005 All-Big Ten Conference, First Team
O 2005 Big Ten Conference All-Tournament
O Big Ten Player of the Week, 5/16/2005
SUMMER 2005
Named Summer League All-American by Baseball America, playing for the Quincy Gems of the Central Illinois Collegiate League ... Named CICL Player of the Half for his performance in the second half of the season, and earned one Player of the Week honor ... Was a mid-season and post-season all-star selection ... Led CICL in runs scored with 43, and was second in the league in RBI (43), hits (65) and total bases (99). Also swiped 21 bases to lead the CICL ... Led team, and was fifth in the league, with a .342 batting average, as well as leading the Gems in seven other offensive categories, including slugging percentage (.521) ... Picked up five hits in a game twice (7/29 and 8/1).
SOPHOMORE / 2005
Named to the All-America teams by the NCBWA and ABCA, both on the third team ... Earned first-team All-Big Ten honors ... Played in 56 games, starting all 56 at shortstop ... Led the Big Ten Conference with a .404 batting average ... Set a Purdue single-season record with 92 hits ... Collected multiple hits in 31 games ... Had a 13-game hitting streak (4/10-5/7), second longest on the team ... Opened the season with a 12-game hitting streak ... Stole 25 bases, a Purdue sophomore record ... Connected for 16 doubles, one triple and four home runs ... Led the team with 52 runs scored and 37 driven in.
SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
Went 4-5 with a double vs. Mississippi (3/5) ... Batted 4-5 vs. Northwestern (4/17), with two doubles and three runs scored ... Was a perfect 4-4 at the plate vs. Indiana Tech (4/27) ... Named Big Ten Player of the Week after batting .474 (9-19) in four games vs. Iowa (5/13-15) ... Drove in five runs with a double and home run at Cleveland State (5/18) ... Swiped three bases and went 3-5 at the plate at Indiana (5/20) ... Named to the Big Ten all-tournament team, batting .400 (8-20) in four games.
FRESHMAN / 2004
Played in 49 games, starting 41 ... Led the Boilermakers with a .327 batting average ... Had 49 hits in 150 at-bats ... Scored 23 runs and drove home 20 ... Finished second on the team with a .391 on-base percentage ... Had a team-best 12-game hitting streak (3/14-4/2) ... Batted .280 in Big Ten play ... Was perfect in the field in 43 chances during conference action.
SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
Collected first collegiate hit vs. Florida (3/5) ... Was 5-6 at the plate vs. Jacksonville State (3/20) with two doubles, two runs and two RBI ... Went 10-15 in three-game series against JSU (3/19-21) ... Collected two hits and three RBI vs. Michigan State (4/23), with a double and home run ... Went 3-5 against Minnesota (5/2), with three runs scored ... Recorded seven putouts in left field vs. Michigan (5/10).
HIGH SCHOOL
Four-year letterwinner at Windsor High School ... Was an all-conference selection as a sophomore, junior and senior ... Named all-area by the Mattoon Journal-Gazette as a junior ... Earned all-area honors by the Herald and Review as a senior ... Played on the state champion American Legion team in 2003.
PERSONAL
Full name is Mitchell Matthew Hilligoss ... Was born on June 17, 1985, in Windsor, Ill. ... Son of Darrell and Elizabeth Hilligoss ... Has one sister, Lindsey ... Majoring in agriculture.