May 11, 2001

Box Score

Champaign, Ill. - It took a five-run seventh inning but the Illini baseball team pulled out a 6-5 win over Indiana Friday night at Illinois Field to improve to 26-25 on the year and 12-13 in the Big Ten. Illini ace Andy Dickinson went eight innings to get the win and improve to 10-1 on the year, becoming only the 10th pitcher in school history to win 11 games in a single season. With the win combined with a Northwestern loss at Minnesota, Illinois is currently holding onto sixth place in the Big Ten, the final spot in the Big Ten Tournament.

Illinois jumped to an early 1-0 lead off IU starter Brad Edwards. Ballard led off the game with a single, advanced to second on a wild pitch and to third on a ground ball before scoring on an Andy Schutzenhofer sacrifice fly. Indiana came back to tie the game in the third when Dan Haegele scored on an error by Luke Simmons after leading off the inning with a double. Indiana would then take a 4-1 lead on Dickinson after 6 1/2 when Vasilli Spanos hit a solo home run in the sixth and then collected a two-run double in the seventh.

That set up the Illinois rally as Schutzenhofer led off the bottom of the seventh with a walk, his second of the game. Rob Fischer followed with a walk of his own and, after IU pulled Edwards in favor of Adam Pagg, Patrick Arlis followed with a single to load the bases for Simmons, who sent a double off the center field wall, scoring Schutzenhofer and Fischer. One out later, pinch hitter Trevor Frederickson hit a double of his own off the right field wall, scoring Simmons to tie the game at four all. Brady Ballard then came up after one more out and sent a two-out single to left, scoring Vince DiMaria and Frederickson with what proved to be the winning run.

After a scoreless eighth for both teams, Dickinson came out in the ninth looking for his seventh complete game of the season. After consecutive singles led off the inning the junior was pulled in favor of Tim Gorski, who with no one out and runners on first and third allowed a sacrifice fly to score one run, then recorded a strike out and fly ball to center to earn his first save of the season. Pagg (4-5) suffered the loss after surrendering three runs in 2/3 innings of work.

On the day Dickinson moved into fourth place on Illinois? single season strikeout list (97) and into fifth on the season innings pitched list (106.1) while improving his sixth-best single-season winning percentage to .909.

Illinois and Indiana return to action Saturday with a doubleheader scheduled to begin at 4:05 p.m.