Feb. 28, 2004

Box Score

Starkville, Miss. - After winning its first two games of the season with back-to-back shutouts, the University of Illinois baseball team was not able to keep it up against the host and 29th ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs in the nightcap of a Saturday doubleheader at the Mississippi State Challenge. Illinois rallied to bring the score to within two at one point but fell 9-6 to MSU, dropping to 2-1 on the year while MSU improved to 2-0.

Mississippi State got four quick runs with two outs in the first inning. Three consecutive singles gave the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead off Illinois starter Joe Ziemba before Brian LaNifta hit a three-run home run over the left field wall to give MSU a 4-0 lead.

MSU added a single run in the second to increase its lead to 5-0.

Illinois started to answer back in the top half of the fourth. Left fielder Drew Davidson cut the lead to three in that frame when he connected on a two-run home run that towered all the way over the fans sitting in Dudy Noble Field's fabeled left field lounge. His shot also scored Eric Eymann, who had walked earlier in the inning as the score moved to 5-2.

After another MSU run in the fourth brought the score to 6-2, the Illini scored a pair in the top half of the fifth to close to within two runs while also chasing MSU starter Alan Johnson. In the fifth, Vince DiMaria led off with a double and used consecutive ground balls from Ryan Hastings and Eric Eymann to score. Then with two outs, Dusty Bensko and Davidson collected back-to-back singles before MSU second baseman Jeffrey Rea booted a ground ball off the bat of Chad Frk that allowed Bensko to scamper all the way home from second to close the gap to 6-4.

MSU built the lead back to 9-4 in the bottom of the sixth inning. A Jeff Butts lead-off triple scored when Eymann booted a ball with the infield pulled in, and then right fielder Brad Corley smacked a two-run homer to left to open the five run lead and chase Ziemba from the game.

Illinois added a single run in the seventh when Bensko led off the inning with a home run to left to bring the score to 9-5. Illinois got its final run in the top of the ninth, when a Brian Raymond pinch hit double scored Chad Frk, who had drawn a two-out walk.

Ziemba suffered the loss, falling to 0-1 on the year. He allowed nine runs on 11 hits in 5 1/3 innings of work. He walked two and struck out one. MSU reliever Ebers got the win, improving to 1-0 on the year, after allowing two runs on five` hits in 4 1/3 innings of work.

Illinois completes action at the Mississippi State Challenge Sunday with a single game against the Bulldogs that is slated to begin at noon.