Feb. 28, 2004

Box Score

Starkville, Miss. - Another stellar early season outing from its starting pitcher gave the University of Illinois baseball team a 10-0 win in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader at the Mississippi State Challenge. The win moves Illinois to 2-0 on the year while WKU falls to 3-7.

Illini starter Jimmy Conroy held WKU scoreless through eight complete innings before being pulled in favor of Emanuel Bishop one day after Ted Rowe one-hit the Hilltoppers through seven innings. Conroy allowed only five hits while walking one and striking out three to move to 1-0 on the year.

A day after picking up all four of the runs it scored in a single inning, Illinois scored early and often against the Hilltoppers. It started in the second inning, when Illinois caught some breaks to jump to a 3-0 lead off WKU starter Grady Hinchman. Chad Frk beat out a two-out infield single, Ryan Rogowski saw his fly ball dropped by the right fielder and Chris Robinson worked a walk to load the bases for Brian Raymond. Raymond then hit a shallow fly ball to center that dropped just in front of the centerfielder for a two-run double that plated both Frk and Rogowski. Illinois added its third run when Vince DiMaria legged out a bunt single, bringing Robinson in from third.

The Illini added a pair of runs in the bottom of the third. Eric Eymann led off with a single to left, stole second and scored when Drew Davidson hit a double off the left-center field wall. Frk followed with his second hit of the game, a single to left that plated Davidson to open a 5-0 lead against the Hilltoppers.

A single run in the fourth, scored when Shawn Roof came in from second on a Dusty Bensko RBI single, chased Hinchman and opened a 6-0 lead for Conroy. Single runs in the fifth and seventh, scored on a Raymond RBI single and wild pitch, moved the lead to 8-0 in favor of Illinois before a pair of runs in the eighth opened a 10-0 lead.

Hinchman (0-2) suffered the loss after allowing six runs (three earned) in 3 1/3 innings of work.

Offensively, Illinois was paced by DiMaria, who had four hits out of the lead-off slot, and Raymond, who picked up three RBI out of the ninth hole in the line-up.

After Saturday's second game against Mississippi State, Illinois finishes action against MSU with a single game Sunday at noon.