April 23, 2005

DH Game 1 Box Score
DH game 2 Box Score

Bloomington, Ind. - Illinois split a doubleheader with the Indiana Hoosiers on a cold, snowy day at Sembower Field that saw a little bit of everything. A pitching duel, a slugfest, dramatic homeruns, several crazy plays and a controversial ending, this Saturday had it all. For the Illini, the end result was a dramatic 4-3 win in game one and a stinging 14-13 loss in game two that moved their overall record to 22-12-1, and their Big Ten mark to 11-4, which is still good for a first place tie with Minnesota, who split a DH with Northwestern on Saturday.

Illinois was able to steal game one from the hosts when sophomore DH Mike Rohde (Brookfield, Wisc.) hit a two-out grand slam in the top of the seventh inning with the Illini down 3-0. The score was tied 0-0 through five innings before the Hoosiers scored three in the bottom of the sixth off Illini starter Jimmy Conroy (Rock Island, Ill.). Illinois had one chance left in the seventh, but after J.R. Kyes (Springfield, Ill.) struck-out and Ryan Rogowski (Livonia, Mich.) flew out to center the Illini were down to their final out.

Then the Illini came to life, however, as Chris Robinson (Dorchester, Ontario) singled up the middle, Dusty Bensko (Pleasant Plains, Ill.) walked and Drew Davidson (West Des Moines, Iowa) singled off the third base bag to load the bases for Rohde. On the first pitch he saw, Rohde hit a no-doubter to deep right field to put the Illini on top. Conroy came back and retired the Hoosiers in the bottom of the seventh to pick up his sixth win of the season.

"What we did with two-outs in the seventh really shows what the middle of our order is capable of," said Head Coach Itch Jones of the dramatic finish to game one. "The wind was blowing out and Mike was looking for a good first pitch. He got what he was looking for and hit a huge home run for us."

While game one was a pitchers duel most of the way, the nightcap was the definition of a slugfest. The Orange and Blue scored three times in both the first and second innings to race out to a 6-2 advantage and then went up 7-2 in the fourth on an unusual home run by Bensko. The Pleasant Plains native drove one the deep centerfield, but it appeared that Hoosier centerfielder Reggie Watson had a beat on it. The sprinting Watson reached up at the warning track to make the catch but the ball ricocheted off his glove and over the fence to give Bensko his conference leading 11th home run.

The hosts came back to make it 8-6 at the end of four innings, but Illinois appeared to break the game open once again with four runs in the top of the fifth, thanks in part to a two-RBI single by Bensko, to open up a 12-6 lead. The Hoosiers chipped away with three in the fifth and one in the sixth to go into the bottom of the seventh trailing 13-10.

Indiana had a runner on first with two outs when IU clean-up hitter Ryan Parker hit a high pop fly to second base that looked like it would end the game, however, Illinois second baseman Shawn Roof, who had just entered the game as a defensive replacement for Kyes, dropped the sure out and giving the Hoosiers new life.

At this point, things got really weird. With two on, the next hitter Zach Boswell hit a bullet down the first baseline that went all the way to the corner and disappeared under the bullpen chairs. Rightfielder Trevor Huisinga ran over, couldn't find the ball and threw his hands in the air for a moment, signaling a lodged ball. Meanwhile Boswell continued to circle the bases, scoring behind Jay Brant and Parker on an apparent inside-the-park three-run home run. As Indiana cheered, the Illini protested and the umpires gathered to decide if the HR would be allowed or if it would be called a ground-rule double. After about five minutes of deliberation, it was declared a home run and the game was tied at 13-13 and heading to extra innings.

Indiana would later win the game in the bottom of the ninth on a one out single by Parker to salvage the split.

"We had a lot of errors in the second game that really cost us the game," said Jones of the team's defensive woes in the nightcap. "We've lost some games we shouldn't have, like this one, but at the same time we've won some we probably shouldn't have. That's just baseball I guess."

Bensko finished the day 4-6 with five runs scored, five RBI, four walks and a home run. Rohde also had a big day, going 6-8 with two runs, six RBI and of course the grand slam. Huisinga went 3-6 with three RBI in game two and Kyes also had three hits, going 3-4 with three runs in the nightcap.

Illinois (22-12-1, 11-4) and Indiana (20-18, 4-11) will close the four-game series game on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. The game can be heard live on WDWS AM-1400 radio.