April 29, 2005

Box Score

University Park, Pa. - Illinois dropped the opener of a four-game Big Ten series vs. Penn State Friday afternoon at Beaver Field, 3-2, but remained in a first place tie with Minnesota after the Gophers dropped a 5-2 decision to Purdue on Friday. Illini ace Brian Blomquist (Carol Stream, Ill.) was very efficient against the Nittany Lions, using only 91 pitches in his third complete game this year, but a three-run PSU second inning was enough to drop his record to 8-2 on the season.

"Brian threw a good ballgame today, but we ran into a tough pitcher on other side today," said Head Coach Itch Jones after Blomquist's first loss since March 11. "Brian had one tough inning, but we certainly can't fault him for the job he did today."

Illinois took a 1-0 lead in the first inning after leftfielder Ryan Rogowski (Livonia, Mich.) singled up the middle, advanced to second on a balk, stole third and was driven in by a Drew Davidson (West Des Moines, Iowa) RBI ground-out.

The lead was short-lived however, as PSU's Seth Gummo and Matt Lewis led off the second inning with singles. Then Aaron Greenfield laid down a sacrifice bunt, but Illini first baseman Dusty Bensko (Pleasant Plains, Ill.) threw to third to try to get Gummo, the lead runner, and the throw was just late on a bang-bang play. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Travis Laird laced a two-run single up the middle. Later in the inning Greenfield would score the deciding run from third on a balk after Blomquist's cleats got caught in the dirt during a delivery.

The Illini got within 3-2 in the third when Rogowski drove in Trevor Huisinga (Bartlett, Ill.) with a sacrifice fly, but that is all they would get despite getting six walks from PSU starter Alan Stidfole. For the game, Illinois left nine men on base, six of them in scoring position.

"Offensively, Kyes and Rogowski did a good job of getting on base for the middle of our line-up," continued Jones, "unfortunately this was one of the few times all year that those guys didn't produce. Today it just wasn't meant to be I guess."

Kyes and Rogowski, who were each 2-4, combined for four of the five Illinois hits. Catcher Chris Robinson (Dorchester, Ontario) was the only other Illini to get a base-hit, a bases empty single in the fourth.

Stidfole went 6 2/3 innings for Penn State, allowing five hits and two earned runs while striking-out six to improve to 5-3 on the season. Clint Eury came on in with two-outs and runners on second and third in the seventh but got Bensko to foul out the first baseman. He would then pitch a perfect eighth and ninth to pickup his third save of the season.

Illinois (24-13-1, 12-5 Big Ten) and Penn State (23-15, 9-8) are scheduled for a double-header Saturday beginning at 12:05 p.m. (CT), while Sunday's series finale is slated for an 11:05 a.m. (CT) start. All three games can be heard live on AM 1400-WDWS or on www.fightingillini.com. Gametracker will not be available for games 2-4.