April 11, 2006

Box Score

PEORIA, Ill. - Illinois jumped on top early with a four-run first inning but couldn't hold on as Bradley used a five-run seventh inning as a springboard to an 8-7 win in its last at-bat. Dave Schultz was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs, and Mike Rohde went 2-for-5 with a double, a run and an RBI.

"It's a tough loss from the standpoint that we did a good job early and didn't secure it because of a combination of putting runners on base and not making routine plays defensively," Illinois coach Dan Hartleb said. "But our approach at the plate was much better today. We drove some balls to the opposite field and it was good to see our players get back on track swinging the bats."

The Illini pulled out to a quick 4-0 lead when Ryan Snowden reached on an error to begin the game and, after Snowden stole second and Rohde flew out, Schultz beat out slow roller to second base. Snowden moved to third on the hit and scored when the second baseman threw away Schultz's base hit. Chase Kliment then drove in Schultz with a line-drive double to left-center and Lars Davis followed with a similar RBI double. Davis advanced to third on a groundout and scored on Ryan Hastings' bloop single to give Illinois a four-run lead.

Aaron Martin was sharp in his second mid-week start, allowing only an unearned run in three innings of action, that coming in the second inning. Bradley scored once more in the fourth off Illini reliever Scott Chodil, but Illinois got the runs back in the fifth. Rohde reached on a fielder's choice on which Snowden was put out, and Schultz's double moved him to third base. Kliment walked to load the bases and, one out later, Shawn Roof was hit by a pitch to drive in Rohde. Hastings' grounder to shortstop was mishandled, allowing Schultz to score and Illinois to extend its lead to 6-2.

The Illini added to their lead in the sixth when Snowden was hit by a pitch for the second straight inning, stole second, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Rohde's double to left field. But the Braves fought back in the bottom of the frame with five runs on four hits, two walks and a hit batter to tie the game at seven.

Rohde singled to lead off the Illinois ninth and Schultz sacrificed him to second, leading to Kliment being hit by a pitch. But the runners were stranded after a pop-out and a groundout ended the frame. Reliever Aaron Saving began the bottom of the ninth with a strikeout, but then gave up a hit and hit the next batter - the eighth man to be hit in the game, two shy of tying the NCAA single-game record. Bradley second baseman Dan Brewer grounded to Rohde, who made the play to his left and threw to Hastings at second base to potentially start an inning-ending double play, but the throw was high and allowed the runner to score from second with the winning run.

For the game, Snowden was also 1-for-3, was hit twice and scored two runs. Ben Reeser pitched out of a jam in the fourth inning and recorded two shutout innings of relief. Joel Barickman also blanked the Braves in one inning of action.

Up Next: Illinois opens an eight-game Big Ten homestand by taking on Northwestern at 6:05 p.m. Friday night. The Wildcats are 9-18 overall, but 6-2 in the Big Ten after winning three games each in series at Michigan and against Indiana. Northwestern dropped a 14-8 loss to Robert Morris Tuesday.