April 21, 2006

Box Score

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Mike Rohde and Ryan Hastings each belted home runs and Matt Whitmore baffled Iowa hitters for 6 1/3 innings as Illinois cruised to a 12-3 win in front of 950 fans at Illinois Field. All 12 of the Illini's runs came with two outs and eight of nine Illini starters had at least one hit in a 16-hit barrage.

Illinois started hot, scoring three runs in each of the first two innings. In the first, Mike Rohde drilled a 2-1 pitch over the wall in right field for a three-run home run after Dave Schultz drew a two-out walk and Chase Kliment singled to the hole on the left side of the infield with two outs. In the second inning, Ryan Hastings singled through the right side with two down, Ryan Snowden singled to left-center and Shawn Roof walked. Schultz drove in a run when he was hit by a pitch and Kliment's base hit to center scored two to put Illinois up 6-0.

The Orange and Blue added another in the third when Joe Bonadonna singled sharply down the left-field line with two outs and stole second. He then scored on Hastings' double to the gap in left-center, extending the Illini lead to 7-0.

After Iowa manufactured a run in the fourth, Illinois responded with three more in the fifth, all with two down. Lars Davis singled to right-center with one out and moved to second on a wild pitch. Bonadonna then drove him in with a single to left-center before Hastings uncorked his first home run of the season and second of his career, blasting a 2-1 pitch to right field and pushing the Illinois lead to 10-1.

The Illini put another on the board in the sixth when Schultz doubled, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Davis' sacrifice fly, which was the second out of the inning. Then Illinois added one more in the eighth when Rohde was hit by a pitch, advanced a base on Aaron Ifft's pinch-hit single and scored on Trevor Huisinga's base hit, making the Illini lead 12-3 because the Hawkeyes had scored two in the seventh.

On the night, Hastings was 3-for-4 with three RBI, a homer and a double, falling a triple short of the cycle. Schultz was 2-for-3 with two runs, Kliment was 2-for-4 with two runs, Rohde went 1-for-3 with a three-run homer and Bonadonna was 2-for-5 with two runs.

But the star was Whitmore, who went 6 1/3 innings in his first start since May 15, 2005. He allowed just three hits, giving up three runs on four walks while striking out six. Whitmore threw 101 pitches, locating 66 for strikes. Aaron Martin tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief and Aaron Saving threw a perfect ninth inning. Illinois' defense was solid behind them, not committing an error for the seventh time this year. It was only the third errorless game the Illini have been involved in this year, as Iowa's defense was also flawless.

Up Next: The Illini and Iowa return to Illinois Field at 3:05 p.m. Saturday for a doubleheader. The teams wrap up the series Sunday at 1:05 p.m. Saturday's doubleheader will be tape-delayed on WDWS AM-1400, but will be live on FightingIllini.com. The same will be true for Sunday's game.