May 21, 2006

Box Score

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Brian Blomquist returned to the form he showed in 2005, throwing eight shutout innings, and Dave Schultz had his second two-homer game of the year as Illinois blasted Michigan State 10-2. With the win and a loss by Purdue, Illinois grabs the No. 5 seed in the Big Ten Tournament and will face Minnesota Wednesday at noon (ET) at Ray Fisher Stadium in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Blomquist willed the Illini to victory, allowing just two hits and a walk while striking out a career-high eight Spartan batters. He allowed two hits in the first then retired the next 11 hitters before surrendering a walk in the fifth. Blomquist then retired 10 straight before giving up a two-out single in the eighth. The senior needed just 93 pitches in his eight innings of work, giving way to Joel Barickman in the ninth.

"We got to see Blomquist step out on the mound today and give a great performance," Illinois coach Dan Hartleb said. "He was just outstanding."

Illinois took an early lead with a run in the fourth inning on three straight singles by Mike Rohde, Lars Davis and Ryan Hastings. The Illini were able to chase Sorensen with two runs on four hits in the fifth. Snowden led off with a single to left and after Roof sacrificed him to second, Dave Schultz hit his first home run since April 29, a two-run bomb to right field that increased Illinois' lead to 3-0.

Illinois tacked on two more runs in the seventh when Roof led off with a single and moved to second on Schultz's groundout. He then scored on Rohde's double to right, and Rohde came around to score when Hastings laced a triple to the wall in right-center, pushing the Illini lead to 5-0.

The Orange and Blue blew the doors off Kobs Field in the eighth, scoring five runs on five hits. Trevor Huisinga became the seventh Illini lead-off man to reach with a single before moving to third on Kyle Hudson's chopper over the first baseman's head. After Hudson was caught stealing, Snowden drove in Huisinga with a base hit through the left side. Roof walked to bring up Schultz, who hammered a 3-2 pitch into the Red Cedar River over the right-field fence for a three-run homer. Rohde walked, and after Davis grounded out, Hastings laced a double to the wall in right, scoring Rohde to put Illinois up 10-0. Barickman gave up two in the ninth but retired the side on a grounder to Roof.

"It's great to see Dave get healthy today with those two homers," Hartleb said of his slugging first baseman Schultz. "The first one put us up 3-0, then the second put the game out of reach. I was extremely proud of the leadership he and Blomquist gave us today."

Up Next: Illinois faces Minnesota in the match-up of the Nos. 4/5 seeds in the Big Ten Tournament. The teams will meet Wednesday at noon at Michigan's Ray Fisher Stadium. The Illini took three of four from Minnesota in the Metrodome during the regular season.