March 25, 2007

Box Score

Tempe, Ariz. - Illinois placed second at the Diamond Devil Invitational hosted by Arizona State, the final pre-Big Ten Tournament of the season. The Illini defeated Longwood, 3-2 to advance to the championship game before falling 13-0 to nationally-ranked ASU in five innings. Illinois moves to 21-12 on the season ahead of a non-conference doubleheader at Loyola Wednesday.

In the first game of the day, Illinois used a Sydney Lisy single, scoring Lana Armstrong to break a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the sixth then withstood a valiant Longwood rally in the top of the seventh. In that seventh, Longwood loaded the bases with one out before Ashley Wright (8-6) got the next batter to line to second baseman Molly Lawhead who flipped to Kisten Martin for the game-ending double play.

Longwood out-hit the Illini 10-6, but the Illini got some timely hitting to pull out the victory. Illinois had three of its six hits in the fourth inning. Lana Armstrong extended her Illinois-record hitting streak to 18 games with a lead-off home run to center field. That homer also tied a team record for home runs in a season by the Illini, who have now hit 49 on the year. Molly Lawhead singled home Makenzie Smith to give Illinois a 2-1 lead.

Long wood tied the score with a run in the fifth, but could get no closer, leaving eight runners on base.

Unfortunately, Armstrong's streak ended right there and Arizona State used a six-run first and a five-run second to complete-the run-rule victory. Four Sun Devil batters hit home runs off Illini pitching. Caylyn Carlson was 2-for-3 with a home run and two runs scored. Bianca Cruz, meanwhile, was 2-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored. Mindy Cowles' hit a three-run shot as well.

Illinois has won 10 of its last 13 games and the last five losses for the Illini have been to ranked opponents.