April 15, 2007

Game One Stats
Game Two Stats

Urbana, Ill. - There's an old saying that says "You Gotta Believe" and a baseball saying made famous by Yogi Berra "It's never over `til it's over." Whatever inspiration you want to use, Illinois players dug deep to pull out an improbable 5-3, 8-inning victory against No. 8 Michigan in front of the fourth largest crowd in Eichelberger Field history of 804.

The victory came in the second inning of a doubleheader and featured a dramatic seventh-inning rally. The Illini had suffered through one of its worst fielding days with eight errors and hadn't scored a run in 13 innings off of Michigan pitching. The Wolverines (32-7, 4-2) won game one, 5-0. The Illini, however, kept fighting in the seventh of game two.

Down 3-0, junior Sarah Bryers started the inning with a walk. Hope Howell beat out an infield single and Bryers scored on a wild throw by the Michigan third baseman. One out later, junior third baseman Shanna Diller sat on the first pitch from Michigan ace Lorilyn Wilson and sent a shot to right center that just cleared the fence.

Diller's home run was her 14th of the season, establishing a new Illinois single-season record, breaking the tie with Jenna Hall (2006) and Angelena Mexicano (this season).

"I didn't know if I was going to give out all of it or not, but it felt good," Diller said. "It felt great to beat a ranked team and a Big Ten team with the tradition of Michigan."

"I am proud of the resiliency of our team," said head coach Terri Sullivan. "Our team does a nice job of picking each other up."

For Illinois, coming from behind is nothing knew. Sunday marked the fifth time that Illinois has rallied from at least three runs down to win.

Speaking of resiliency, no two players exemplify that than juniors Claire DeVreese and Sarah Bryers. After going through off-season shoulder surgery, DeVreese found herself with a new role in 2007, but she has continued to compete and this weekend it paid off for her. She picked up two wins and a save as the Illini went 3-1 on the weekend. In game two, DeVreese worked the final 5 2/3 innings to earn the victory, giving up just four hits and one run.

Bryers, meanwhile, struggled at the plate early in the season, but has rebounded to hit .350 in conference play. In the top of the eighth, she stepped to the plate with two outs and Kisten Martin, who had led off the inning with a single, at first. Bryers took the first pitch and drilled it to right-center for her fourth home run, her third in conference play.

"(Wilson) was coming in with pretty good pitches, but I hadn't been jumping on them," Bryers said. "I made sure to remind myself to be aggressive and look for my pitch."

Wilson was dominant in the first game, striking out five and limiting the Illini to just four hits, one after the second. Her teammates, meanwhile took advantage of five Illinois errors and added home runs from Tiffany Worthy and Maggie Viefhaus. Illinois pitchers Vicky Brown, Ashley Wright and DeVreese held their own, giving up just three earned runs on the day.

With the win Illinois moves to 26-15 overall, 5-3 in the Big Ten and within striking distance of the league leaders. Those two teams, Ohio State (5-1) and Penn State (3-1) come to town next weekend. Northwestern (8-3), Michigan (4-2) and Iowa (6-4) are also in the hunt in what has turned into a wild conference race.

"With the toughest part of our schedule coming it up, it builds momentum for us," Diller said. " We're definitely ready to go."

"(The win) is huge at a key time in conference play," Sullivan said. "We're excited we get to play the best. We have a challenging schedule ahead of us, but we've played one as well. Our players are in this to play the best."