April 22, 2008

Box Score

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Aaron Johnson homered and went 3-for-4 with four RBIs, and Daniel Webb notched his first career four-hit game to lead the Fighting Illini to a 10-4 win over Illinois State Tuesday at Illinois Field. Six different Illinois players registered at least two hits as the Orange and Blue improved to 8-1 in mid-week games this season.

"Tonight was another night where our guys did a good job of finding pitches up in the strike zone that they could drive," Illinois head coach Dan Hartleb said. "We continued to show how strong our lineup is from top to bottom."

In fact, it was the bottom of the order that starred on Tuesday, as Webb, Johnson, center fielder Nick Stockwell and left fielder Casey McMurray combined to go 11-for-17 with seven RBIs and five runs.

Illinois got on the board with a four-run second inning that third baseman Dominic Altobelli led off with a single before being forced out at second on a grounder by first baseman Ryan Hastings. Webb moved Hastings to second with a base hit and Johnson ripped his third homer of the season, a line-drive shot to left-center, for a three-run dinger. Stockwell restarted the rally with a single and McMurray singled to put runners on first and second. Second baseman Joe Bonadonna ran his consecutive hits streak to nine with a base hit that loaded the bags and DH Mike Giller drove in Stockwell with an RBI groundout for a 4-0 lead.

ISU scored twice in the fourth on a walk, a hit batter, a double and a single, but Illinois responded with a run in the bottom half. Johnson led off with a double to the gap in left-center and moved to third on a balk. One out later, McMurray drove him in with an RBI groundout to push the lead to 5-2.

Two more runs crossed the plate in the bottom of the fifth as Giller reached on an error to start the frame then stole second. He moved to third on shortstop Brandon Wikoff's flyout and scored one out later on Hastings' base hit. Hastings moved to second on Webb's single and Johnson brought him around with a base knock up the middle, making the score 7-2.

The Redbirds scored a run in the sixth but Illinois got it back in the bottom half. McMurray led off with a base hit and was forced out on Bonadonna's fielder's choice grounder. Bonadonna stole second and moved to third on Giller's groundout, then Wikoff walked and Altobelli drove in Bonadonna with a single up the middle to bring the lead to 8-3.

The Illini got another run in the seventh when Webb led off with a single and moved to second on a wild pitch. One out later, Stockwell brought him home with a single. ISU got a run back in the eighth, but in the bottom half, Wikoff laced a one-out double down the left-field line and scored three batters later on Webb's RBI single, making the score 10-4.

Billy Barrett notched his second win of the season by allowing just two runs on three hits in five innings of work, while Stankiewicz worked the final four frames to grab his first save as an Illini.

Webb was 4-for-5 with an RBI and two runs, and Stockwell went 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI. McMurray was 2-for-4 with an RBI and Bonadonna went 2-for-5 with a steal and a run. Altobelli also notched a pair of hits on the night, going 2-for-5 with an RBI.

Up Next: Illinois continues mid-week action on Wednesday, hosting Western Illinois in a 6:30 p.m. start. It will be the first meeting between the two teams since 2002. The Illini then host Penn State in a weekend series between teams just one game apart in the Big Ten standings.