April 26, 2008

Stats

April 25, 2008

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Third baseman John Schlichter broke the Big Ten record for triples in a conference game with three and had five RBIs, left fielder Casey McMurray went 5-for-5 with three RBIs and DH Daniel Webb was 5-for-6 with 5 RBIs as Illinois defeated Penn State, 20-11, in a game that was suspended Friday night and finished Saturday.

Trailing 1-0 in the bottom half of the first inning, Illinois scored three with second baseman Joe Bonadonna drawing a one-out walk and moving to second on shortstop Brandon Wikoff's base hit. One out later, first baseman Ryan Hastings walked and DH Daniel Webb ripped a bases-clearing double to left-center to give the Illini a 3-1 lead.

PSU got another run in the second on a wind-blown homer by first baseman Cory Wine, but the Orange and Blue bounced back with a four-run frame. Right fielder Nick Stockwell reached on an errant throw by the shortstop and moved to second on McMurray's single. Center fielder Kyle Hudson sacrificed them over and Bonadonna drove in both runners with a double to left-center. He moved to third when the throw from the cut-off man was wide of the bag at second, and Wikoff followed with a double to left-center. He moved to third on a wild pitch and catcher Aaron Johnson drove him in with a groundout to push the lead to 7-2.

The Nittany Lions got a run back in the third, but Illinois scored twice in the fifth. Schlichter led off with a triple to deep center and scored one out later on McMurray's double to left-center. After an out, Bonadonna drove in McMurray with a single to left to make the lead 9-3.

After PSU cut the margin to 9-6 with a three-run sixth, the Illini tacked on three of their own in the bottom half. Hastings rapped a one-out single up the middle and went to third on Webb's base hit to center. Schlichter followed with a double off the wall in left-center that drove in two runs, and, one out later, McMurray drove him in with a single to center for a 12-6 lead.

The Lions continued to fight back, scoring three more in the seventh, but Illinois counter-punched with a four-run seventh inning of its own. Wikoff started the inning with a ground-rule double to left-center and, after an out, Hastings drove him in with a base hit. Webb followed with his second double of the night, scoring Hastings from first, and Schlichter laced his second triple of the game down the right-field line, scoring Webb. Schlichter came home one out later on McMurray's double to push the advantage to 16-9.

Penn State scored two in the top of the eighth and Illinois had two outs in the bottom of the inning when the thunderstorm hit, forcing a delay of two hours before the decision to suspend the contest was made.

When the contest picked up on Saturday, Johnson ripped a double to left-center and Hastings was hit by a pitch. Webb notched his fifth RBI of the day with a run-scoring single and Schlichter knocked his third triple of the game, tying the Illinois school record set by Fred Frink on April 2, 1934, and driving in two runs. Stockwell followed with a base hit to make the score 20-11.

Overall, Schlichter was 4-for-6 with three triples, a double, five RBIs and four runs. McMurray went 5-for-5 with two doubles, three RBIs and two runs. Webb was 5-for-6 with two doubles, five RBIs and three runs. Wikoff added three hits, while Hudson, Bonadonna, Johnson and Hastings each collected two. As a team, Illinois rapped 13 extra-base hits - 10 doubles and three triples - the most since posting 14 against St. Joseph's on May 8, 2000.