Sept. 17, 2008

Box Score

URBANA, Ill. - The Illinois softball team opened the fall season with a 5-0 victory over Parkland College on Wednesday night at Eichelberger Field. The Orange and Blue pitching staff combined for 12 strikeouts, while three different Illini contributed an RBI.

"The team has worked on hard at practice, so to finally play a game under the lights was a lot of fun," head coach Terri Sullivan said. "We're really pleased with our pitching staff and the team as a whole worked really well together."

Newcomer Monica Perry made her debut in the Orange and Blue with an outstanding starting performance, as she tossed two innings and struck out the last four batters she faced to total five strikeouts on the evening. Pitchers Taylor Call, Ashley Wright and Christine Christopoulos also contributed to the shutout with a combined seven strikeouts.

Illinois broke up the scoreless tie with a big third inning thanks to a couple of miscues by the Cobras. With runners at second and third, sophomore second baseman Danielle Zymkowitz drove in the fist run of the game on an infield single. Sophomore centerfielder Ashley Conrad and Zymkowitz each scored on an error to make it 3-0 before junior leftfielder Hope Howell crossed the plate on catcher Lana Armstrong's grounder to the pitcher. First baseman Katrina Ross capped off the inning with a sharp double to left-center to give Illinois a 5-0 lead.

The Illini continue the fall season this weekend at the Illinois Collegiate Softball Championship at Champion Fields in Normal, Ill. Illinois will square off against Western Illinois at noon on Saturday, Sept. 20, then take on Southern Illinois at 5 p.m. The Illini wrap up the tournament on Sunday with the time and opponent to be determined.