March 20, 2009

Box Score

LAKELAND, Fla. - No. 19 Illinois (11-3) mounted a five-run ninth inning comeback to grab an 8-6 lead, but Army (6-6) belted a three-run walk-off home run to steal a victory from the Illini, 9-8. Third baseman Dominic Altobelli finished the day 3-for-5 with a pair of RBIs that gave the Illini its late-inning lead. Left fielder Willie Argo blasted his fifth homer of the year and shortstop Brandon Wikoff went 3-for-4 with a walk and an RBI.

"The highlight of the day was that we scrapped and got ourselves back into the game when we had a big deficit," head coach Dan Hartleb said. "We really battled today, but we walked seven of their batters and didn't play fundamentally sound. I am proud of the fact that we battled and played hard all day, but we need to play better fundamentally."

Trailing 6-3 heading into the ninth, the Illini exhibited patience at the plate as the first three batters walked to load the bases. Designated hitter Casey McMurray then extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a single up the middle that scored Argo and second baseman Josh Parr. Wikoff sent a sharp single through the hole on the right side that scored center fielder Joe Bonadonna and tied the game at 6. With the infield drawn in, Altobelli plated McMurray and Wikoff with a single back up the middle to give the Illini an 8-6 lead.

Closer Nick Chmielewski entered in the ninth but was unable to hold the lead, giving up a hit and a walk before surrendering the walk-off home run to Army's J.P. Polchinski.

In the second inning, Illinois jumped out to an early 1-0 lead when Argo sent a laser over the wall in left center, his fifth homer in Illinois last seven games.

Starter Phil Haig needed only 10 pitches to breeze through the first inning but ran into trouble in the second. The Black Knights used two singles, a walk and a triple to jump in front, 3-1.

After a scoreless third, Illinois battled back to even the score at 3 in the fourth. With one out, right fielder Pete Cappetta walked and scored all the way from first on a double to the gap in right center by first baseman Craig Lutes, who advanced to third when the center fielder misplayed the liner near the warning track. A sacrifice fly to right by Argo plated Lutes and knotted the affair.

The contest wasn't tied for long as Army took a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the fourth thanks to a sacrifice fly of their own.

Army led off the fifth with consecutive singles but failed to capitalize. Reliever Aaron Martin induced a hard lineout to Bonadonna in center, who doubled up the runner at second base, then the senior right-hander picked off the runner at first to escape the inning unscathed.

Martin worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth, but was unable to prevent damage in a similar situation in the seventh. With the bases full and two out, a single into center field by Andy Ernesto knocked in two and increased the Army lead to 6-3.

Martin threw six innings of relief and gave up only two earned runs, while scattering six hits. The loss ended the Illini's five-game winning streak.

Up Next: Illinois returns to action on Saturday against Hartford at 10 a.m. CT in Winter Haven, Fla. Ben Reeser will take the mound for the Illini at Chain of Lakes Field.