April 14, 2009

Box Score

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Illinois scored first but No. 29 Eastern Illinois tied the game in the third and scored four runs in the final two innings to take a 5-1 win Tuesday at Illinois Field. Freshman DH Willie Argo (Davenport, Iowa) notched his second-straight multiple-hit game with a 2-for-4 effort and freshman starter Will Strack (Sycamore, Ill.) allowed only one unearned run on five hits and no walks in six excellent innings.

"We just didn't swing the bats well," Illinois head coach Dan Hartleb said. "We didn't do a good job of finding good pitches to hit and squaring them up. But that's baseball and we get a chance tomorrow to play better."

Illinois (21-9) pushed across a run in the second when catcher Aaron Johnson (Sussex Corner, New Brunswick) drew a four-pitch walk and moved up on first baseman Matt Dittman's (Libertyville, Ill.) groundout to the right side. Right fielder Pete Cappetta (Lisle, Ill.) was hit by a pitch and Argo beat out an infield hit to load the bases. Johnson scampered home on a wild pitch for a 1-0 lead.

But Eastern Illinois (25-6) tied the game at 1 in the third on a hit batter, a single, a passed ball and an RBI groundout. Strack cruised through the next three innings, though, allowing just two base runners and seeing one thrown out at second trying to stretch a single into a double. Strack finished his six-inning stint only allowing one unearned run on five hits and no walks. He coaxed 11 groundouts on the evening.

Mike Stankiewicz (Des Plaines, Ill.) came on to pitch a perfect, 10-pitch seventh inning, inducing a pair of groundouts and a pop-up to Dittman. He came back out for the eighth and got a quick grounder back to the mound for the first out. Stankiewicz allowed a base hit through the left side and the Illini nearly turned a double play on a grounder to shortstop Brandon Wikoff (Peoria, Ill.) but had to settle for the force-out at second for the second out of the inning. But EIU third baseman Zach Skidmore jumped on the first pitch he saw and drove it over the right-field fence for a two-run home run. Stankiewicz gave up a base hit and a double to put the Panther lead at 4-1 through seven-and-a-half innings.

EIU got an unearned run in the ninth after a throwing error by reliever John Anderson (Mt. Vernon, Ill.) on a bunt put runners at second and third and a sacrifice fly brought home the run for a 5-1 margin. The Illini couldn't mount a rally in the eighth inning but looked to have something brewing in the ninth when Dittman and Cappetta hit consecutive one-out singles. But Argo popped up and Parr grounded out to end the game.

Up Next: The Illini travel to Marion, Ill., on Wednesday to face Southern Illinois at Rent One Park, home of the Frontier League's Southern Illinois Miners, for a 6:05 p.m. first pitch. Illinois then returns home for a conference series against No. 23 Minnesota.