Feb. 17, 2012
Illinois-Pittsburgh Box Score | Illinois-Tennessee Box Score
AUSTIN, Texas - During the opening day of the Time Warner Cable Texas Invitational on Friday, Illinois softball fell to Pittsburgh, 2-1, in eight innings and No. 10 Tennessee, 10-7. In the contest with Pittsburgh, starting pitcher Jackie Guy was dominant throughout, only allowing one earned run while pitching into the eighth inning - holding the Panthers to five hits while striking out nine without issuing a walk. Redshirt-junior Jessica Davis tallied the lone RBI for the Illini on a seventh inning single. Against No. 10 Tennessee, seven different Illini scored a run, while freshman designated player and left fielder Jess Perkins led the offense with a 2-for-4 performance that included an RBI-single.
"We have not had all cylinders going yet in the first seven games, but we will get them all going," Illinois head coach Terri Sullivan said. "We had a bit of a monkey on our back to start of season where we weren't playing the softball I know we can play. I think the parts are going to start working as a unit and the pitching, offense and defense will come together. We are going to come out tomorrow and play aggressively."
Game One: Pittsburgh 2, Illinois 1 (8 innings)
In its first contest of the season, Pittsburgh opened scoring in the second inning with one run on two hits. Third baseman Kelly Hmiel knocked a double to left field before scoring on a Maggie Sevilla single through the left side of the infield. Guy settled in following the frame, keeping the Panthers from putting a runner in scoring position again until the eighth inning.
Down to their last chances at the plate, the Illini responded with one run in the seventh as a result of Pittsburgh defensive miscues. To put the first runner on, Panthers right fielder Yvette Bravo dropped a fly ball off the bat of freshman second baseman Jami Schkade with one away. After senior right fielder Nikki Simpson hit into a fielder's choice to replace Schkade at first, redshirt-senior left fielder Danielle Vaji laced a pitch at third baseman Kelly Hmiel. With Hmiel rising to her knees to throw over after knocking the ball to the ground, first baseman Ciera Damon was unable to come up with the catch as Vaji touched first for a single and Simpson sprinted to second. Davis stepped to the plate next and delivered a base knock to left-center field, scoring Simpson on the play to knot the contest at 1-1.
The Panthers tallied the deciding run in the bottom of the eighth inning to earn the victory. With the tiebreaker rule placing a runner on second, Guy struck Niki Cognigni before being lifted from the game in favor of junior right-hander Pepper Gay. The Avondale Estates, Ga., native induced a pop up off Jessica Cheesebrew's bat before striking out Carly Thea to secure two quick outs. After both runners advanced one base on a wild pitch, Holly Stevens sent a ground ball between first and second base. As Hackett ranged toward second to make the play, the ball deflected off the Corona, Calif., native's glove as Jessica Rhodunda raced home from third to end the contest.
Guy and Pittsburgh's Savannah King dueled in the circle throughout the majority of the contest. Guy came one strikeout from tying her single-game career-high of 10, set last season against Temple on March 4, 2011, before ultimately taking the loss. Guy ended five of the seven innings the junior right-hander finished with a punchout, while King answered with eight innings of work, allowing six hits and five walks with only one strikeout.
Game Two: #10 Tennessee 10, Illinois 7
No. 10 Tennessee (6-1 overall) opened the contest with a pair of runs in the first inning to take an early 2-0 lead. With one away and Gay starting in the circle, the Lady Volunteers drew a pair of bases-loaded walks, issued to Kat Dotson and Melissa Davin, to earn the lead. Following the second run, Guy replaced Gay and produced a pair of strikeouts to end the bases-loaded jam without further damage.
The Lady Volunteers added one more run in the third to stake Tennessee to a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the frame. Lauren Gibson singled as the leadoff hitter, eventually scoring on a Dotson base hit two batters later.
Illinois responded with a four-run inning to take the lead, 4-3, into the bottom of the third. With one out, junior catcher Stephanie Cuevas singled to left-center field and advanced to second on a wild pitch. After sophomore right fielder Alex Booker drew a walk, with Cuevas moving to third on another errant throw by Tennessee starting pitcher and 2011 NFCA All-American Ellen Renfroe, senior third baseman Kelley Wedel was struck by a pitch to load the bases. Davis followed with her second single of the day, scoring Cuevas and Booker, to cut the deficit to one run.
After Wedel and Davis stole second and third, respectively, Hackett drew a four-pitch walk, with the final ball bouncing in the dirt and rolling away from catcher Ashley Andrews. Using the third wild pitch of the inning, Davis sprinted home to tie the game at 3-3 while Wedel headed to third on the play. After Ivy Renfroe replaced Ellen Renfroe, Perkins followed with an RBI-groundout to first base, plating Wedel to give Illinois a one-run advantage.
However, the Lady Volunteers fought back to tally five runs in the top of the fourth. With the bases loaded, Gibson sent a shot over the left-center field fence to put Tennessee ahead, 7-4. Madison Shipman followed with a solo homer to tack on the eighth run.
The Illini scored two in the sixth inning to cut into Tennessee's lead. Perkins started the frame with a single to left field before Schkade tallied a base hit to shallow right field to move Perkins to third. Two batters later, freshman center fielder Brittany Sanchez singled through the left side to score Perkins, cutting the deficit to 8-5. After Cuevas drew a walk to load the bases, Booker dropped a single in front of Tennessee left fielder Holly Baker to score Schkade. After the Lady Volunteers switched back to their starting pitcher, Ellen Renfroe, Wedel and Davis struck out swinging to end the threat.
Tennessee extended its lead to 10-6 in the top of the seventh. After loading the bases on three consecutive singles, Hannah Akamine hit a sacrifice fly out to right field to score one before Gibson singled through the right side for the 10th run.
The Orange and Blue attempted another comeback in the bottom of the seventh, with Hackett connecting for her second home run of the season to cut the deficit to three. Perkins followed with her second base hit on the contest; however, Schkade struck out swinging and Vaji and Sanchez followed with groundouts to end the contest.
Illinois used all three pitches on staff during the contest. Gay started in the circle and was replaced by Guy after recording one out in the first while allowing two runs. Guy pitched into the fourth before being replaced by freshman Shelese Arnold, who went on to toss 2 2/3 innings, before Gay re-entered in the top of the seventh to close out the contest.
Illinois (2-5) returns to action on Saturday with a Noon CT contest against #13 Texas (6-0) before facing a to-be-determined opponent to cap doubleheader action for the day.
Game Notes: When a pitch struck Wedel in the fourth inning, it tied the Anaheim, Calif., native with Janna Sartini (2001-04) for the most hits by pitch in program history, with 36. Davis now owns 249 at bats as an Illini, one shy of becoming eligible for Illinois' career top-10 offensive listings. Including the Zephyrhills, Fla., native's statistics following today's doubleheader, Davis currently ranks second in slugging percentage (.622), seventh in batting average (.317) and on-base percentage (.401) and eighth in home runs (18).
