April 15, 2001

Box Score

Urbana, Ill. - Illinois' attempt to make the Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments got a big boost this weekend. The Illini swept a doubleheader on Friday against Northwestern, and then Sunday completed a two-game series sweep of No. 12 Iowa with 3-0 win at Eichelberger Field.

"I'm really proud of the team's effort, maturity and intensity," said Illinois Head Coach Terri Sullivan. "To have these three ingredients in a series of four games against two of the top program's in the Big Ten is tremendous."

Sunday Illinois got another dominating pitching performance, this time from freshman Amanda Fortune. Fortune allowed just two hits, one an infield single in the first and the other a bloop single to right field in the seventh. In between Fortune posted four strikeouts and retired 19 batters in a row.

Illinois got all the runs it would need in the third on a two-out RBI single by Erin Jones, scoring Karyn Bird from third. Bird was pinch running for Lauren Gronski who drew a walk.

Fortune and the Illini got some breathing room in the fifth, scoring two more runs. Gronski again reached base by singling to right field. Erin Montgomery walked, setting the stages again for Jones who drove in her second run of the game on an single to left-center field. Both runners moved up on the play.

"Erin Jones is a clutch player," said Sullivan. "She doesn't strike out much, so you know she's going to put the ball in play. She has had some timely hits for us this year."

Lindsey Hamma, who batted .632 for the week, was the next hitter for Illinois. Iowa decided to intentionally walk Hamma, but the second pitch was wild and went back to the screen allowing Montgomery to score from third.

The Illini had five hits to the Hawkeye's two. Iowa, one of the top-hitting teams in the conference, managed just six hits and no runs against the Illini freshman pitching duo of Kathryn Nevard and Fortune.

"In a way I'm not surprised about our pitchers' performance because they have been doing it all year," Sullivan said. "They know they have good defense behind them so they can challenge hitters."

At 7-5 in the Big Ten, the Illini move just one win away from the most Big Ten wins by a first-year program. Illinois is 39-17 overall and has won six games in a row. The Illini are also 4-1 against ranked teams this year, having split with No. 16 Florida State and defeated No. 21 Wisconsin.

Illinois travels to IUPUI on Tuesday before hosting those Badgers (doubleheader Friday) and Minnesota (Saturday and Sunday) next weekend.