April 29, 2001

Box Score

Bloomington, Ind. - The University of Illinois softball team earned a split in its two-game series at Indiana on Sunday. The Illini defeated the Hoosiers, 2-1 in Bloomington.

Illinois ends the regular season 12-8 in the Big Ten. The Illini take a 46-21 record into Wednesday's game with Ball State. The game has been changed to a single game at 4 p.m. That is the final regular season game before opening Big Ten Tournament play in either Ann Arbor, Mich., or Iowa City, Iowa, on May 10-12.

Iowa swept a two-game series with Michigan, defeating the Wolverines, 1-0. The two teams are tied for first at 15-3 records. Illinois is idle next weekend while the rest of the conference plays two games against their travel partners. The Illini have secured no worse than a tie for fourth in the conference.

Amanda Fortune (20-12) won her 20th game of the year, scattering four hits and striking out four. Indiana put runners on first and third with just one out in the fourth on singles from Brooke Monroe (2-for-2) and Stormy Hanson, but Fortune got the next two batters to bounce right back to the pitcher and pop out to the shortstop, respectively.

The Illini broke a scoreless tie in the top of fourth inning, putting together three hits and two runs. Janna Sartini (2-for-3) and Sarah Baumgartner each singled for Lauren Gronski, who delivered a two-out RBI single to right field. The right fielder bobbled the ball, which allowed Baumgartner to score as well from first.

Indiana cut the Illinois lead in half on an RBI single to center from Hanson (2-for-2, RBI). Kathryn Nevard pitched the seventh inning to record her third save of the season. Indiana's Heather Suca, reached base to lead off the seventh, was sacrificed to second, but Illinois' Sarah Baumgartner made a diving catch to rob Abby Stark of a would-be game-tying RBI. Nevard struck out the last batter swinging to end the game.