April 10, 2002

Game One Stats
Game Two Stats

Urbana, Ill. - If you consider midweek games as tune-ups between key conference weekend games, consider the Illinois softball team finely tuned. The Illini pitchers looked sharp in consecutive shutouts of Indiana State on Wednesday. The hot hitters stayed hot, while some Illini who needed to break out did so as well in 5-0 and 15-0 wins over the Sycamores at Eichelberger Field.

In game two, freshman Abby Lovejoy and sophomore Lindsey Tanner combined to toss a five-inning no-hitter. The Illini allowed just one baserunner, a fourth-inning walk.

"Our pitchers need to be ready to throw strikes at all times," said Illinois Head Coach Terri Sullivan. "During the second game, Abby and Lindsey both got ahead in the count."

The hits just kept coming for the Illini (23-16). Lindsey Hamma was 4-for-6 for the doubleheader with a double, a triple, two RBI and three runs scored. Katie O'Connell had a break out effort, by going 3-for-5 with three runs scored and two RBI. Lauren Gronski caught the second game and went 2-for-3 with three RBI and two runs scored.

Illinois left little doubt in the second game, scoring eight runs in the first inning on six hits, taking advantage of one Indiana State error. Even two of Illinois' outs, sacrifice flies from Erin Montgomery and Jami Bradley scored runs from third. Illinois sent 13 batters to the plate in that inning.

Illinois had 14 hits for that game, from nine different players. Katie O'Connell's leadoff homer in the third was her third of the year. Illinois scored five runs in the fifth on five hits, including pinch hits by Julie Balicki and Keri Lockett, a run scoring double. Abby Lovejoy, meanwhile, worked three innings of perfect softball, striking out three to improve to 7-0 on the season.

Bridget Pluta, who used a medical redshirt a year ago with an ACL injury, made her first collegiate start at her natural position of first base in the first game. Pluta went 2-for-2 with an RBI and a run scored. Sarah Baumgartner, who had three hits for the doubleheader, was 2-for-3 with an RBI in game one.

"Bridget is doing well," said Sullivan. "She looks a lot like she did before her injury. She contributed to our win in the first game."

Sherri Taylor (12-12) tossed a four-hit complete game shutout, her seventh such game of the season and struck out three. Illinois scored a run in the second on a Pluta RBI single, a run in the third driven in by Baumgartner, two in the fourth thanks to two Indiana State errors, and a run in the sixth on a two-out single to center from Hamma.

"We played well in all aspects of our game," added Sullivan. "Even those off the bench had solid at-bats."

Illinois next hosts Indiana on Friday (6 p.m.) and Saturday (Noon) "We're excited about playing Indiana, but no matter who we play, our team needs to be prepared," said Sullivan. "Hopefully we can take the momentum from this doubleheader and use it for the upcoming weekend. The team is seeing the ball, playing aggressive defense, and just playing hard."