April 16, 2002
Final Stats
Urbana, Ill. -
Illinois ended the longest home stand in school history Tuesday with a doubleheader sweep of Ball State, 8-1 and 4-3 at Eichelberger Field. In the process the Illini extended their winning streak to seven games, the longest this season and second longest in school history and finished 9-3 on the stand. Illinois won 10 games in a row last year.
Sherri Taylor picked up the win in the first game and a save in the nightcap. Illinois came from behind in both games, spotting Ball State a 1-0 lead in the first inning in game one and a 2-0 lead after one inning in the second game.
With the wind blowing out, one might have thought the home runs would sail out of Eichelberger Field. Ball State's Kris Burdine sent the first pitch of the game out over the right field fence in the first game, but that was the only long ball of the day. Two of the next three batters got hits for Ball State. After that Taylor retired the next 17 in row, striking out five to improve her record to 14-12.
Illinois came back to tie with a run in the bottom of the first on a double from Janna Sartini (2-for-4, RBI), which scored Lindsey Hamma from second.
The Illini exploded for three runs in the fourth, three in the fifth and three in the sixth. Two of the three runs in the fourth were unearned runs thanks to three Ball State errors in the inning. Hamma, Erin Jones, and Erin Montgomery drove in runs in the inning.
The Illini exploded for three more runs in the fifth. Alicia Hammel's bases loaded walk scored LeeAnn Butcher from third. Hamma and Jones each had run-scoring singles in the inning as well. Jones was 3-for-5 for the night, including 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored in the first game.
"Offensively and defensively, (Erin Jones) is outstanding," said Head Coach Terri Sullivan. "She has always been a two-way player and has a great work ethic. She is always trying to work on her weaknesses to try to make herself a better player."
Katie O'Connell remained hot. O'Connell was 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored. She is batting .615 in the last five games.
Ball State scored two runs in the first inning of game two. Lyndsay Buckley singled home two runs, one of which was earned, off Illinois starter Abby Lovejoy (9-0). The Illini freshman settled down a bit from there, but Ball State did threaten two more times. Ball State's Ruth Hjemeland tripled with one out in the third, but failed to score, and Ball State didn't score after getting the lead-off hitter aboard in the second.
"I was pleased to see the defense get out of jams that they got themselves into," said Illinois Head Coach Terri Sullivan. "At this point in the season, teams are going to get hits. I was glad to see Abby work through some jams. "
Illinois scored three runs to take the lead for good in the second. Catcher Julie Balicki doubled and scored on a Butcher single up the middle. Jones and Bridget Pluta had RBI in the inning. The Illini added another run in the third to make it 4-2.
Ball State threatened in the seventh. Katie Shea singled home Burdine, who led off the inning with a double, to cut the lead to 4-3. Taylor, however, got the next batter to ground into a game-ending double play, Jones to O'Connell to Hamma.
At 27-16 and 5-5 in the Big Ten, the Illini embark on another key conference road trip to Penn State (20-20) 5-7) and Ohio State (38-9, 9-3). Illinois is tied for sixth in the Big Ten. The conference takes the top six to the conference tournament.
"I feel good about how we're playing going into next weekend," said Sullivan. "Our offense is picking up through the line-up. We're seeing the ball well. It shows with the hits, runs, and RBI we are producing."
