April 15, 2003

Box Score

Champaign, Ill. - The University of Illinois baseball team fell 12-8 to Bradley University this evening at Illinois Field. The loss drops Illinois to 18-12 overall while Bradley improves to 15-17 overall.

"I thought we played to win the ballgame, but we just didn't get the pitching that we needed from the bullpen," Illini head coach Itch Jones said. "I thought we also came out and hit well early in the ballgame, but we just didn't swing the bats well toward the end."

Bradley jumped to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning with four runs on three hits against Illini starter Jimmy Conroy. An RBI single from Dan Puente plated the first run with two outs before a three-run home run off the bat of shortstop Jason Morelock gave Bradley a 4-0 lead before Illinois came to bat.

Illinois got it all back in the bottom of the second inning. Trevor Frederickson reached on a one-out fielders choice and Brandon Cashman and Chris Robinson followed with singles that loaded the bases. Chad Frk then doubled over the centerfielder's head, plating Frederickson and Cashman to score Illinois' first two runs. T.F. Meagher closed the gap to 4-3 when he followed Frk with a run-scoring single up the middle, and Eric Eymann plated the final run of the inning when his grounder to third scored Frk to tie the game.

Illinois added to its lead in the third. Andy Schutzenhofer and Drew Davidson led off with back-to-back singles, and after they advanced to third and second on a wild pitch, Trevor Frederickson grounded to first to score Schutzenhofer and give Illinois a 5-4 lead. Brandon Cashman followed with a sac fly to center that plated Davidson to give Illinois a 6-4 lead.

Bradley got one of them back in the fourth. Dan Puente homered to lead off the inning and close the gap to 6-5. But Illinois came back to get the lead back to two runs in the bottom of the fourth. Chad Frk led off with his second double of the day and fourth of the past two games, and scored one out later when Eymann sent a single up the middle.

Bradley came back to put seven runs on the board in the top of the sixth off relievers Jake Stewart, Andy Sigerich and Reilly Smith. Three hits, including a bases-loaded triple and a two-run home run, plated seven off three different Illini relievers after Illinois committed a pair of errors in the inning.

Stewart (0-1) suffered the loss after allowing four runs (three earned) on one hit. He walked two and did not register an out. Illini starter Jimmy Conroy threw well enough to be in a position for the win, allowing five runs on five hits in five innings of work. Bradley reliever Mike Jakubowski earned the win to improve to 5-3 on the year after allowing one run on five hits in three innings of work.

Illinois got one back in the bottom of the seventh on a Chad Frk RBI single that plated Cashman. Offensively Frk led the offense with a 3-for-4 night that included two runs scored, three RBI and a pair of doubles for the second straight game. Cashman added three hits including a double and a triple and Robinson and Parenti had two hits each.

Illinois returns to action this weekend with a four-game series at Illinois Field against Big Ten-leading Minnesota. The Gophers are 10-0 in Conference play so far this season and will square off with the Illini. Friday's game one is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. Saturday's doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 4:05 p.m. and Sunday's series finale is scheduled for a 1:05 p.m. first pitch.

Game Notes 1. Drew Davidson's third inning bunt single increased his team season-high hitting streak to 15 games. 2. Andy Schutzenhofer's 1-for-4 night moved him into fourth place by himself on Illinois' career hits list. The senior has 264 career hits, two away from third place (266, Dave Payton).