April 22, 2003

Box Score

Champaign, Ill. - The University of Illinois baseball team dropped a midweek game against Illinois State, 14-5, this evening at Illinois Field. The loss drops Illinois to 20-15 overall while Illinois State improves to 13-22 on the year.

Illinois took an early 1-0 lead in the game in the first inning. Eric Eymann led off the game with a walk, went to third when Vince DiMaria followed with a single up the middle and scored on a two-out Brandon Cashman RBI single.

But Illinois State came right back to tie the game and more in the top of the second. Illini starter Jimmy Conroy gave up a leadoff walk and saw ISU take a 2-1 lead when first baseman Jake Blair hit a home run over the left field wall. A single followed by a wild pitch and a RBI single from DH Scott Bialobreski opened a 3-1 lead.

ISU added to its lead in the top of the third when Bialobreski hit a two-run home run to center off Illini reliever Craig Lechowicz.

ISU added three more in the fourth and two in the fifth off Lechowicz, Jeff Paarlberg and Reilly Smith top open a 10-1 lead.

Illinois started climbing back in the bottom of the fifth. Sean Patrick reached on a one-out walk, Eymann followed with his first of two doubles on the night and Patrick came in when Vince DiMaria reached on a throwing error, and Eymann closed the gap to 10-5 when he scored on a wild pitch. The Illini added two more in the sixth when Chad Frk and Joe Parenti, who led off with a single and walk, both scored to draw the Illini to within 10-5.

ISU added four more in the top of the eighth, and Illinois scored on in the ninth after Eric Eymann singled and scored on a two-out single from Cashman to close the game's scoring at 14-6.

Conroy (1-3) suffered the loss after allowing four runs on five hits in two innings of work. ISU starter Dan Stein earned the win, improving to 2-4 on the year after allowing five runs on seven hits in six innings of work.

Offensively for Illinois, Eric Eymann went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles, three runs scored and a walk, while third baseman Chad Frk was 2-for-3 with a run scored for the Illini.

Illinois returns to action this weekend at Northwestern University. Game one is at 3 p.m. Friday, Saturday's doubleheader is scheduled to begin at noon and Sunday's game four will begin at 1 p.m. All games will be played at Rocky Miller Park on the campus of Northwestern University.