April 17, 2005

Box Score

Champaign, Ill. - Illinois came up short in Sunday's series finale, falling to Michigan 8-5 in front of 978 fans at Illinois Field to split the four-game conference set. Despite the loss, the Illini (20-10-1 overall, 9-3 Big Ten) are still tied for first place in the Big Ten with Minnesota, who was an 11-8 winner over Penn State on Sunday. This weekend's four-game total attendance of 4,182 is the second highest four-game series mark in Illinois Field history, bested only by the 5,820 fans that came out for the inaugural Illini Spring Sports Festival April 21-22, 1990.

Illinois jumped in front early, scoring three runs in the first inning thanks to a three-run Dusty Bensko (Pleasant Plains, Ill.) homer to left field that drove in second baseman J.R. Kyes (Springfield, Ill.) and centerfielder Drew Davidson (West Des Moines, Iowa). Bensko, the reigning National and Big Ten Hitter of the Week, was just 1-for-8 in the series before the blast, which gave the Illini a 3-0 lead after the first.

"I was just trying to relax today at the plate because I've been impatient all weekend," said Bensko. "I got a pitch out over the plate and just threw my hands at it and it carried out."

The lead was short-lived, however, as the Wolverines scored four times in the top of the second with the help of two costly Illinois errors. Michigan then added one in the fifth to extend their lead to 5-3 before the Illini evened the score at 5-5 in the bottom half of the inning on a Mike Rohde (Brookfield, Wis.) sacrifice fly and a Chad Frk (Northfield, Ohio) RBI single.

The game remained tied into the seventh, but the Wolverines scored on a sacrifice fly to take a 6-5 lead and then added two more insurance runs in the ninth to seal the victory.

Illinois starter James Morris (Eldorado, Ill.) lasted just 1 2/3 innings, allowing four runs, only one earned. Aaron Saving (Metamora, Ill.) kept the Illini in the game with four solid innings of relief, allowing just two hits and one run while striking out three. Jake Toohey (Chicago, Ill.) got the loss to drop to 1-2 after allowing the sixth and deciding run in the seventh inning.

Offensively, Ryan Rogowski (Livonia, Mich.) and Davidson were both 2-for-5 with a run and Frk was 2-for-3 with a walk and one RBI. Bensko finished 1-for-2 with the home run, two runs, three RBI and two walks on the day.

Despite the loss, Frk says the Illini still feel good about where they are at this point in the season.

"It's a lot better to be in this position controlling our own destiny than how we've been looking up at the top the past few years," Frk said. "We just have to go out and do our job and keep winning games and we'll be fine."

Illinois will finish off its six-game homestand Tuesday when Illinois State comes to Illinois Field for a 6:05 p.m. start. The Illini will then head to Bloomington, Ind., for a four-game Big Ten series with the Hoosiers next weekend.