March 12, 2006

Box Score

SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Illinois' offensive struggles continued against Notre Dame, as the Illini managed only five hits against the Irish and fell 4-2 in front of 1,507 at the Baseball Express Collegiate Classic. First baseman Dave Schultz and rightfielder Trevor Huisinga each went 2-for-3 for Illinois, as it fell to 4-5 on the season.

"(Notre Dame starter Tom) Thornton did a good job, but I would've like to have seen our hitters be more aggressive early in the count against him," Illinois coach Dan Hartleb said. "We could have tried to take him out of the things he was doing."

The Illini offense scraped to get a hit from the outset against Thornton, who was in the zone from his first pitch. Thornton threw 46 of his first 66 pitches for strikes (70 percent) and induced nine groundouts through the first six innings, averaging 11 pitches per frame. Illinois managed a pair of hits in the fifth inning, both singles through the right side by Schultz and Huisinga, but the Illini bats were otherwise silent.

Illinois starter Brian Blomquist gave up two runs on three hits in the first inning before settling down. He faced the minimum in the next two frames before giving up two more runs on a hit, a walk and two hit batters in the fourth inning. For the game, Blomquist allowed four runs on five hits while striking out five and walking one.

Illinois finally broke through in the eighth, managing a pair of runs on three hits and Notre Dame's first error in over two games. Schultz drove a first-pitch double to center field and advanced to third when the centerfielder booted the ball. Huisinga drove him in with an infield hit to the hole behind second base, and he moved to second on centerfielder Joe Bonadonna's sacrifice bunt. Huisinga advanced to third on shortstop Shawn Roof's base hit through the left side, and second baseman Ryan Hastings pushed him across with a groundout, cutting the Irish lead to 4-2.

But the Notre Dame bullpen rose to the occasion, as Jody Williamson ended the eighth-inning rally, Mike Dury got the first two outs of the ninth and Kyle Weiland finished the game by coaxing a groundout to earn his third save. Thornton threw 63 of his 91 pitches for strikes (69 percent) and his bullpen help put 67 percent of their pitches (12 of 18) over the plate.

"I liked the things we were able to do with runners on base," Hartleb said. "We just didn't have enough runners on to put pressure on them on a consistent basis."

The Illini have a quick turnaround, facing No. 15 Texas A&M at 11 a.m. Monday in their final game of the Baseball Express Collegiate Classic. The Aggies have also had a tough tournament, going 0-3 to this point also against Notre Dame, Louisiana-Lafayette and Texas-San Antonio.