March 28, 2006

Box Score

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Trevor Huisinga was 3-for-4 with a run and Joe Bonadonna was 2-for-2 with two RBI and a run as Illinois downed Indiana State 4-2 at Sycamore Field. Freshman righthander Tanner Roark earned his first career win after throwing five shutout innings and allowing only two hits while striking out five and walking one in only his second collegiate start. Roark located 70 percent of his pitches for strikes.

"Our pitching today was outstanding," Illinois coach Dan Hartleb said. "I'm very comfortable with our young pitchers because they'll compete. They may not be perfect in everything they do, but when you compete it covers up a lot of flaws."

The Illini took the lead in the third inning when shortstop Dominic Altobelli singled and moved to second on Huisinga's base hit. Bonadonna sacrificed the runners to second and third, and Altobelli scored on Ryan Snowden's groundout to take a 1-0 lead.

Illinois then added three more in the seventh when Altobelli drew a one-out walk and Huisinga moved him to second with a single. Both runners moved up a base on a wild pitch and then scored on Bonadonna's single down the right-field line. Bonadonna advanced to third on an error by the shortstop on a ball hit by Snowden and scored on Mike Rohde's sacrifice fly to left field, putting the Illini up 4-0.

Indiana State touched Illinois reliever Jake Stewart for a pair of runs in the eighth on three hits, but the senior got out of the inning with a grounder to Altobelli to keep the lead at 4-2. Matt Whitmore entered the game in the ninth and promptly retired the side, needing only four pitches to record his fourth save of the season.

"Whitmore was sharp tonight and regardless of what the score is, that's what I expect from him," Hartleb said. "He got ahead of guys and got quick outs."

For the game, Altobelli, Huisinga and Bonadonna combined to hit 7-for-9, score all four of Illinois' runs and drive in two of them while hitting in the bottom three spots in the batting order.

Illinois returns to action Friday, facing Purdue at 6:05 p.m. in the home opener and the Big Ten opener. The teams have a doubleheader Saturday beginning at 3:05 p.m. and finish the four-game set with a 1 p.m. start on Sunday.