April 18, 2006

Final Stats

NORMAL, Ill. - Mike Rohde and Shawn Roof each had three hits, Lars Davis drove in three runs and Scott Shaw threw six solid innings as Illinois snapped a three-game losing streak to Illinois State with an 8-3 victory in front of 717 fans at Redbird Field.

Illinois pulled out to an early 2-0 lead when Ryan Snowden led off the game with a double down the left-field line and moved to third on Shawn Roof's groundout. Dave Schultz then lined a base hit into left-center to drive in Snowden. After Schultz advanced on Chase Kliment's soft grounder to second, Mike Rohde laced a double over the right fielder's head to drive in Schultz and put the Illini lead at 2-0.

The Orange and Blue opened up the game with a four-run third inning despite hitting only one ball out of the infield in the frame. Snowden led off with a single to shortstop, but was caught stealing at second. Roof beat out a slow roller to third and stole second before Schultz was walked. Roof and Schultz executed a double steal and Kliment was walked to load the bases. Rohde legged out a soft grounder to third base that brought in Roof and Davis lined a single to right that brought in a pair. Rohde then scored from third when Ryan Hastings' ground ball hopped off the glove of the Redbird second baseman, giving Illinois a 6-0 lead.

But Illinois State recovered half that deficit in the bottom of the third, scoring three runs on three hits and an Illini error to cut the Illinois lead to 6-3. Illini fought back with a run in the seventh when Schultz led off with a base hit and Kliment was hit by a pitch. Schultz was caught stealing on a failed hit-and-run, but Kliment moved to second. One out later, Davis drove him in with a single to right-center, extending Illinois' lead to 7-3.

Scott Shaw looked strong in his first start since April 2, going six innings while allowing three runs - one earned - on five hits and a walk while striking out two. Joel Barickman threw two shutout innings of relief, allowing three hits, and Brian Blomquist pitched a scoreless ninth inning.

On the night, Rohde was 3-for-3 with two RBI and a run, and Davis went 2-for-4 with three RBI. Roof went 3-for-5 with three steals and two runs, and Schultz was 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI.

Up Next: Illinois returns to Illinois Field for a four-game Big Ten series with Iowa as part of Illinois' Spring Sports Fest weekend. The series begins Friday at 6:05 p.m.