Feb. 24, 2007
Final Stats
BOCA RATON, Fla. -
Vicky Brown may not have struck out as many batters as her Florida Atlantic counterpart, but the first-year Illini hurler outdueled Owls senior pitcher Jen Musilo in a 1-0 shutout in the second Orange and Blue game of the FAU Pepsi Classic on Saturday at Florida Atlantic University Softball Stadium.
Illinois, Texas Tech and Florida Atlantic all enter Sunday with 3-1 tournament records. The Illini received the top seed in Sunday's championship game because while both they and the Red Raiders have allowed 11 runs through four games, Illinois has scored 26 runs compared to Tech's 22 runs.
Brown struck out four FAU batters compared to Musilo's nine strikeouts, but although both teams managed only two hits each, it was the Illini defense that made the difference. After Brown hit Blair Bodenmiller with a pitch at the start of the second inning, Hailey Broyles' one-out single to right-center field sent Bodenmiller to third base. Brown took care off the threat, however, when she induced a groundout and left Charlotte Baird looking at strike three.
FAU immediately picked up its offensive efforts at the beginning of the third inning, but all they could was to try in vain. Illini centerfielder Sarah Bryers stepped back as far as she could and robbed Becky Brandies.
Ironically, first baseman Vanessa Suarez's bobbled grounder made the Illini winners and the Owls losers. After Shanna Diller doubled with one out in the third and advanced on Molly Lawhead's groundout, Angelena Mexicano reached first and Diller scored when Suarez could not make a play.
Baird sent Brown's pitch to the right-field track at the beginning of the fifth, but Hope Howell tucked the ball away in her glove before Diller made another key defensive play on a difficult throw across the diamond.
Musilo struck out two more Illini in the fifth, but Brown pitched around a hit batsmen and a walk in the sixth before she retired the final three FAU batters in order.
Freshman Bailey Behrens headed an Orange and Blue hit barrage with a three-run home run in the top of the first inning in Saturday's first UI contest, and first-year starter Ashley Wright (3-4) allowed only four Bethune-Cookman batters to advance past first base in a 12-1 win over six innings.
Six of nine Illinois batters recorded multiple hits off of Wildcats pitcher Lanaya Jenkins, including Molly Lawhead, who began a string of four Illini hits in five at-bats before Behrens stepped to the plate and hit her first home run of the season over the right-field fence to punctuate a five-run frame.
Makenzie Smith added to her team-leading RBI total on a two-out single in the second inning, and Kisten Martin got the best of a play at the plate before the Wildcats tagged Smith, as she advanced toward second base.
Bethune-Cookman's Trashonda Coven led off the third inning with a bunt-single and came around to score when Holly Bussey reached base on Lawhead's fifth error of the season, allowing Coven to cross home plate and end the Illinois shutout.
Three innings later, Illinois led 7-1 when Lawhead's single started the Orange and Blue's second five-run inning. Angelena Mexicano followed Lawhead's single with one of her own and Lawhead scored on an error by second baseman Shaterra Davis. Lana Armstrong scored the final run in a 12-1 victory on Jenkins' second wild pitch of the game.
Wright's outing followed Friday's tournament-opening start for the Illini in which the freshman hurler tossed 5 1/3 innings of shutout ball before she suffered an eventual 5-2 loss.
Sunday's final game begins at 12 p.m. CT.
