March 21, 2007

Box Score

BRADENTON, Fla. - Aaron Martin had a career day, twirling eight shutout innings while allowing eight hits and two walks with four strikeouts to pitch the Ilini past Massachusetts, 4-0. Ben Reeser hurled a scoreless ninth to combine for the first shutout by Illini pitchers since May 21, 2005. Offensively, catcher Lars Davis went 4-for-5 with a double and a run, and second baseman Ryan Hastings was 3-for-4 with a double, two runs and an RBI.

"Aaron stepped up and was very sharp today," Illinois coach Dan Hartleb said. "It was nice to play in a game that was close the whole way through. This was definitely something that our team and our pitching staff needed."

The Illini (5-8) got on the board first, knocking a run across in the third. Hastings led off with a double to the right-center field gap and moved to third on centerfielder Kyle Hudson's base hit to left. Hudson was thrown out trying to stretch it to a double, but leftfielder Ryan Snowden drove in Hastings with a single through the left side for a 1-0 lead.

Martin worked quickly through the first two innings but ran into trouble in the third. He gave up a leadoff single before throwing out the lead runner on a failed sacrifice attempt. After a fly-out, Martin issued a pair of two-out walks to load the bases but fanned UMass third baseman Jim Macdonald on a 2-2 curveball to escape the frame unscathed.

Illinois added a pair of runs in the sixth after Davis singled up the middle to lead off the frame and rightfielder Daniel Webb knocked a base hit of his own to put runners at first and third. First baseman Mike Rohde drove in Davis with a sacrifice fly to center and, one out later, DH Craig Lutes lined a base hit over the second baseman's glove to push Webb to third. Hastings followed with his second hit of the day, which drove in Webb and put Illinois up 3-0.

Martin continued to cruise in the sixth, setting down the Minutemen 1-2-3 in the inning, and the seventh, where he allowed just one base runner. After giving up a leadoff single, Martin struck out back-to-back hitters on 0-2 curveballs before inducing a groundout to end the inning. He faced just one batter more than the minimum in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings thanks to a runner caught stealing in the fourth and a 7-6-5 putout on a UMass hitter trying to stretch a double into a triple in the fifth.

The Illini tacked on a final run in the eighth when Hastings knocked a two-out base hit and stole second. Hudson walked and Snowden collected his second hit of the game, driving in Hastings from second with a single to center for a 4-0 lead.

Things got a bit hairy in the eighth for Martin, who gave up consecutive singles before coaxing a flyout for the first out. Then, on a 3-1 count, UMass' 3-hole hitter, Bryan Adamski, smacked a sharp grounder to Hastings' left but Hastings collected it, righted himself and started an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play.

"The thing Aaron did so well was he commanded his fastball down in the strike zone and stayed out of the middle of the plate," Hartleb said. "Then he was able to throw his curveball effectively both to get ahead of hitters and as an out pitch."

In the ninth, Reeser gave up consecutive hits to start the inning but struck out the third hitter and induced a 6-3 double play to end the game.

"We played very good defense, which goes back to the pitching," Hartleb said. "Probably most crucial was the 4-6-3 double play in the eighth. That was a quality pitch hit hard to Hastings' left, but he stuck his nose in there and made a tough play. Then, fittingly to the way we pitched and played defense, the game ended on a double play."

Also at the plate, Hudson went 2-for-3 and Roof was 2-for-5 with his fourth double of the season. Snowden also had two hits, going 2-for-5 with two RBI.

Up Next: Illinois faces Dartmouth in a pair of games to finish Spring Trip. The Illini and the Big Green face off Thursday at noon and Friday at 9:30 a.m. before Illinois opens its home season next Tuesday against Indiana State at 6:05 p.m.