April 22, 2007

Box Score

IOWA CITY, Iowa - Illinois continually fought back against Iowa in the teams' series finale, but in the end the Hawkeyes prevailed in a 17-12 marathon at Duane Banks Field. The Illini jumped on top with a six-run fifth inning, but Iowa used four runs in the seventh to salt away the victory. Illinois catcher Lars Davis was 3-for-4 with two homers, first baseman Mike Rohde was 3-for-6 with two triples and shortstop Shawn Roof was hit three times and stole three bases in the game. It marks the first time this season that Illinois (17-17 overall, 7-7 in the Big Ten) has lost a conference series.

"Offensively, we did a very good job today," Illinois coach Dan Hartleb said. "We got down early, but we battled back. We had a lot of good at bats, took good swings and drew a lot of walks and hit-by-pitches to get back in the game."

Illinois jumped ahead with its first run in the first inning all weekend when catcher Lars Davis smashed a 2-2 pitch well over the fence in right field for his eighth homer of the year and a 1-0 Illini lead.

After Iowa touched Illinois starter Aaron Martin for a run in the bottom of the first, the Illini responded with another run in the second. Roof was hit by a pitch to lead off the frame and stole second. Second baseman Ryan Hastings' flyout to right-center allowed Roof to move to third and he scored when leftfielder Joe Bonadonna laced a single to left for a 2-1 lead.

But Martin gave up five runs in the bottom of the second and was relieved with one out in the frame, as Iowa took a 6-2 lead. Right-hander Ben Reeser came on and got out of the inning as Davis threw out a runner stealing and Reeser struck out the final batter of the inning.

The Illini fought back with two runs in the third. Third baseman Brandon Wikoff led off with a single to right-center and, one out later, Rohde ripped his second triple of the game to drive in Wikoff. Rohde came home on DH Daniel Webb's sacrifice fly, cutting the margin to 6-4.

Iowa continued to pound Illini pitching in the third, though, putting up five runs off Reeser with five hits, a walk and an error, pushing the Hawkeye lead to 11-4.

But Illinois once again lived up to its nickname in the fourth as Hudson and Snowden led off with singles, but Snowden was doubled off first on a line-drive to right field by Wikoff. With two down, Davis smashed his second homer of the game, again to right field, cutting the margin to 11-6.

After the Illini kept Iowa scoreless in the fourth for the first time in the game, Illinois re-took the lead with a six-run fifth. Roof and Hastings were both hit by pitches and Bonadonna walked to load the bases. After a pitching change, Hudson and Snowden both drew walks that forced in runs. Wikoff drove in a run with a sacrifice fly and Davis was hit by a pitch to re-load the bags. Rohde reached on a fielder's choice that drove in Hudson as Davis was put out at second, and Snowden scored on a wild pitch. Webb laced a single to left plating Rohde and giving Illinois a 12-11 lead.

But the Iowa bullpen tightened, shutting out the Illini the rest of the game and the Hawkeyes were able to push across two runs in the fifth off reliever Brian Long and three in the seventh off relievers Jonathan Smiley, Omar Kadir and Jake Toohey for the final margin of 17-12.

Offensively, Davis was 3-for-4 with two homers, three RBI and two runs, and Rohde went 3-for-6 with two triples, two RBI and two runs. Webb went 2-for-4 with two RBI and Wikoff was 2-for-5 with a run and an RBI. Roof finished the day 1-for-2 with a double, three HBP and three steals. Roof is now tied for the Illini record for HBP in a Big Ten season (11) and equaled his 17 HBP in 2006, which is second on the single-season charts. His 55 career steals tie him for fifth all-time with Andy Richardson and Dave Rear, and his 30 steals this season tie him for fourth on the single-season list with Todd Schmitke's 1982 season. Schmitke's 1981 season with 35 steals is the school record.

Up Next: The Illini return to action on Tuesday when they host Eastern Illinois at 6:05 p.m. Illinois also welcomes Blackburn to Illinois Field Wednesday at 6:35 p.m. The Illini host Minnesota next weekend, with Friday's opener slated for a 6:05 p.m. start.