March 7, 2008
Box Score
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Illinois was unable to find its rhythm against the BYU Cougars in the opening game of the Aggie Classic, as the Illini fell, 10-0, on a windy day at Texas A&M. Despite the lack of offense, rightfielder Hope Howell extended her hitting streak to seven games.
"BYU beat us fair and square," Illinois head coach Terri Sullivan said. "They out-hit us, out-pitched us and out-defended us. The good part is that we get a chance to play them again tomorrow and we have to be more aggressive."
Illinois (12-9) used a combined four pitchers on the day, as starter Claire DeVreese (9-6) suffered the loss after allowing three runs on eight hits through 4.1 innings. Taylor Call made her first appearance of the season in the Orange and Blue and tossed 1.2 innings before exiting the game with an ankle injury, while Ashley Wright and Vicky Brown combined for the final inning.
The Illini mustered just two hits off BYU pitcher Christina Trice (6-2), who finished the day with 11 strikeouts.
BYU (12-7) took a 1-0 lead in the first after three straight singles, then added one run each in the fourth and fifth innings to build a 3-0 lead.
Illinois threatened in the bottom of the fifth when Howell roped a one-out double to left-center then leftfielder Makenzie Smith followed with a single to put runners at the corners. Trice stifled the threat, though, with back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning.
The Cougars then pounded seven runs in the seventh, thanks in part to a three-run homer off the bat of first baseman Daniela Snow. The Illini had no answer for Snow, as she finished the day 4-for-4 with five RBIs.
"We made some mistakes and threw bad pitches in the seventh to allow them those runs, but we really focused on the other innings because that's where our team felt we weren't aggressive," Sullivan said.
"Bottom line is we need to play better tomorrow and throw our best out there. We have a chance to play a team again that beat us pretty well today, put a little chip on our shoulders and makes us play that much harder. That's how you grow as a team."
The Illini look to rebound on day two of the Aggie Classic, as the Orange and Blue will face the Cougars again at 10 a.m. on Saturday. Illinois concludes the day against host No. 3/4 Texas A&M at 3 p.m.
