March 7, 2009

Box Score

BATON ROUGE, La. - Freshman right fielder Willie Argo homered in his three official at-bats, scored four times and drove in five, but it wasn't enough as Illinois (6-2) fell to No. 1 LSU (10-1), 22-10. After holding the Tigers to only one run in last night's victory, Illinois couldn't keep the Bayou bats at bay in a game that featured 3 grand slams, 11 pitchers, 32 runs and 32 hits combined.

"Willie had a tremendous day," head coach Dan Hartleb said. "I'm not sure I've ever seen anyone start off their college career like that. He's a great athlete and swings the bat well, so I'm looking forward to seeing him in the lineup more often. It was fun to watch."

Argo took full advantage of his first-ever collegiate start, becoming the first Illini to record three homeruns in a game since Drew Davidson did it against Northwestern on May 8, 2005. The Davenport, Iowa native blasted the second pitch of his first-career at-bat just to the right of the left-field foul pole, which extended Illinois' early margin to 3-0 in the second. Down 11-4 in the third, Argo stepped up to the plate again and crushed a two-run bomb over the left field wall. After walking his third time up, Argo hit another two-run moon shot over the wall in left center in his final at-bat to cap off his perfect afternoon.

"I really can't believe it," Argo said. "I couldn't believe it after the first one, and then I just laughed after the second and felt like it was just one of those days after the third. They made some mistakes by giving me fastballs in the middle of the plate, and I took advantage of it. I wish we could have gotten a win, but we'll try to come back and win one tomorrow."

Catcher Aaron Johnson picked up right where he left off from the night before, putting the Illini ahead 2-0 in the first with a two-run single. Consecutive singles by left fielder Casey McMurray and shortstop Brandon Wikoff followed by a wild pitch that moved both runners into scoring position set the stage for Johnson's two-out hit.

Illini starter Aaron Martin (1-1) paid the price for his three second-inning walks, giving up a two-out grand slam to Tiger center fielder Leon Landry that placed LSU ahead, 5-3. An RBI-single got the Tigers on the board and a walk loaded the bases, which allowed Landry to clear the bases with his shot to center.

After LSU starter Daniel Bradshaw was pulled after just two innings of work, Wikoff jumped on reliever Jordan Nicholson (1-0) with a lead-off triple into right-center field. One out later, Johnson grounded out to the shortstop, plating Wikoff and cutting the deficit in half, 5-4.

But LSU lit up the scoreboard again in the third, posting six runs to go ahead 11-4. A leadoff walk forced Martin out of the game and relievers Billy Barrett and Bryan Roberts were unable to cool off the Tiger offense. A two-run double by Chad Jones, a three-run homer by Tyler Hanover and Landry's second dinger of the day accounted for the damage.

In the fifth, a double and two walks loaded the bases before Blake Dean notched the second LSU grand slam of the day, making the score 15-6.

Illinois tallied two runs in the sixth on RBI singles by Wikoff and third baseman Dominic Altobelli, but a leadoff homerun in the bottom of the inning made it 16-8 in favor of the Tigers.

LSU tacked on six more runs in the eighth thanks to a leadoff homerun, an RBI single and a pinch-hit grand slam, the Tigers' third of the afternoon.

Illinois used six pitchers in today's contest and issued 11 walks, which Hartleb believes made the difference in the game.

"We need to play a complete game on all sides," Hartleb said. "Last night, we pitched well and found a way to win. Today, we really swung the bats well, but our pitching was not good at all. The bottom line was that we didn't throw strikes and when you don't throw strikes you put runners on base and that was the difference in the game."

Eight Illini starters tallied hits on the day and five had multi-hit games, highlighted by Argo's historic performance. Wikoff ended the day going 4-for-5 with two runs and an RBI, while McMurray, Johnson and designated hitter Pete Cappetta each went 2-for-4. McMurray and Cappetta each scored two runs, while Johnson turned in three RBIs.

"We have to have a short memory," Hartleb said "We need to learn from today's game and understand the mistakes that were made, but forget about it, so that we can come back tomorrow and compete."

Up Next: Illinois and LSU square off again on Sunday at 11 a.m. (CT) for the rubber game of the weekend series. Ben Reeser will take the ball for the Illini and Austin Ross will start for the Tigers.