March 7, 2010

Box Score

GREENVILLE, N.C. - Illinois led 5-3 heading into the fifth inning but West Virginia scored eight unanswered runs and held off a late Illini rally as the Orange and Blue fall, 11-8, in their final game of the Keith LeClair Classic. The Illini (1-5) had five players record multiple hits, led by first baseman Matt Dittman's 3-for-4 day.

"We're doing things in games that we haven't done in practice, so we have to get that corrected," Illinois head coach Dan Hartleb said. "We weren't good out of the bullpen. We got some hits, but we also had opportunities to move runners and score runs without getting hits and we didn't put the ball into play. We continue to strike out too much and we're playing passively."

West Virginia got on board first with a run in the top of the first when Illini starter hit WVU third baseman Grant Buckner with two outs and Buckner stole second. He came home on a base hit, giving the Mountaineers a quick 1-0 lead.

But the Illini rebounded just as quickly, as catcher Aaron Johnson and first baseman Matt Dittman knocked consecutive two-out singles, and Dittman stole second to put men at second and third. Left fielder Casey McMurray singled to left field, driving in Johnson, but the left fielder misplayed the ball, allowing Dittman to motor home and McMurray to advance to second. Second baseman Pete Cappetta singled to third base, putting men at the corners, and Cappetta stole second. Third baseman Brandon Hohl responded with a two-run single up the middle to post the Illini to a 4-1 lead.

WVU put two on the board in the top of the third but the Illini got one of them back in the bottom half when Johnson ripped a leadoff double and Dittman drove him in with a base hit to left, pushing the Illini lead to 5-3. Dittman's double chased the Mountaineer starter but the Illini couldn't keep the rally going against WVU reliever Chris Enourato.

The Mountaineers tied it up in the fifth, though, on a two-run homer by catcher Matt Malloy, evening the score at 5-5.

Reliever Corey Kimes gave up a run in the sixth but danced out of trouble when WVU executed a double-steal but the lead runner attempted to go home when Johnson threw to second and he was put out for the second out of the inning. Kimes induced a grounder to second to end the inning with the Mountaineers up 6-5.

Freshman Matt Milroy worked a scoreless inning in the seventh and right fielder Craig Lutes led off with a single and stole second. But a groundout, a strikeout and a flyout kept the Illini from capitalizing as WVU held onto its 6-5 advantage.

But the Illini gave up five runs in the top of the eighth on four hits, a walk, a hit batter and an error to push WVU ahead 11-5. Illinois got two of those runs back in the bottom half when Dittman drew a one-out walk and McMurray singled and stole second. One out later, a wild pitch brought Dittman home and Hohl singled home McMurray to cut WVU's margin to 11-7.

The Illini loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth on a walk by Giller, Johnson being hit by a pitch and a Dittman single. McMurray drove in Giller with a groundout to second but Cappetta grounded out to end the game as Illinois fell, 11-8.

Hohl was 2-for-4 with a career-best three RBIs and Dittman was 2-for-3 with an RBI, two runs and two steals. McMurray was 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs, and Johnson was 2-for-4 with two runs. Lutes also had two hits and stole two bases.

The Illini return to the Carolinas next weekend to play in the Caravelle Resort Classic hosted by Coastal Carolina in Conway, S.C. Illinois faces the host Chanticleers twice as well as Lipscomb and Ball State.