April 11, 2010
Final Stats
URBANA, Ill. - The No. 18 Illinois softball team dropped the second game of the series to No. 20 Ohio State in a 10-2 loss on Sunday afternoon at Eichelberger Field in front of 615 fans. The Buckeyes offense was too strong for the Illini as they rattled off 11 hits, including a grand slam home run to hand Illini pitcher, Pepper Gay, her first loss of the season. Gay now holds a record of 10-1, and the Illini fell to 27-5 in the season, 3-2 in Big Ten play. The back-to-back crowds of over 600 fans this weekend mark a school attendance record in a softball conference opening series.
"Our players know that with Big Ten softball you have to expect an opponent to always be at their best, that's just how Big Ten play is," Coach Terri Sullivan said. "The bottom line is that we got beat. I think too often you look at what you didn't do instead of giving credit to the opponent. Ohio State came out to play, they hit the ball, and their pitcher, a senior, hit her spots and kept the ball down. We never really strung any momentum together offensively, and it just wasn't a great weekend for us with the bats but we know we will get those back going again. I can only give credit to what our girls did well. They played better defense today and they hit the ball really well."
Pepper Gay, Monica Perry, and Jackie Guy split up the pitching for the Illini. Gay and Perry pitched three innings a piece, while Guy closed out the game in the seventh. Today's game marks Guy's first inning of Big Ten play at home, she struck out one batter while allowing one hit and one run.
Down by one in the bottom of the second inning, shortstop Danielle Vaji hit a single out to right field bringing in Kelley Wedel to score for the Illini ending the inning . Left fielder Hope Howell scored the second and final run for the Illini off of a ground-out by first baseman Meredith Hackett. Hackett led the team offensively today, going 2-for-3 with one RBI.
The No. 18 Illini will head back out on Tuesday, April 13 against the Illinois State Redbirds at the Marian Kneer Softball Stadium in Normal, Ill.
