May 6, 2010

Box Score

CHICAGO, Ill. - Danielle Zymkowitz went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI, but No. 17 Illinois fell at DePaul, 3-2 in a match-up of a pair of top teams from the Land of Lincoln. DePaul improves to 35-15 overall while the Illini move to 39-6.

DePaul scored all of its runs in the third inning. Shea Warren doubled home Tara Voss and Marie Thompson and scored on a single to center from Samantha Dodd. That gave the Demons a 3-0 lead.

Freshman Pepper Gay entered in relief and held DePaul at bay from there, giving up just one hit while striking out three in the final three innings for Illinois. After the Blue Demons put runners at second and third with no outs in the sixth, Gay retired the final six batters she faced.

Illinois managed just four hits off DePaul ace Bree Brown (15-5), but cut the gap to one run with two runs in the fifth. Kelley Wedel led off the inning with an infield single and scored on a single by Zymkowitz. A throwing error plated Danielle Vaji with the other run of the inning. Brown retired the final six batters of the game to record the victory.

Illinois is off this weekend before hosting Purdue for a doubleheader on Wednesday (4 p.m. on the Big Ten Network) then closes out the regular season at home against Minnesota on Friday and Saturday.