Feb. 18, 2011

Box Score

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Illinois broke a scoreless tie with a run in the top of the fifth, but three Illini errors led to a 10-run inning for No. 30 Pittsburgh and the Panthers held on for a 10-6 win in both teams' season-opener Friday at the Big East/Big Ten Challenge. The Big East was 5-3 on the event's first day, but Purdue's 10-2 win over No. 16 Connecticut was the upset of the day.

"We made an error on the leadoff hitter in the fifth and everything broke loose from there," Illinois head coach Dan Hartleb said. "We had one bad inning, but other than that, we played fairly well. At the plate, we had some good swings but we have to put the ball in play more than we did tonight in order for us to be successful."

Illinois committed an error on a Pitt bunt to start the bottom of the fifth and, two more errors later, Panther David Chester hit a three-run triple. Nine of the 10 runs came with two outs in the inning. Illini starter Kevin Johnson took the loss. Corey Baker got the win for Pitt.

The Orange and Blue return to action against Cincinnati Saturday at 9 a.m. CT at Jack Russell Stadium.