Box Score March 13, 2011
Box Score
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -
Illinois drew within 7-5 after the top of the seventh inning, but Western Kentucky scored six runs in its final two times to the plate to pull away for a 13-5 win and a series victory over the Illini at Nick Denes Field on Sunday. Right fielder Davis Hendrickson and catcher Adam Davis each recorded two hits, but the Hilltoppers used 15 hits and 12 walks to send the Illini to 4-8 on the season.
"We were not good on the mound today," Illinois head coach Dan Hartleb said. "Any time you give up 29 base runners, you're going to have a hard time winning games. And we had a couple times that the defense could've helped our pitchers out, but we didn't execute. One bright spot was that we were pretty solid offensively again today. Adam Davis and Davis Hendrickson both swung the bat well today and were very consistent at the plate all weekend."
WKU got on top with a run in the first inning after a leadoff walk and a sacrifice bunt put a man on second. He stole third and scored when Davis' throw was wide of the base, posting the Toppers to a 1-0 lead.
But the Illini responded in the second when Davis led off with a double and moved to third as first baseman Matt Dittman walked. Davis came home on a balk, tying the game 1-1.
Illinois starter Corey Kimes worked around a leadoff walk in the third to retire the next three hitters, but WKU exploded for five runs in the fourth inning. The Toppers took advantage of six hits, two walks and a wild pitch in the fourth as Will Strack relieved Kimes but couldn't keep the Toppers from taking a 6-1 lead.
The Illini got a run back in the fifth when DH Bill Charvat doubled down the right-field line and came home Hendrickson's base hit up the middle, bringing Illinois within 6-2. But WKU tacked a run on in the bottom half of the inning on a base hit, a groundout, a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly against reliever Bill Barrett.
The Orange and Blue kept chipping away in the sixth as Davis knocked a one-out single and stole second after Dittman flew out. Second baseman Justin Parr drove him in with a base hit up the middle, bringing the Illini within 7-3.
Reliever Matt Milroy worked a clean inning in the bottom of the sixth and the Illini scored a pair in the eighth. Hendrickson singled with one out and center fielder Willie Argo beat out an infield hit. Shortstop Josh Parr's base hit to right loaded the bases and Hendrickson scampered home on a wild pitch. Left fielder Casey McMurray singled to left, driving in Argo, but Davis and Dittman both popped-out to end the inning with the Illini trailing 7-5.
WKU battled back in the bottom of the seventh, though, using three hits and four walks, to extend its lead to 10-5. Justin Parr and third baseman Brandon Hohl drew consecutive walks to start the eighth but two pop-ups and a fly-out ended the inning.
The Toppers tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the eighth on two walks, three hits, a sacrifice fly and a groundout for the final 13-5 margin.
Hendrickson was 2-for-3 with a walk, an RBI and a run, and Davis was 2-for-4 with a double, a steal and two runs. Charvat doubled and scored, and McMurray was 1-for-4 with an RBI.
Hendrickson hit .500 for the series, going 5-for-10 with an RBI and two runs. Davis hit .417 (5-for-12) with two doubles, a home run, four RBIs, three runs and Illinois' only two stolen bases on the weekend.
The Illini return to action on Thursday, March 17, against Northern Illinois at Rent One Park in Marion, Ill. Game time has been changed to 7:30 p.m. at the home of the Frontier League's Southern Illinois Miners.
