Box Score March 24, 2012
Box Score
Lincoln, Neb. -
Illinois opened the three-game series with Nebraska strong on Friday night and for a short time on Saturday, that momentum carried over to Saturday. Illinois scored one run in the first and two more in the second to bolt to a 3-0 lead after blasting 15 hits in an 11-3 victory the night before. The Cornhuskers, however, saw the first nine batters reach base in an 11-run second inning en route to an 18-5 win over Illinois. The third, final and rubber game of the series is scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday afternoon at Haymarket Field.
Illinois (11-8, 1-1 Big Ten) actually out-hit Nebraska 11-10, but not only did the Huskers get timely hitting, but they took advantage of eight walks, four hit batsemen and three Illini errors. Just two of Nebraska's 10 hits went for extra bases.
Willie Argo tied the Illini record for career stolen bases after swiping a pair on Saturday. Argo now has 83 stolen bases for his career. He walked and scored on a ground out in the first inning and was one of two Illinois players with multiple hits on the day, going 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Designated hitter Bill Charvat belted his first career home run in a two-run second as the Illini forced Nebraska starter Jon Keller to throw 102 pitches in four innings. Keller was pulled after that and thus was not eligible for the win.
Illinois starter John Kravetz gave up nine runs, eight of them earned, in the 11-run second as Nebraska sent 15 batters to the pate. The big blow in the inning was a three-run triple from center fielder Rich Sanguinetti.
The Illini countered with a run in the third and another in the fourth, but left 12 men on base for the game. Jordan Parr doubled and scored on a single to left from Davis Hendrickson in the third. Brandon Hohl drove home Argo with a single up the middle in the fourth.
Nebraska (16-9, 1-1), meanwhile, tacked on two more runs in third, two in the fifth and three in the eighth. Husker designated hitter Kash Kalkowski delivered his third home run of the season, a shot to left-center field in the fifth.
"We got off to a good start offensively, but a couple of things got away from us in the second inning and we let things snowball to a point where we couldn't catch up," Illinois head coach Dan Hartleb said. "When you have a good team you're playing against, they'll take advantage of those situations. We played better than them last night. They played better than us today. I'm sure it's going to be a tough battle tomorrow."
