March 4, 2012

Box Score

CONWAY, S.C. - Illinois drew even with Coastal Carolina in the sixth inning when redshirt-freshman second baseman Reid Roper doubled and scored, but the Chanticleers scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth and held on for a 5-4 victory in the final game of the Coastal Carolina Invitational at Watson Stadium on Sunday. Four of the seven games in the tournament were canceled because of rain, but the Illini split their two contests to move to 4-5 on the season.

First baseman Jordan Parr homered, his second of the year, and Matt Milroy struck out a career-high six batters in his four innings of relief.

"We've talked all year about the importance of playing hard from the first pitch to the last pitch and we weren't very good from a pitching and defense standpoint in the first inning," Illinois head coach Dan Hartleb said. "We played three consistent games in a row, then we had the rain day yesterday and it seemed like we weren't in a very good mindset today. I'm disappointed in the outcome because I truly feel like we beat ourselves."

CCU struck first with three unearned runs in the bottom of the first. After a leadoff single up the middle and a hit batter, Illini starter John Kravetz mishandled a sacrifice bunt attempt, loading the bases. He induced a pop-up from the next hitter for the first out but third baseman Brandon Hohl couldn't glove a two-hopper to him that could've started a double play, allowing two runs to score. The next hitter grounded to shortstop Thomas Lindauer, who stepped on second but threw wildly to first, allowing another run to score. After a wild pitch and a walk put men on the corners, Kravetz struck out CCU shortstop Justin Creel to end the inning with the Chanticleers leading 3-0.

Illinois got a run back in the second as first baseman Jordan Parr blasted a 2-1 pitch from CCU starter Ben Smith over the wall in left-center for his second home run of the season, a solo shot, that cut the deficit to 3-1.

Coastal added a tally in the bottom of the fourth without the benefit of a hit as left fielder Alex Buccilli drew a leadoff walk, stole second, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a sacrifice fly to push the CCU margin to 4-1.

The Illini started to put it together in the fifth, though, as Jordan Parr singled to left to start the frame. Right fielder David Hendrickson bounced one back to the pitcher, who bobbled it but recovered and threw wildly to second, allowing Parr to be safe on the play. Catcher Kelly Norris-Jones singled off the second-base bag, with the ball ricocheting into left field, to drive in Parr, and Hendrickson scored on DH Will Krug's grounder to shortstop. Norris-Jones broke up the double play with a nice slide at second, though, and Lindauer reached on a bunt single that the pitcher threw into foul territory down the right side. Krug attempted to score all the way from first, but he was called out on a close play at the plate. Lindauer advanced to third on the play and Argo was hit by a pitch on the first offering from reliever Aaron Burke. Left fielder Justin Parr chopped one to the shortstop, who bobbled it before recovering to throw to second and put out Argo on a controversial call that ended the inning with the Illini pulling within 4-3.

Matt Milroy relieved Kravetz in the fifth and worked a 1-2-3 inning, allowing the Illini bats to go back to work. Second baseman Reid Roper doubled over the head of the left fielder with one out in the sixth and moved to third on Jordan Parr's sacrifice bunt. Hendrickson then pulled a base hit through the right side, just out of the first baseman's reach, to drive home Roper and tie the game, 4-4.

But Coastal retook the lead in the bottom of the sixth as right fielder Daniel Bowman singled to center and stole second. After Milroy struck out the next hitter, Bowman moved to third on a groundout to Lindauer. Milroy then gave up an RBI single to Creel to push the Chants ahead, 5-4.

The Illini looked to get a rally going in the eighth against CCU closer Ryan Connolly, a submarine-throwing right-hander, as Connolly hit Roper with a pitch with one out. Jordan Parr grounded to the shortstop, who flipped to second for an out, but Parr beat the relay throw to break up the double play. Hendrickson flew out to left to end the inning, though, as CCU held onto its one-run lead.

Milroy struck out two more in the bottom of the eighth, giving him a career-high six strikeouts and keeping the Illini within a run, but Illinois couldn't rally in the ninth as Coastal Carolina took the 5-4 victory.

Offensively, Jordan Parr led the Illini with a 2-for-3 day at the plate, including a solo homer and two runs. Norris-Jones went 2-for-4 with an RBI and Hendrickson was 1-for-4 with an RBI and a run. Argo also was 1-for-2 with a walk and a hit by pitch, reaching base three times.

Milroy was effective in relief, tossing four innings and allowing only one run on three hits and two walks while striking out a career-high six. Kravetz only gave up one earned run of the four charged to him, allowing two hits and three walks with two strikeouts.

On the weekend, Lindauer paced the offense, going 4-for-8 with a double and two runs. Jordan Parr hit .429 (3-for-7) with a homer, three RBIs and two runs, and Norris-Jones also went 3-for-7. Hendrickson also had three hits on the weekend, going 3-for-8 (.375) with an RBI and two runs.

As a pitching staff, the Illini posted an impressive 1.06 ERA, allowing only two earned runs over 17 innings, giving up 12 hits and eight walks while striking out 10. Opponents hit only .214 against them.