Feb. 23, 2014

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MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - Illinois (2-4) drew eight walks on Sunday but only tallied three hits, as it dropped the final game of Caravelle Resort's Baseball at the Beach Tournament to Connecticut, 6-0. The Illini struggled to move runners, leaving 10 men on base, as they went 1-2 for the second consecutive weekend.

"We didn't play very well in any aspect," head coach Dan Hartleb said. "We weren't fundamentally sound defensively and our approach at the plate was not good. We did not swing the bats well this weekend, so it was a role reversal from last week. The things that we've worked on all year, we didn't take to the field."

After both teams went scoreless in the opening two innings, Connecticut (3-3) got on the board in the top of the third with a pair of unearned runs. An error, a bunt single and a sac bunt put runners on second and third before an RBI single knocked in the first run. The Illini nearly ended the inning with a double play, but a second run came across the plate when the throw from second pulled junior David Kerian off the bag at first.

UConn scored two more unearned runs in the top of the fifth. A leadoff double forced a pitching change, as freshman Cody Sedlock relieved starter John Kravetz. A fly out, groundout and hit by pitch put runners on the corners with two outs. Sedlock then recorded a strikeout, but a run scored and the inning continued on a dropped third strike passed ball. An RBI bloop single to center gave the Huskies a 4-0 lead.

Sedlock pitched a scoreless sixth, leaving runners on the corners. The Illini loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth with three consecutive two-out walks, but stranded all three runners when a groundout to the pitcher ended the threat.

Sophomore J.D. Neilsen took over on the mound in the top of the seventh, where the Huskies tacked on two more runs with an RBI double and a sacrifice fly for a 6-0 advantage. Sophomore Nick Blackburn finished the seventh with a fly out and recorded the first two outs in the eighth before junior Anthony Milazzo finished the frame. Redshirt-junior Rob McDonnell was the sixth Illini pitched used and tossed a scoreless ninth.

Kerian went 2-for-3, while sophomore Ryan Nagle had Illinois' other hit.

Up Next: Illinois will head to Gainesville, Fla., for two games apiece against Florida and Florida Gulf Coast next weekend.