CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - After totaling nine runs in the Big Ten Tournament, the Fighting Illini broke out the bats on Friday to support a complete game from
Kevin Duchene (11-1) in a 10-3 NCAA Regional victory over Ohio. Home runs from
Reid Roper and
David Kerian paced the Illini's attack, scoring an efficient 10 runs on 10 hits. The Fighting Illini offense saw a balanced attack with every hitter reaching base at least once and 10 hits spread out across seven Illini.
Duchene got into some early trouble by allowing a single and a walk to lead off the game, but used two groundouts and a fly out to limit the damage to just one run.
Reid Roper leveled the score with a long home run to right field in the bottom of the first, his 10th bomb of the season.
The back-and-forth start to the game continued in the second inning as the Bobcats' John Adryan hit an opposite field home run to left, giving Ohio a 2-1 lead.
In the bottom of the second, a leadoff
Casey Fletcher single and
Pat McInerney walk set the table for, Big Ten Player of the Year,
David Kerian as he slugged his 15th home run of the season, giving the Illini a 4-2 lead. After back-to-back one-out singles from
Ryne Roper and
Adam Walton, a
Ryan Nagle double to right field scored Roper and extended the lead to 5-2. After an intentional walk to
Reid Roper,
Jason Goldstein capped off the five run frame with a fielder's choice ground out to shortstop, scoring Walton.
After an 11-minute rain delay, Duchene recorded his first scoreless frame, using a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning. The Illini made two consecutive innings with a crooked number when scored when
Ryne Roper recorded his second hit of the game, driving in
David Kerian and
Will Krug crossed the plate on a passed ball.
The Bobcats added a run in the fifth with a two out, RBI single by Mitch Longo, but the Illini got it back with an error, a walk, a sacrifice bunt, and wild pitch, making it 9-3 after five innings.
After two scoreless frames from Duchene, Krug laced a one-out triple to the right field corner and came home on a
Ryne Roper sacrifice fly to left. The run was the 10th of the night, marking the 12th time this season the Fighting Illini have scored in double figures.
Duchene finished the evening, throwing 114 pitches over nine innings, giving up three runs on seven hits, and striking out one.
Up Next: The Fighting Illini will be back in action tomorrow night in the winner's bracket of the Champaign Regional, facing the Fighting Irish, who beat Wright State 13-7 today, at 7 p.m.
Illinois NCAA Tournament Game Notes•   Illinois won its opening round NCAA Tournament game for the fifth time in 11 all-time appearances.
•   Illinois (48-8-1) is one win shy of the school record for victories (49 in 1982).
•   Illinois boasts the No. 1 winning percentage (0.851) in NCAA Division I Baseball and has the fewest losses (8).
