URBANA, Ill. - In a Tuesday evening non-conference matchup between the Fighting Illini and Ragin Cajuns, Illinois fought back to tie the game at two in the seventh inning and forced extra innings, but was unable to complete the comeback and fell to Louisiana 4-2 at Eichelberger Field.
Illinois (26-14, 9-2 B1G) had their ten game winning streak snapped in Tuesday's loss. At the plate, graduate student Bella Loya knocked the game-tying RBI in the bottom of the seventh inning off a single, while senior Avrey Steiner, junior Kelly Ryono, junior Delaney Rummell, and redshirt junior Danielle Davis tallied hits in the contest.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Louisiana was able to grab an early lead after a leadoff double came around to score on a single. The Ragin Cajuns then put another two runners on, but a pop out and a Paige Berkmeyer rocket to third that caught the runner stealing ended the inning.
Illinois went down quickly in the bottom half of the first and Louisiana put another runner in scoring position, but Tori McQueen was able to get out of the inning on a foul out. In the bottom half of the second, Ryono and Rummell knocked back-to-back singles with no outs, and Ryono came around to score after an errant throw by the pitcher went to the wall on the first base side, tying the game at one after a double play ended the inning.
McQueen ended the third with a K and the Illini found a leadoff single from Steiner in the home side of the third, but a pair of groundouts ended the Illini threat. Both teams went down quickly in the fourth, and in the fifth the Illini defense was able to turn a double play on a lineout to Steiner to keep Louisiana off the board.
Louisiana retook the lead in the top half of the sixth inning after a bases-loaded passed ball allowed a runner to score, while the Illini went down in order in their half of the inning to send the game to the final frame with Louisiana leading 2-1.
In the bottom half of the seventh, Rummell led off with a walk before Davis legged out an infield single to put two runners on base with two outs. Loya then stepped to the plate and knocked a ball down the left field line that bounced off the third base bag and hopped over the third baseman into left field, where Rummell was able to come around and score the tying run. A popout to left field ended the seventh and sent the game to an extra frame.
In the eighth, Illinois found two outs on a ground out and a fielders choice, putting a runner on first with two away. An error allowed another base runner, and a double into the left-center field gap allowed two runners to score and Louisiana to take a 4-2 lead. In the bottom of the eighth, Illinois went down in order and suffered their first loss in the past ten games to the hands of the Ragin Cajuns.
UP NEXT
Illinois is back on the field at Eichelberger tomorrow afternoon to face off against No. 10 Northwestern in an afternoon doubleheader. Game one is set to begin at 12:00 p.m. CT, with game two beginning approx. 30 minutes after the conclusion of game one. Fans can follow the games live on B1G+, and can listen on the radio as Scott Beatty has the call on WDWS 1400-am.
