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April 4, 2009

Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - No. 26 Illinois salvaged a split of Saturday's doubleheader with Indiana in front of a season-high 1,105 fans thanks to a two-run rally in the bottom of the eighth highlighted by RBI singles from first baseman Matt Dittman (Libertyville, Ill.) and Pete Cappetta (Lisle, Ill.). The Illini won the final game of the three-game series in dramatic 5-4 fashion after dropping a 2-1 10-inning heartbreaker in the day's first game to stay on top of the Big Ten race through the first two weekends of conference play.

"Those were two well-played games by both teams today," Illinois head coach Dan Hartleb said. "They had very good pitching all weekend and we couldn't get timely hits until the last game."

The Illini (18-7 overall, 4-2 in the Big Ten) jumped ahead with a run in the first inning of the second game when left fielder Casey McMurray (Willow Springs, Ill.) walked and shortstop Brandon Wikoff (Peoria, Ill.) singled to center. Third baseman Dominic Altobelli (Oak Forest, Ill.) walked to load the bases and McMurray scampered home on catcher Aaron Johnson's (Sussex Corner, New Brunswick) fielder's choice groundout to go up 1-0.

After a scoreless second inning, the Hoosiers (12-16, 3-2) took the lead with a three-run, two-out rally on a double, a single and a two-run homer by DH Alex Dickerson. Both teams went quickly in the fourth and fifth but the Illini knotted the game at 3 when Altobelli beat out an infield hit with two outs and Johnson blasted a 1-0 pitch to left-center for a two-run dinger.

Freshman Will Strack (Sycamore, Ill.) relieved fellow rookie Bryan Roberts (Lisle, Ill.) in the seventh and tossed a clean inning. Cappetta singled to start the bottom half and right fielder Nick Stockwell (Harvey, Ill.) sacrificed him to second, but a strikeout and a line-out ended the scoring threat.

Strack retired the Hoosiers on only six pitches in the eighth, getting a pair of groundouts to Altobelli and a pop-up to second baseman Joe Bonadonna (Buffalo Grove, Ill.). Reliever Matt Carr took the ball for Indiana after starter Matt Bashore tossed seven quality innings and McMurray greeted him with a line-drive double to left. Wikoff laid down a nice bunt along the third-base line but third baseman Vince Gonzalez' throw beat him by an eyelash as McMurray moved up to third. Altobelli walked and the Hoosiers' Chris Squires relieved Carr. One out later, Dittman laced a 1-0 pitch to center, plating McMurray and giving the Illini the lead once again. Cappetta followed with a first-pitch single to left that drove home Altobelli for a 5-3 lead.

Strack came out for the ninth inning and got two quick outs before Indiana's Chris Hervey ripped a solo homer down the left-field line to cut Illinois' lead to 5-4. A single by Hoosier first baseman Jerrud Sabourin brought up All-American catcher Josh Phegley with the game on the line. Strack got ahead with a first-pitch strike and went up in the count 1-2 before buckling Phegley's knees and striking him out looking to end the game.

That dramatic victory came on the heels of a deflating loss in game one despite a gutty nine-inning effort by starter Ben Reeser, who struck out eight and walked two, allowing one run on nine hits. The Illini grabbed a 1-0 lead in the fifth after Reeser worked out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the top half of the inning. Stockwell laced a one-out single to right and DH Willie Argo (Davenport, Iowa) got a base hit. Dittman drove home Stockwell with a single to left, but Argo was thrown out trying to advance to third on the play.

Reeser gave up two hits in the sixth but got out of the inning thanks to a 1-6-3 double play and needed only eight pitches in the seventh. He allowed a hit and a walk in the eighth but struck out Hoosier shortstop Jake Dunning to end the threat. Dittman singled to lead off the eighth and Bonadonna got a base hit to put runners on first and second with no outs. McMurray reached on a throwing error to load the bases but Dittman was forced out at home and a double play ended the inning without a run crossing the plate.

In the ninth, Reeser sandwiched two strikeouts around a base hit before hitting Gonzalez on a 1-1 pitch. Hervey singled home second baseman Tyler Rogers to tie the game at 1 and send it to extra innings after the Illini couldn't score in the bottom half of the frame. In the 10th, closer Nick Chmielewski relieved Reeser and got Phegley to fly out to center, but Dickerson smashed a line-drive homer that just stayed inside the foul pole in left for a 2-1 Indiana lead. The Illini couldn't mount a rally in the bottom of the 10th and fell, 2-1.

On the day, Dittman was 3-for-6 with two RBIs and Wikoff went 3-for-7 with a walk. Cappetta was 3-for-8 with an RBI to round out the Illini with multiple hits. Strack gave up just two hits in three innings of work to earn the win in game two, holding the Hoosiers to a .182 batting average.

Wikoff hit .583 (7-for-12) with a steal, an RBI and two runs on the weekend, and Altobelli was 5-for-11 (.455) with a double and two runs. Johnson had a double, a homer and four RBIs, while Cappetta and Dittman each went 3-for-8 (.375).

Up Next: The No. 26 Fighting Illini return to action Tuesday when they host Bradley to wrap up the longest homestand of 2009. The game will begin at 6:05 p.m. at Illinois Field.