May 22, 2009

Box Score

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Illinois looked to advance in the consolation bracket but No. 24 Minnesota maintained its momentum after an earlier win over Purdue, eliminating the Illini from the Big Ten Tournament with a 13-4 victory. DH Willie Argo (Davenport, Iowa) was 2-for-4 with a solo home run and shortstop Brandon Wikoff (Peoria, Ill.) went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Illinois falls to 34-20 and will wait for the NCAA Selection Show Monday at 11:30 a.m. CDT on ESPN.

"We didn't have a good day," Illinois head coach Dan Hartleb said. "As we went deep into the bullpen, we couldn't get any outs. We kept playing hard, we just didn't execute."

Minnesota struck first with three runs in the first inning after a base hit, a stolen base, a throwing error and a two-run home run for a 3-0 lead. But the Illini started chipping away in the third when center fielder Joe Bonadonna (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) drew a one-out walk and moved to second on a deep flyout by left fielder Casey McMurray (Willow Springs, Ill.). Shortstop Brandon Wikoff (Peoria, Ill.) knocked a first-pitch single to right and Bonadonna tested the arm of Gopher right fielder Michael Kvasnicka. The throw beat him to the plate by two steps but Bonadonna's excellent hook slide made him safe for Illinois' first run of the day as the Orange and Blue cut the Minnesota lead to 3-1.

The Gophers struck again in the third inning with a two-out three-run homer off the bat of first baseman Nick O'Shea to extend their lead to 6-1. But DH Willie Argo (Davenport, Iowa) kept the Illini on the comeback trail with a deep blast on an 0-1 changeup from Minnesota starter Seth Rosin, his 12th homer of the year to move into second place on the Illinois freshman home runs list, bringing Illinois within 6-2.

Reliever Bryan Roberts (Lisle, Ill.) got out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth when he struck out Kvasnicka, but O'Shea knocked his second homer of the day in the fifth, a solo shot to make the score 7-2.

Minnesota broke it open with a five-run sixth inning in which 10 hitters went to the plate and the Illini used four pitchers. The Gophers notched only two hits in addition to four walks, a hit batter and a throwing error to extend their lead to 12-2. Illinois got two runs back in the seventh after a leadoff walk by first baseman Matt Dittman (Libertyville, Ill.), a first-pitch RBI triple to center by right fielder Pete Cappetta (Lisle, Ill.) and a sacrifice fly to deep right field by second baseman Josh Parr (Chillicothe, Ill.) to cut the Gopher lead to 12-4.

But the Gophers got another tally in the seventh on a single, two walks and a hit batter to force in a run and make the score 13-4. Illinois couldn't mount a late rally and Minnesota won by that score.

With his solo homer, Argo moves into a tie for second place on the Illini freshman home runs list with Sean Mulligan, and the RBI gives him 47 on the season, good for fourth place on the freshman RBI list. Wikoff's 85 hits rank eighth on the single-season hits list and Will Strack's 6-1 record gives him an .857 winning percentage, which ranks 10th.