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Feb. 26, 2010

Game 11: Illinois-Florida State Box

Game 12: Illinois-Mississippi Valley State Box

COLUMBUS, Ga. - The Illinois softball team showed its power and continued its best start in program history with a pair of wins at the NFCA Leadoff Classic, moving to 11-1 on the year. The Illini started the day with a thrilling 4-3 walk-off victory over No. 22 Florida State, then picked up a 12-2 win over Mississippi Valley State in six innings.

The Orange and Blue tallied four home runs on the day, all by different players. With the Illini down 3-0 in the bottom of the sixth against the Seminoles, senior outfielder Hope Howell hit a three-run homer to right center to tie the game 3-3. Then in the seventh, redshirt freshman shortstop Jessica Davis homered to center, giving Illinois a 4-3 walk-off win.

Illinois added two more long balls against Mississippi Valley State, as junior catcher Audrey Gallien and sophomore third baseman Kelley Wedel both homered in the top of the sixth to help Illinois to a 12-2 win. Freshman Pepper Gay won both games for Illinois and is now 5-0 on the mound.

"Our players came through at clutch times today," Illini assistant coach Katie O'Connell said. "Against Florida State, we were able to adjust and know that someone was going to break it open at some point. We knew if we could wait it out our bats would get hot, which finally happened in the sixth. We showed a lot of fight and Illinois pride in not giving in.

"The quality of the hitters on our team is really starting to show. To beat the caliber of pitchers that we have been beating will help us throughout the year."

Illinois 4, #22 Florida State 3
The Illini battled back from a 3-0 deficit to earn a 4-3 win over the Seminoles (11-2), marking their second victory over a ranked opponent this season.

Florida State All-American pitcher Sarah Hamilton mowed through the Illini lineup to start the game, tallying a total of 10 strikeouts in the first 5 1/3 innings. Illinois didn't get its first hit until the sixth inning, but strung together three consecutive hits to get on the board. Sophomore designated player Danielle Vaji got things started with a one-out infield single, and junior second baseman Danielle Zymkowitz followed with a single to second base. Howell then tallied her first home run of the year on a drive to right center, tying the game 3-3.

In the top of the seventh, the Seminoles got runners on first and second with one out on a walk and Illini error, but Gay forced two consecutive ground outs to shortstop to get Illinois out of the inning. FSU's Terese Gober relieved Hamilton on the mound in the bottom of the seventh, but Davis drove a one-out home run to dead center to give Illinois the walk-off win. It was Davis' second homer of the season and the Orange and Blue's first walk-off win of 2010.

Sophomore pitcher Monica Perry got the start for Illinois, doing a solid job against the potent Florida State lineup in starting the game with three shutout innings. Perry got out of a jam in the third, grounding out designated player Robin Ahrberg with runners on first and second and two outs. FSU took a 1-0 lead in the fourth, as Morgan Bullock picked up an RBI single to left field. The Seminoles then had the bases loaded with one out, but Perry made sure they would do no more damage by drawing a strike out and ground out.

Florida State added another run in the fifth, as Tory Haddad ripped a two-out single to left field to give her team a 2-0 advantage. The Seminoles' third run of the game came in the sixth, as Tiffani Brown led off with a triple down the right field line and was hit in by Shayla Jackson. Gay relieved Perry at that point, getting the Illini out of the inning down 3-0 to set up Howell's heroics in the sixth.

Illinois 12, Mississippi Valley State 2 (6)
The Illini earned their fifth run-rule victory of the season in a convincing 12-2 win over Mississippi Valley State in their second game of the day. Davis continued to have the hot bat, going 3-for-4 with a double and two runs scored. Gallien and Davis both homered for the Orange and Blue, as Wedel also picked up a career-best four RBIs.

Gay got the start and her second win of the day on the mound, while Jackie Guy was lights-out in relief. Guy entered the game in the fourth and gave up no hits through three innings, also striking out four batters.

The Illini took a 3-0 lead in the top of the second, as Wedel drove a double to left center to score first baseman Meredith Hackett. Centerfielder Ashley Conrad hit a sacrifice hit to drive in Davis, while Zymkowitz drove in Illinois' third run of the inning with a single that scored Wedel. Mississippi Valley State cut the lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the second, scoring on a walk and a pair of Illini errors.

Illinois made the score 6-1 in the third, as the first three batters got on base, capped by an RBI double by Hackett. A sacrifice fly by Wedel followed by a Conrad single scored Gallien and Hackett, respectively, for the Illini's final two runs of the inning. MVSU added another unearned run in the third to make the score 6-2, as Angelica Wade led off with a single and came around to score after a walk and Illinois error.

Vaji helped the Illini open the game up in the fifth, with a two-run RBI double to left field with two outs, giving the Illini an 8-2 lead. Then in the sixth, Gallien and Wedel both hit two-run homers to left field to make the score 12-2 for the run-rule victory.

Up Next: Illinois continues action at the NFCA Leadoff Classic with a pair of games on Saturday. At 12:30 p.m. CT / 1:30 p.m. ET the Illini will face Radford before playing Virginia Tech at 5:30 p.m. CT / 6:30 p.m. ET.