Feb. 7, 2004

Baton Rouge, La. - Sherri Taylor tossed a complete-game shutout and Erin Montgomery led an offensive explosion for the Illini, blasting a three-run home run in the third inning of Illinois' 13-0 victory against Centenary Saturday night.

Montgomery also hit two singles to finish 3-for-4 with four RBI and a run scored.

"Offensively the best part was that it was distributed throughout the lineup," Illinois coach Terri Sullivan said of her team's hitting. "We were able to do some things and get some momentum early."

Lindsey Hamma, Rachelle Coriddi and Jenna Hall each extended hitting streaks to four games on the young season. Hamma was 1-for-2 against the Ladies, and Coriddi and Hall each went 1-for-3. Coriddi scored twice, and Hall had two RBI for the Illini.

The win assured Illinois of the No. 3 seed in the bracketed portion of the tournament and a Sunday morning rematch with LSU at 10 a.m.

"We have the challenge and opportunity to play LSU and maybe Oklahoma again, and that would be great to finish on a really good note taking care of those two," Sullivan said. "We would like to score early and get the momentum early."

Montgomery's homer comprised all of the scoring in the Illinois third inning and gave Illinois a 4-0 lead, but it was only a preview of the offensive fireworks Illinois had in store for Centenary.

With one out in the fourth inning, Elene Planinsek reached on a fielding error by the second baseman and stole second. Planinsek scored when pinch hitter Molly Lawhead reached and advanced to third on a throwing error by the third baseman that flew wide of the first baseman into foul territory.

Hamma walked, then Lawhead scored and Hamma advanced to second on a wild pitch. Coriddi walked, then Hall knocked both Hamma and Coriddi in with a double to left-field wall. Montgomery legged out an infield single and Sarah Baumgartner drove in Hall from third with a single to left field, extending the Illini lead to 9-0.

Illinois added four more runs of insurance in the fifth inning, when Julie Balicki, Kisten Martin and LeeAnn Butcher began the inning with three consecutive singles. Katie O'Connell followed with a three-run triple to right-center field. Two outs later, Montgomery singled through the left side, knocking in O'Connell.

Sherri Taylor then struck out the side of Ladies in the bottom of the fifth for the third time in the game to enact the eight-run mercy rule after five innings.

Taylor finished with a complete-game shutout, striking out 11 while only allowing three hits and giving up one walk. Taylor nearly mirrored Amanda Fortune's pitching linescore from the first game - which the Illini won 4-0 against Southeastern Louisiana - when Fortune tossed a complete-game shutout, striking out five while giving up only three hits and one walk.

"Both pitchers stepped up and pitched better, which I knew Sherri and Amanda would do," Sullivan said. "They were ahead in the count and only had one walk apiece, which is more typical of their performance."

Illinois' 12-hit outburst against the Ladies nearly equaled its season output of 17 hits in the three previous games.

Hamma was the offensive star for the Illini in the win against the Lions earlier in the day. She was 3-for-3 with a triple, two RBI and a run against Southeastern Louisiana. Besides the triple, Hamma beat out two infield singles.

Illinois first scored in the third inning against the Lions, when Hamma's RBI triple knocked in LeeAnn Butcher, who had singled one batter earlier. Rachelle Coriddi followed with an RBI double to plate Hamma, and the Illini held their first lead of the Tiger Classic. It was a lead Illinois never would relinquish.

The Illini doubled their score in the fifth inning, beginning with Elene Planinsek reaching base on an error by the second baseman. Planinsek advanced to second on a wild pitch, then moved to third on Butcher's single to right field.

Hamma collected her second RBI of the game when her single scored Planinsek. Two outs later, Jenna Hall doubled to the wall in center field to bring in Butcher and give the Illini their final margin of 4-0.

Fortune never allowed a runner to reach third base, and only twice did a runner reach second.

Butcher also starred offensively for Illinois, finishing the game 2-for-2 with two runs and a stolen base.

The Illini defense also notched its first double play of the season, when Jenna Hall fielded a sharply hit ball to first base, tossed it to Hamma, who made the turn to Rachelle Coriddi covering first for an unconventional 3-6-4 combination.

"I believe we're playing really well right now," Sullivan said. "I don't think we were ever struggling, but it was a matter of getting everybody loose."