Illini sweep PSU; Take share of Big Ten lead

Behind a solid performance by starter Bryan Roberts and a relentless oflense, Illinois took the third game at Penn State today 9-2. With the win, the Illini sweeps the Nittany Lions for the weekend and are now tied for first place in the Big Ten!

 STANDINGS (as of Apr 26, 2009)

                                Big Ten              Overall
     Team                   W   L   T   Pct       W   L   T   Pct
     Ohio State..........  11   4   0  .733      31  10   0  .756
     Illinois............  11   4   0  .733      26  12   0  .684
     Minnesota...........  10   4   0  .714      27  12   0  .692
     Indiana.............  10   4   0  .714      20  21   0  .488
     Michigan State......   8   7   0  .533      17  23   0  .425
     Michigan............   6   9   0  .400      23  19   0  .548
     Purdue..............   5   9   0  .357      17  21   0  .447
     Penn State..........   5  10   0  .333      21  19   0  .525
     Northwestern........   3  10   0  .231      12  26   0  .316
     Iowa................   3  11   0  .214      14  25   0  .359

Freshman Bryan Roberts spread out five hits in seven innings to allow only two runs against PSU. He also struck out six batters. With the win, Roberts is now 4-2 for the season.

Box Score

Offensively, eight starters got at least one hit today and six had a multi-hit game. Four triples were hit by Illini batters (Dom Altobelli, Brandon Wikoff, Matt Dittman, and Pete Cappetta).

Dittman has a good day at the plate today. He was 2 for 4 with a double, triple, a run and a rbi.

And let’s not ignore freshman Willie Argo. To add to his exploits earlier this weekend, he went 2 for 4 with a run. For the weekend, Argo was 8 for 13 with 6 runs, 8 rbis to go with his three homeruns, a double and a triple. Whatta weekend!

With their 11-4 record Illinois now shares the #1 spot with Ohio State (thank you Northwestern!) making the upcoming series between the two teams so critical. The Illini and Buckeyes play at Illinois Field May 8-10.