Aaron Johnson slides in to score in Illinois’ big six-run first inning
When I woke up today, I wasn’t sure we weren’t going to have a ballgame. It was raining and I heard thunder every so often. Thankfully, the clouds parted by about 2pm and we had about the most beautiful day possible for baseball. The game was on and as it turned out, I’m glad it was.
Thanks to a explosive first inning and some excellent defense plays, the Illini defeated the Penn State Nittany Lions in a hard played game. The final score: Illinois 10 PSU 8.
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Casey McMurray heads toward third base |
Josh Parr scores in the fourth inning |
Illinois got off to a quick start scoring six runs in the first inning. That early lead made the difference in the game as Penn State seemed to nibble away at the score and Illinois managed to score just enough in the rest of the game to stem their tide.
Kevin Johnson gets the win on Saturday
Kevin Johnson got the start today. Though his numbers probably don’t show it (six earned runs in six innings), he pitched well and looked fantastic at moments. For the game, he struck out six PSU batters. This was KJ’s second win of the season.
Bryan Roberts was brought in to close the door and certainly earned his save. He pitched two scoreless innings including a ninth inning consisting of Penn State’s big hitters (including Ben Heath who always seems to hit the ball hard) which have troubled Illinois pitchers so far this weekend.
Willie Argo contributed with his bat and his glove
There’s no doubt Willie Argo contributed with the bat… he went 3 for 5 with a run, an rbi and two stolen bases. But almost more importantly, he made two Mayesian catches in centerfield today. In both, he bore toward left-center and made a sliding catch which most certainly saved Illinois more than a couple runs.
Craig Lutes has five rbis in the last two games
Craig Lutes is on a roll. Last night, he drove in three runs. He continued playing a big part of Illinois’ offense today by driving in three runs on two hits. That makes six rbis for the weekend for Lutes… and he’s got one more game left.
Here are the rest of the photos from today. Personally, from a amateur photographer’s point of view, I LOVE day games. Even with stadium lights, my camera doesn’t do well with the late night darkness.
Next up
Tomorrow is our rubber game with Penn State. This time it’s a 12:05pm game. Last I checked, the weather looks good. I believe Lee Zerrusen is scheduled to be the starter. See you there!
Random Ramblings
Say what you want about the relatively new Field Turf at Illinois Field (it was installed before last season) but you have to admit it came in handy today. Yeah, I’ll admit I was a skeptic too when they put it in. But ask anyone in the program and they’ll tell you that today’s game probably would have been canceled had we had the former dirt field in place. With all the rain we had today, it just would have been too muddy. With the Field Turf in place, the rainwater tends to just drain off. Sure enough, from the looks of it the field looked relatively dry.
For those wondering, Mike Giller was in the lineup today. Last night, Mike took a nasty foul tip above the right eye and left the game. He didn’t look like his usual pretty self but he seems to be doing ok as he contributed two hits and an rbi to today’s cause.
Hope you’re feeling better, Mike.
A little bird told me that former Illinois shortstop Shawn Roof (left, from his Illini days) got an at-bat for the Detroit Tigers in spring training on Thursday. To make it extra special, his brother, Eric also got a chance to hit, too. Eric actually went 2 for 3 with a double and 2 rbis.
How could you top that?? Their father, Gene Roof was the first base coach.
Good luck, Shawn!!