I admit, on Friday night when I left town for the weekend right after #12 Coastal Carolina scored 6 in the first inning, I didn’t hold much hope for an Illini victory.  When I got to my destination and checked the score, I literally had to do a double-take.  We won?  Wow!!

Kudos to Kevin Manson (right) for doing a great job stopping the bleeding after that first  inning.  He only allowed two runs in 5 2/3 innings of relief work.  And once again, Mike Sterk came through in the final innings, this time getting the win.  He pitched two innings and only allowed one hit.  Final score:  11-10 Illinois

Casey McMurray had a monster game with five rbis.  He followed up his rbi double in the 6th with a key 3-run homerun in the next inning which tied it up. 

By the numbers
2	Number of homeruns Casey McMurray has hit in his Illini career before his game tying homerun today
1	Number of batters walked by Illini pitchers against #12 CCU today
90	Number of pitches by reliever Kevin Manson in today’s game against #12 CCU

And yes, you are probably tired of hearing about Matt Dittman (ok, no, you’re not).  Ditt came into the series with a .526 batting average.  Somehow, some way, he managed to raise that today.  Between the two games, Matt went 5 for 7 and now his batting average now stands at an amazing .577.  In the game against CCU, he was 4 for 5 with 2 doubles. 

There were other key players too.  Mike Giller was 2 for 4 with 3 runs.  Brandon Hohl continues to hit the ball.  Today, he was 3 for 5 with 2 rbis.

So color me amazed.  After losing to Lipscomb 8-6 earlier in the day, I’m sure it was a bit disheartening.  I’m impressed by Illinois’ comeback and resolve.  And quite frankly, it’s nice to see the bullpen get the accolades in the press for once. 

Next up

Well, it’s going to be Coastal Carolina once again.  I don’t have to tell anyone that I’m sure Illinois has a lot momentum behind them now.  They know they can beat these guys now. 

Game time is 5pm Saturday.

Let’s go Illini!!!