Baseball loses to Illinois, 5-2

Tuesday, April 1

Marion, Ill.

6:00 PM

Southern Illinois University

13-11

Illinois

13-7

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Illinois	0	1	0	0	1	3	0	0	0	5	12	2
Southern Illinois	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	9	1

04/01/2008 | 12:00:00 | Baseball

Box Score

April 1, 2008

Box Score

By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com

MARION, Ill. - Joe Bonadonna and Daniel Webb each had three hits to lead the University of Illinois (13-7) to a 5-2 win over Southern Illinois (13-11) earlier tonight at Rent One Park.

SIU has dropped seven-straight games to Illinois after last beating the Illini, 13-12, in 1999.

Tyler Bullock's two-run homer gave SIU a 2-1 lead in the second inning, but the Illini tied things up when Webb delivered a two-out single to score Brandon Wikoff in the fifth.

The Illini then put up three runs, two of which were unearned, to seal the win in the sixth.

Craig Lutes drew a leadoff walk and went to second on a sacrifice bunt. Kyle Hudson singled after that and Lutes scored. Shortly after Bonadonna was hit by a pitch, Hudson touched home on an error. Bonadonna later scored when Dominic Altobelli grounded out to short to give Illinois a 5-2 lead.

SIU had its opportunities to score, but again struggled to get runs in. The Salukis loaded the bases on three-straight singles in the bottom of the fourth, but came up empty when Bullock struck out and Aaron Roberts hit into a double play.

SIU loaded the bases for the second time with two outs in the eighth, but failed to score after Tyler Lairson flied out to end the inning. The Salukis are hitting just .191 (9-for-47) with the bases loaded this year.

"We didn't do enough to get runs in," said Saluki head coach Dan Callahan. "We didn't have the right people up apparently at the right times and just couldn't get it going."

Righthander Billy Barrett (1-0) recorded his first win of the season after giving up seven hits and two runs in six innings. Barrett tossed four-straight scoreless innings and struck out two, as well.

Mike Sterk gave up only two hits and struck out three in three innings of shutout baseball to earn his first career save.

Adam Curynski (1-1) took the fall in relief for SIU. Curynski gave up two hits and three runs in 2.1 innings.

Offensively, Mark Kelly and Roberts led the Salukis with two hits apiece. In addition, Bret Maugeri extended his hitting streak to 11 games with his bunt single in the fourth. SIU had nine hits and stranded 10 runners on the night.

SIU returns to action when it travels to Arkansas State Wednesday. First pitch is at 6:30 p.m., CST. LHP Nick Rice (0-1) or RHP Andrew Dunn (1-3) will start for the Dawgs.