Boy, that had to be quite an ending to the Illini-Purdue game Friday! I was a naughty boy and had Game Tracker running on my laptop during a conference meeting. It was a little hard to concentrate on matters at hand with Dan Black at the plate. Sorry, Boss!
Will Strack had things in hand though for the most part as he threw 6 1/3 innings allowing three runs for his sixth win with no losses for the season. When things got a little tough in the seventh, Lee Zerrusen came in and induced a double play. In all, Big Z pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings for the save.
Most importantly, he got Dan Black.
With the score 6-3, with two outs and Black, the Boilermakers’ biggest, bestest slugger up, he worked him up to a full count, then struck him out. Even watching over GameTracker, I was feeling the excitement.
Aaron Johnson took a day off from starting so that meant moving Willie Argo up to the #5 spot in the lineup. And boy, he really responded! He went 3 for 4 with 4 rbis. Oh yeah, in case any of you hadn’t noticed by now, Argo can run too. He stole his 10th base of the season.
One reason Argo had 4 rbis?? Dom Altobelli was on base. Altobelli went 4 for 5 for the game. He rapped two doubles and scored two runs with a stolen base. With Saturday’s performance, he has a team leading .378 batting average.
Fortunately, Johnson was healthy enough to pick up a bat. He came in to pinch hit in a key bases loaded situation in the 7th inning. He hit into a fielder’s choice so nothing exciting… I’m just glad to see him with a bat in his hands.
At game’s end, the Fighting Illini still had a fighting chance to win the Big Ten championship. Unfortunately, with Minnesota’s 4-2 win over Penn State last night, any chances of that are gone. Illinois still has much incentive to beat Purdue on Saturday… they could improve their seeding in the Big Ten Tournament.
Saturday’s game is at noon. Bryan Roberts is going for us. Roberts has been real tough against Big Ten teams (Ohio State excepted).
Go Illini!
Well at least i know i am not the only one @ work using GameTracker to follow the team. Haha! Looking forward to meeting you next week at the tourny here in Columbus.
hehe yeah, the boss is an Illini fan so I don’t think he minded. :)
congrats btw, Drew… your Buckeyes really came through.