Casey McMurray hits a solo shot in the bottom of ninth to win the game…
… and was warmly greeted at the plate by all his teammates.
Casey McMurray’s timing was impeccable tonight. With one out in the bottom of the ninth and the score tied, he chose that moment to hit his first homerun of the year. That blast over the left field wall gave Illinois a 4-3 win over Indiana in the first of a three game series.
Kevin Johnson (above) pitched like a winner tonight allowing only two earned runs in 8 2/3 innings. Unfortunately, he didn’t get the elusive ‘W’. After a hit-by-pitch and later, a walk in the 9th, Coach Hartleb brought in freshman Luke Joyce to get the last out, giving Joyce the win. Knowing Johnson though, he’s just as happy with Illinois winning the game.
It was a low scoring game but the fans did get to see some longball. Four homers were hit in tonight’s game, three by the Illini. Matt Dittman hit a long shot that landed over the right centerfield wall in the second inning. Later, in the sixth, Brandon Hohl hit a solo homerun.
Matt Dittman rounds third on his homer during the second inning…
…and Brandon Hohl follows suit in the sixth.
Actually, all the homers were solo efforts. No team scored more than one run in an inning. The largest lead was Indiana’s two run balance in the 4th. Yes,it was a very tight game.
More photos from today here.
Random Ramblings
I’d like to wish Ron S a speedy recovery from surgery. Many of you who attend Illinois games recognize Ron and his trademark cheering at the games. He has definitely been missed. Rumor has it that he will try to make it to a game this weekend. That’s great news!
Next up:
Same time, same team tomorrow. We play Indiana Friday night at 6:05pm at Illinois Field.
Go Illinois!!
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Great wins last night and tonight! Good to see the rumor was true and Ron was there tonight.
Question: Several people have wondered why there was a change to allow only groups to sign up to be on the field for the National Anthem. It was always neat to see the variety of kids each game. Tonight (Friday), there were no kids on the field with the team–not even the players’ relatives. Any idea why the policy changed?
Yeah, it was great to see Ron motoring out there to congratulate the boys on Sat. :)
I’m not sure why the change and I thought it odd that they changed it midstream of a season instead of just doing a few weekends more and starting a new policy next year. Something must have happened, i guess.
I thought it was a nice thing they did and it’s kinda awkward for them to announce that ONLY certain boys and girls can go out now.
Maybe they’ll bring it back next year.