Coach Snider congratulates Justin Parr on his rbi triple in the 4th inning
Simple fundamentals and sound strategy. That’s how Illinois won tonight’s game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers keeping postseason hopes alive.
With the score tied in the bottom of the eighth and runners on first and second, Justin Parr, one of the big rbi guys on the team, was at the plate. Coach Hartleb made the decision to call for the sacrifice bunt and it paid off big. Parr laid a beautiful bunt down to the first base side and that put runners on second and third with just one out. In the next at-bat, a wild pitch brought home Thomas Lindauer. Hartleb wasn’t done yet. He instructed Jordan Parr (the rbi leader on the team, by the way) to sacrifice squeeze. Again, the bunt was successful and Willie Argo was home safe.
It was just textbook baseball, pure and simple.
Those two runs were the deciding runs for the Illini as they defeated the Gophers 7-5 Thursday night.
Thomas Shelton: 3 for 5, 1 rbi
Illinois got off to a good start tonight with two runs in the first inning behind rbi singles by Thomas Shelton and Brandon Hohl. They added two more in the fourth inning. Justin Parr brought home Alex Lincoln on a rbi triple. Shelton next drove in Justin Parr with his second hit of the night.
The night, of course, wasn’t over. Starter Kevin Johnson was sailing along keeping Minnesota scoreless for the first four innings but ran into trouble in the fifth. He gave up four hits and two walks to the Gophers in the innings before Ronnie Muck came on to relieve him. Muck threw a little gas on the fire by walking the batter with the bases loaded then giving up an rbi base hit. When all was said and done, Minnesota had scored five runs that inning and had a one run lead.
Ronnie Muck gets the win
However, Muck settled down beautifully after that. That fifth inning single would be the only hit he would give up in the 3 2/3 innings he pitched. That gave Illinois a chance to perform their eight inning heroics. Reid Roper came in and pitched a perfect ninth for the save his second of the year.
One of the best game of the season in my opinion!!
Next Up
John Kravetz is on the hill for the Illini as they take on Minnesota again Friday night at 6:05pm at Illinois Field
For those watching the standings, Indiana rallied from seven runs down to defeat Ohio State 10-8 today. This keeps Illinois’ tournament hopes very much alive.