After a loss to the East Carolina Pirates last night, Illini Baseball came back this morning ready to play. Behind the pitching of Kevin Duchene and a 4 for 4 performance by David Kerian, they defeated the Ohio Bobcats 11-6.
| Game #4 / February 21, 2013 | ||||
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| 8 | 2 | |||
It was a rough second start for Kevin Johnson yesterday. After keeping them scoreless for three innings, the Pirates let loose on him and scored six runs in the next three innings. The final score was ECU 8 ILL 2. One silver lining for Kevin, he struck out six batters. That gives him a total of 176 which puts him in the top ten among Illini in career strikeouts.
It was also a lean afternoon for the offense Thursday. Justin Parr continued his hitting tear though. He stroked two hits including a double.
| Game #5 / February 22, 2013 | ||||
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| 11 | 6 | |||
The game against the Ohio Bobcats was re-scheduled for early morning on Friday and perhaps that suited the Illini. If you look at the box score, you’ll see Coach Hartleb used a slightly different lineup. Will Krug led off and played right field and Adam Walton started at second base. It made a difference, as both Krug (3 for 5, 2 runs) and Walton (1 for 4, rbi, run) contributed to the offense.
But it was David Kerian (right) who was the big hero of Friday’s game. The 
secondbaseman-turned-firstbaseman went 4 for 4 with two rbis and a double. In fact, five Illinois players turned in multi-hit performances. In addition to Kerian and Krug, Michael Hurwitz, Thomas Lindauer, Brandon Hohl got multiple hits.
Kudos to starter Kevin Duchene, by the way, who got his first career win today. While he did allow nine hits in 5 plus innings, he only allowed one walk and kept the scoring down while the Illini offense did its thing. The bullpen did its job today. Josh Ferry, Ronnie Muck, Drasen Johnson and Anthony Milazzo combined to allow just Bobcat run in 3 2/3 innings.
Random Ramblings
It will be interesting to see what kind of lineup Coach Hartleb will use in Saturday’s game against the Aggies. He inserted a few new and perhaps untested players today and they really came through. I will say this: Will Krug was on my list on players to make a difference on this team. Time will tell if his performance today was any indication of things to come.
Next up: The Illini have a little time to kill before their next game. They won’t play till late Saturday afternoon at 5pm CT. Then, they take on New Mexico State. The Aggies will get to see John Kravetz who will be making his first start of 2013.
Go Illini!