I’ll admit, my photo of Cornhusker Michael Pritchard scares me a little
As they say, all good things must come to an end. After winning twelve of their last thirteen games, Illinois Baseball faced reality in the form of the Nebraska Cornhuskers. In their home opener and the Big Ten opener, the Illini lost to the ‘Huskers by the score of 9-5.
| Game #18 / March 22, 2013 | ||||
 |
vs |  |
||
| 9 | 5 | |||
Kevin Johnson (above) got the start today and while he only gave up one earned run, he wasn’t helped by the Illini defense. Nebraska scored four runs in the third inning marred by two errors by Illinois. Johnson was laboring out there too. There seemed to be a lot of 3-2 counts and multiple foul balls that increased his pitch count. If my count is right, Johnson threw 54 pitches in the first two innings alone. Over his six innings, he had thrown 114 pitches.
Brandon Hohl gets a key hit in the 6th inning…
…scoring a quite jubilant David Kerian.
Despite the 4-0 deficit by the third inning, Illinois did make the game interesting. Michael Hurwitz doubled in Reid Roper and Will Krug to cut the lead in half. An inning later, Justin Parr came through with a key base hit that drove home two runs.
Illinois even managed to tie the game 5-5 in the sixth when Brandon Hohl doubled in David Kerian. But that would be all the scoring that the Illini would be doing for the day. Nebraska scored three in the seventh inning all off freshman Tyler Jay who lasted for a third of an inning. Redshirt freshman Andrew Mamlic relieved Jay and didn’t do too badly. He spread out five runs over 2 2/3 innings and kept Big Red to one just more run.
Big hitters tonight were David Kerian with three hits, and Michael Hurwitz, Will Krug (right), and Reid Roper all with two. Both Hurwitz and Justin Parr had two rbis apiece. Tyler Jay got the loss, his second of the season.
Random Ramblings
Plenty of hitting tonight. Nebraska had 16 hits and Illinois even managed 13.
I have to say Nebraska players really get into the game from the dugout. Perhaps it’s necessary when you’re the visiting team so far away from home. I was impressed too, that Nebraska had such a large fan contingent that came from so far away. They too were quite vocal. As a baseball fan in general`, that’s nice to see but I’d like to reciprocate in kind. Let’s make some noise Illinois fans!
More photos here at the Illinois Baseball Report photo gallery.
Next Up
Heads up, Illini fans!! There’s been a change in the weekend schedule. Because of the impending weather we Illinoisans are so used to, Sunday’s game has been moved to Saturday and will be played as part of a doubleheader. Game One at Illinois Field will begin at noon. Game Two will begin sometime around 3pm.
Sophomore John Kravetz is scheduled to start the first game. The second game’s starter is still Mr. TBA.
Go Illini! Let’s win two!