The fog eventually lifted but the home fans’ spirits did not
There was something about the late afternoon fog that added to atmosphere of Friday’s game against the Southern Illinois Salukis (3-13). It certainly didn’t bode well for the Illini as they were handed their first home loss by the Salukis 2-0. It was the first time the Illini were shut out in the 2015 season.
This puts Illinois at 12-4-1 and one game down in the three-game series against Southern.
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As usual, the Illinois hurlers did their job. Kevin Duchene did get into a bit of trouble in the second inning when he gave up a homerun followed by three base hits. That led to two Saluki runs. Other than that, he pitched a masterful game. The line on him… 6 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, and 9 K.
Andrew Mamlic (right) did a marvelous job in relief. He retired the first eight batters. After two singles in the ninth, he struck out the last batter to get out of the jam. In three scoreless innings, he struck four batters.
Somehow, the Illini offense just couldn’t get any runs across the plate. They had a couple opportunities primarily in the fifth and the the eighth when they had runners in scoring position. Both times they failed to capitalize and left two runners on.
Some exciting news! If you look past the right field fence of Illinois Field, you’ll see some construction going on. Rumor has it that we’re getting a video-capable scoreboard. If we’re lucky, it will be operational by the first Big Ten home opener.
More of my photos from today’s game here in the Illinois Baseball Report Gallery.
Next up
Illinois will look for revenge tomorrow at Illinois Field. Game time is 1pm and starter Drasen Johnson will entice the boys to score some runs.
The fog lent a surreal feel to the game. It would be interesting to know how well the batters could see the ball. Also, from our angle, the plate seemed “muddy” (not possible on artificial turf?). Does it ever need to be swept?