Illinois Pulls Away Late to Beat North Dakota State, 10-4

Saturday, March 20

Winter Haven, Fla. (Chain of Lakes #1)

9:30 a.m.

North Dakota State

6-9

Illinois

5-8

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Illinois	1	0	0	0	0	3	5	0	1	10	12	1
North Dakota State	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	3	0	4	10	1

Illinois Pulls Away Late to Beat North Dakota State, 10-4

3/20/2010 6:00:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

WINTER HAVEN, Fla.--Illinois broke open a 1-1 game with three runs in the sixth and five more in the seventh inning to beat North Dakota State 10-4 in college baseball Saturday, March 20, at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational.

The loss dropped North Dakota State to 6-9 overall and the Bison ended their eight-game spring break trip with a 4-4 mark. Illinois improved to 5-8 overall.

Illinois scored in the top of the first when designated hitter Casey McMurray hit a two-out double and scored on first baseman Matt Dittman's single.

North Dakota State tied the game in the third inning when second baseman Preston Ghizoni drew a leadoff walk, moved to third on one-out singles by first baseman Zach Wentz and left fielder Eric Nutzhorn, and scored with two outs on a bases-loaded walk to Nic Obey.

After Dittman's RBI single in the first, NDSU pitchers retired 13 of the next 16 batters and held Illinois scoreless until the sixth inning.

McMurray, second baseman Pete Cappetta and catcher Adam Davis all walked and scored in the sixth to make it 4-1 against NDSU freshman Simon Anderson, the fifth of eight Bison pitchers. Anderson walked four of the six batters he faced in two-thirds of an inning and dropped to 0-1 with the loss.

It was 9-1 before North Dakota State got three runs in the eighth. Obey and left fielder Tim Jallen drew back-to-back one-out walks, Obey scored on Max Casper's two-out single, and Kenny Beese drove in two more runs with a triple down the right-field line.

Beese also had a pinch-hit single in the seventh and was 2-for-2 for NDSU. Wentz finshed 3-for-4 with a double and Nutzhorn was 2-for-5 with a double.

Third baseman Brandon Honl was 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs for Illinois, and right fielder Davis Hendrickson and shortstop Josh Parr each drove in three runs in the Nos. 8 and 9 spots in the order for the Fighting Illini.

Illiniois starter Lee Zerrusen struck out six in seven innings and improved to 2-0 with the win. Zerrusen allowed one run on seven hits with three walks.

North Dakota State is scheduled to play Minnesota in a two-game series Tuesday, March 23, and Wednesday, March 24, at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. The Golden Gophers were 6-12 after splitting the first two of a four-game series at Samford on Thursday and Friday.