Pair powers up for Illini

   CHAMPAIGN  Craig Marquie and T.J. Jackson supplied the power as the Illinois baseball team swept a doubleheader from Western Illinois Wednesday afternoon at Illinois Field.

   Marquie''s three-run home run in the bottom of the fourth inning of the first game put Illinois up 8-4 on its way to an 8-5 win.

   The third baseman was 3 for 3 with two doubles, two runs scored and four runs batted in for the game.

   UI starter Travis Rehrer improved to 1-1, allowing three earned runs in six innings of work.

   Jim Journell finished up with a perfect inning of relief.

   In the second game, Jackson cracked a pair of two-runhomers, his second and third of the season, as Illinois got over the .500 mark with a 10-6 victory.

   Jackson, who was 3 for 3 with two runs scored and four RBI, put the Illini, 11-10, up 2-1 with a blast in the bottom of the first and gave them a 5-2 lead with his second shot in the fourth.

   Both of Jackson''s homers came against Western starter Steve Luke, a Centennial graduate and the 1996 News-Gazette Player of the Year.

   Luke took the loss for Western Illinois, giving up six hits and five earned runs while striking out two in three innings.

   For Illinois, Marquie added a 2-for-3 performance with another run scored and two more RBI in Game 2 for Illinois.

   Bob Burlage picked up the win, allowing four runs on six hits in five innings. Cody Salter finished up.

   Other offensive leaders for the Illini included Dusty Rhodes, who was 4 for 8 with a home run, three runs scored and an RBI, and Todd McClure, who went 4 for 5 with three doubles, a triple and five runs scored.

   McClure, the UI left fielder, and Rhodes, the center fielder, both are sporting eight-game hitting streaks.

   WIU dropped to 2-9.

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