http://illinihq.com/news/baseball Latest Illini sports stories for IlliniHQ.com en-us Copyright 2010, The News-Gazette, Inc. http://illinihq.com/news/rss Mon, 22 Mar 2010 04:42:49 PST <p>CLEARWATER, Fla. – First baseman Meredith Hackett and right fielder Hollie Pinchback homered to help rally Illinois from a 5-0 deficit, but the 21st-ranked Illini lost 7-3 to 18th-ranked Oklahoma State on Sunday in softball.</p> <p>"Good teams take advantage of defensive mistakes, and that's what Oklahoma State did to us today," Illini associate head coach Donna DiBiase said. "We'll use this week coming up before the start of Big Ten play to refocus defensively and get back to the basic fundamentals. Offensively, we need to continue to work on hitting the gaps."</p> http://illinihq.com/news/baseball/2010/03/21/softball_rally_falls_short/ Sun, 21 Mar 2010 14:00:00 CST <p>OMAHA, Neb. – Illinois wrestlers John Dergo and Jordan Blanton each rebounded from consolation semifinal defeats to finish in fifth place Saturday at the NCAA Championships.</p> <p>Dergo (184 pounds) lost to fourth-seeded Mike Cannon of American 7-5 before bouncing back to beat fifth-seeded Clayton Foster of Oklahoma State 10-4.</p> http://illinihq.com/news/baseball/2010/03/20/dergo_blanton_take_fifth_place/ Sat, 20 Mar 2010 14:00:00 CST <p>BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Jenna Smith scored a game-high 21 points – in the process breaking the Illinois career scoring record – as the Illini pounded Western Kentucky 68-51 on Friday night to advance to the second round of the Women's NIT.</p> <p>With the win, the Illini will face Marquette at 4 p.m. Monday at the Assembly Hall, where they lost to the Golden Eagles 65-55 on Dec. 9.</p> http://illinihq.com/news/baseball/2010/03/19/smith_illini_score_openinground_win/ Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:00:00 CST <p>CHAMPAIGN — Ticket sales for Monday’s NIT game went better than expected Thursday.<br /> About 6,400 tickets were sold, including 4,200 reserved seats in A and B sections. A Section is sold out.</p> http://illinihq.com/news/baseball/2010/03/18/nit_tickets_selling_well/ Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:00:00 CST <p>Guerra to play for Puerto Rico national team</p> http://illinihq.com/news/baseball/2010/03/15/illini_open_wnit_at_western_kentucky/ Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:00:00 CST <p>COLUMBIA, Mo. – San Diego State cooled off Illinois' softball team, defeating the 21st-ranked Illini 5-3 on Sunday at Missouri's Children's Hospital Invitational to snap the squad's 10-game winning streak.</p> <p>UI first baseman Meredith Hackett and third baseman Kelley Wedel each smacked home runs, but Illinois (16-2) could not overcome a five-run fifth inning by the Aztecs (15-8).</p> http://illinihq.com/news/baseball/2010/03/14/softball_streaks_over/ Sun, 14 Mar 2010 14:00:00 CST <p>COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Illinois softball team won its 10th straight game Saturday, beating Bradley 5-1 behind pitcher Pepper Gay's seven strikeouts in the Children's Hospital Invitational.</p> <p>The 21st-ranked Illini improved to 16-1. Their game against No. 3 Missouri later Saturday was rained out. Jessica Davis' two-out double in the fifth inning drove in three runs and broke the game open.</p> http://illinihq.com/news/baseball/2010/03/13/gays_pitching_keeps_illini_hot/ Sat, 13 Mar 2010 14:00:00 CST <p>FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Illinois sophomore Andrew Riley broke his own school record to advance to the finals of the 60-meter hurdles at the NCAA Indoor track meet Friday.</p> <p>Riley finished second in his heat with a time of 7.61 seconds. It was the third-fastest time among the qualifiers.</p> http://illinihq.com/news/baseball/2010/03/12/riley_advances_to_ncaa_hurdles_final/ Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:00:00 CST <p>IOWA CITY, Iowa – Paul Ruggeri (parallel bars, high bar) and Tyler Mizoguchi (rings, all-around) won a pair of events Sunday, leading the fourth-ranked Illinois men's gymnastics team to an impressive 357.500-346.600 victory against No. 10 Iowa.</p> <p>The Illini (10-0, 8-0 Big Ten) posted a season-high team score en route to winning five of six individual events.</p> http://illinihq.com/news/baseball/2010/03/07/ruggeri_mizoguchi_pace_ui_gymnasts/ Sun, 07 Mar 2010 14:00:00 CST <p>CHAMPAIGN – Sarah Schmidt won the all-around for the second time in her career and No. 13 Illinois swept the individual titles to bury Ohio State in women's gymnastics Saturday at Huff Hall.</p> <p>Illinois won 196.300-194.700.</p> http://illinihq.com/news/baseball/2010/03/06/gymnasts_sweep_to_title/ Sat, 06 Mar 2010 14:00:00 CST <p>GREENVILLE, N.C. – The Illinois baseball team can take plenty of positives from its 7-5 loss to East Carolina on Friday at the seventh annual Keith LeClair Classic.</p> <p>The Illini, who got two RBI apiece from Willie Argo and Aaron Johnson, led the 19th-ranked Panthers 4-3 before surrendering a four-run seventh.</p> http://illinihq.com/news/baseball/2010/03/05/baseball_takes_positive_steps_despite/ Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:00:00 CST <p>STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Angela Bizzarri and Aja Evans set school records to help Illinois' women's team to second place after Day 1 of the Big Ten Indoor Championships.</p> http://illinihq.com/news/baseball/2010/02/27/bizzarri_evans_have_ui_in_hunt/ Sat, 27 Feb 2010 14:00:00 CST <p>COLUMBUS, Ga. – The Illinois softball team continued the best start in its history Friday, defeating No. 22 Florida State 4-3 and Mississippi Valley State 12-2 at the NFCA Leadoff Classic.</p> <p>The Illini (11-1) beat the Seminoles in dramatic fashion, using freshman Jessica Davis' walkoff homer in the seventh. Trailing 4-0, Illinois narrowed the gap in the sixth on Hope Howell's three-run homer.</p> http://illinihq.com/news/baseball/2010/02/26/illini_softball_stuns_seminoles/ Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:00:00 CST <p>1. Who will succeed Phil Haig as the No. 1 starting pitcher?</p> <p>When seven-game winner Haig was dismissed from the team in September after being arrested for theft of electronics equipment valued at more than $300, a new pitcher at the top of the rotation was guaranteed. Coming out of preseason practice, the job belongs to sophomore right-hander Will Strack. "He's been the most consistent pitcher that we have," Illini coach Dan Hartleb said.</p> http://illinihq.com/news/baseball/2010/02/25/ui_baseball_5_keys/ Thu, 25 Feb 2010 14:00:00 CST