The University of Illinois baseball team are two games into a three-game set with the Ragin’ Cajuns of Louisiana-Lafayette. Do you want the good news or bad news first?
Last night, I logged into Gametracker just as the game was entering the ninth inning. The Illini were down 13-0. For those scoring at home, that would be the bad news.
The good news: The Illini have outscored the Cajuns since that point.
Unfortunately, the final result is two losses. I have to hand it to the Illini for bucking up and scoring 5 runs in the ninth inning last night and at least making it look respectable. It was a loss but I bet deep down that 5 run rally gave the Illini players a bit of a boost.
Sure enough, today’s game was much closer. Actually, the Illini were ahead for much of the game but they just couldn’t hold on and lost 7-6.
With the blowout score on Friday night, Coach Hartleb saw fit to give some of his freshman some experience. Catcher Joe Mercurio responded with a double and a run. Craig Lutes got a hit and a rbi.
By the way, it seems Mike Rohde is now the firstbaseman taking over for graduating Dave Schultz. Brandon Wikoff got the nod at third (where Rohde played last year) for both games.
Update: The Illini lost the third game 10-7 to give the Ragin’ Cajuns the sweep for the weekend. The Cajuns scored five against Ben Reeser in the first and the Illini never recovered.