Illinois Baseball trounces coach Hartleb’s alma mater SIU
Lars Davis steals second base as a Minnesota player jumps to dodge him during the game at Illinois Field in Champaign on Sunday. Davis went 1-4 on Tuesday as the Illini downed the Salukis 13-5 in Carbondale. Beck Diefenbach
May 2, 2007
The Illinois baseball team continued its success in its mid-week games with its fifth consecutive mid-week win Tuesday afternoon.
Illinois head coach Dan Hartleb returned to his alma mater in Carbondale, Ill., and coached the Illini to a 13-5 win over Southern Illinois behind freshman starting pitcher Kevin Manson’s third strong outing in a row.
In his third start in as many weeks, Manson pitched five innings and gave up two runs on three hits and struck out three batters to help the Illini (21-20, 8-10 Big Ten) improve to 6-2 in mid-week games this season.
His effort on the mound was backed by senior right fielder Ryan Snowden’s four hit and four RBI day at the plate.
“We’ve done a good job of bouncing back all year from rough weekends,” Hartleb said. “We came out extremely focused and got outstanding pitching. We were able to get the lead and then just take over the game.”
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Since his struggles at the beginning of the season, in which he gave up nine runs on 10 hits and walked five in his first six innings pitched as a freshman, Manson has settled in his role as one of the Illini’s mid-week starters.
In his last three starts, the Park Ridge, Ill., native has given up only three earned runs on 10 hits and walked just two batters in 14 total innings pitched.
“Kevin has improved and his command is getting much better,” Hartleb said. “He is starting to understand what it takes to be successful at this level and the more he’s been out on the mound the more he has been able to relax.”
Manson’s outings have also been helped by the Illini’s success at the plate when he pitches. In his last two starts the Illini have jumped out to early leads and have given the right-hander plenty of run support, scoring nine runs against Blackburn College last Wednesday and 13 runs Tuesday against the Salukis. Seven of Illinois’ 13 runs against Southern Illinois came in the second and third innings and six of the Illini’s starters scored runs in the game.
Besides Snowden’s big day at the plate, Illini sophomore left fielder Joe Bonadonna also provided the Orange and Blue with a big bat, going 3-for-4 with four runs scored and an RBI.
“We were able to stay focused at the plate and that’s something we’ve done everyday regardless of the situation, so it was good to see us continue that trend,” Hartleb said.
