To say the new FieldTurf at Illinois Field has been good to the Illini would be an understatement.

After a 15-5 win at home against Judson University on Monday afternoon, the Illinois baseball team returned for its rescheduled game against Indiana State and threw another 15 runs onto the scoreboard. The offensive explosion once again overshadowed a strong performance by the pitching staff.

“We swung the bat real well in Florida, and we came back here and continued that,” head coach Dan Hartleb said after the 15-4 win. “We’ve been patient at the plate and taken some walks, taken advantage of errors and gotten some timely hits. So we feel real good about where we are offensively at this point.”

Nearly half of the Illini runs came in the third inning when Illini hitters batted around. Junior second baseman Joe Bonadonna got hit by a pitch to start the inning and hit a three-run double to cap the scoring his next time up.

Despite sending 11 batters to the plate in the run-filled third, the Illini (9-6) only needed three base hits. The offense was given all the help it needed, thanks to another hit batter and three walks in the inning.

“We’re just real patient hitters,” said right fielder Casey McMurray, who led the Illini offense with a 4-for-5 performance that included a double, three runs scored and an RBI.

“We’re looking for that one pitch to hit, and it’s got to be up. Sometimes they make a mistake, or if they throw four balls, you just take the base.”

Junior Aaron Martin made the start for the Illini, going three strong innings and allowing just two hits. Martin’s fastball was especially effective, with a hard sink that was forcing ground balls and pop outs. He only struck out one Sycamore hitter, but that’s just fine with him.

“I’m a ground ball pitcher and I’ve been working on throwing downhill to get ground balls,” Martin said. “When my fastball is on it’s got good sink and good life to it, and guys are going to hit ground balls and that’s what I try to do every day.”

Since the right-hander had already acquired a 10-run lead and will take the mound again Sunday during the weekend series against Michigan State, Hartleb opted to let the rest of his bullpen get work in.

The only trouble came when sophomore Mike Sterk loaded the bases and walked in a run to start the seventh inning. Scott Shaw came in with no outs to stop the bleeding and managed to get Indiana State’s Gary King to ground into a 6-4-3 double play, allowing just one run to score.

“Martin today was very sharp, and I thought Scott Shaw did a great job of coming in with the bases loaded and no outs for damage control,” Hartleb said.

“The pitching was very good and we got a chance to run everybody out there to get their feet wet.

“I don’t think there’s a lot of momentum in baseball, but psychologically we should feel good that we’re winning. I’d sure rather go in on a win than a loss,” Hartleb added.