Going up against a top-25 team in the country is no small task. From the first pitch to the final out, No. 20 USC (15-0, 3-0) took it to Illinois (7-7, 0-3) and opened conference play with a resounding sweep.
Following a perfect weekend in Greenville, South Carolina, the Illini crashed back to reality in Los Angeles. This result is a wake-up call for Illinois, and head coach Dan Hartleb said that it does not matter when they play a team, no matter their caliber.
“You got to play good teams throughout the year,” Hartleb said. “And if you want to win a championship, you have to beat good teams.”
Hitting inconsistency
A key to beating the Trojans was competing at a high level at the plate. Illinois struggled most of the weekend to plate runners in scoring position.
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The top of the fourth inning on Friday night was a glaring example. The Illini trailed 3-0 after a big first inning by the Trojans. The first three Illini reached base, bringing freshman infielder AJ Putty to the plate.
He popped out to second base, beginning a string of three consecutive outs. Illinois loaded the bases, yet failed to score. Five more times in the first two games, the Illini put runners in scoring position but yielded no runs.
They cleaned it up in the series finale on Sunday. Junior infielder Michael Farina tallied the first Illini run batted in with a double into left field, which scored senior outfielder Nick Groves from first base. Some small ball later led to Putty singling up the left side to drive Farina home.
Illinois would score only one more run for the rest of the afternoon in the 5-3 defeat. In total, it left 27 runners on base, leaving a ton of runs off the board.
Pitching keeps Illini in games
Senior right-hander Ben Plumley got the start in game one and again allowed a handful of first-inning runs. However, he settled in and threw five strong frames of three-hit ball, keeping his team within arm’s reach of the opponent.
The sixth and seventh innings were more of the same from senior left-hander Sam Reed, as he threw shutouts in both frames. However, the offense was nowhere to be found, and a fourth Trojan run came across to seal the game.
On Saturday, junior left-hander Regan Hall got the ball and allowed some early runs, but overall threw six solid innings, not allowing another run until that sixth frame. The bats once again failed to produce any scoring, resulting in a second straight 4-0 defeat.
“You just got to stay locked in as a pitching staff and just get your job done for the offense to come through,” Hall said in media availability.
The offense did come through the next day, plating two runs early, only for the pitching to give the runs back, eventually mounting a 5-2 deficit in the sixth. Junior right-hander Kyle Remington took the loss after allowing three of those runs in 2.2 innings pitched.
Time to regroup
Reality struck on the road for the Illini, but they will have a chance to regroup on Tuesday. Illinois will host Western Illinois (4-11) at 6 p.m. CDT at Illinois Field, weather permitting. This game is an opportunity for the batters to see the ball better and for the pitchers to find the strike zone.
