OMAHA, Neb. -- The Illinois baseball team was eliminated Saturday from the Big Ten Tournament with an 11-5 loss to No. 2-seed Purdue. The Illini finished the tournament 2-2 with two wins over Indiana, a top-30 RPI team, and losses to No. 11 Minnesota and Purdue, also both top-30 RPI teams.
Illinois (33-20) awaits its NCAA Tournament fate, which will be announced Monday at 11 a.m. CT on ESPNU. The Illini entered Saturday as a predicted NCAA Tournament team by the major college baseball publications. Illinois' RPI was at No. 44 before the day began.
Purdue (37-18) moves on to Sunday's Big Ten Championship game to face No. 1-seed Minnesota at 1 p.m. CT.
Illinois held a 4-1 lead after four innings but allowed Purdue to score four in the fifth and four in the seventh. Illinois fell to 23-2 when leading after four innings.
Michael Michalak led Illinois with two hits, including his first career home run. The Illini were limited to four hits, while Bren Spillane tied the Big Ten Tournament record with three walks.
Ryan Schmitt (2-3) took the loss by allowing three runs in 1/3 inning, after Cyrillo Watson started and went the first six. Watson allowed five runs (two earned) on six hits, striking out three and walking one.
Illinois is looking to make the NCAA Tournament for the second time in the last four years (2015). NCAA Regionals start Friday, June 1 at campus sites, which are announced Sunday evening.
Illinois NCAA Tournament Resume
• 33-20 overall
• 15-9 Big Ten
• Top 50 RPI
• 3-0 at the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge against UCLA, Washington and Arizona
• 3-2 season series victory over Indiana
• 7-8 against the RPI top 50
• Fourth place in the Big Ten
• Big Ten Tournament semifinals
Notes
• It was 96 degrees at first pitch, tied for the hottest first pitch in TD Ameritrade Park history.
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Bren Spillane became the first Illinois player in history with 15+ home runs and 15+ stolen bases in a season.
• Illinois is 31-37 all-time in the Big Ten Tournament with four titles (1989, 1990, 2000, 2011).
• Illinois and Purdue met in the Big Ten Tournament for the first time since 2006.
• Illinois is 3-3 all-time in the Big Ten Tournament against Purdue.
• Illinois has four fewer errors than any other Big Ten team (Illinois 45, Minnesota 49).
• Illinois is second in the Big Ten in homers (62) behind Indiana (63).
• Illinois is 24-0 when leading after seven innings, 23-2 when leading after four innings and 18-3 when leading after three innings.
• Illinois is 32-12 when scoring three or more runs.
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Ben Troike snapped his nation-leading 57-game reached base streak.
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Bren Spillane is the Big Ten leader in batting average, slugging, OBP, OPS, homers, RBIs and total bases. He ranks third in runs, fifth in doubles, 12th in steals and 13th in hits.
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Bren Spillane current ranks in Illinois single-season history: 2nd slugging (.903), 2nd home runs (23), 2nd Big Ten home runs (10), 5th on-base percentage (.498), t-3rd total bases (158), 4th Big Ten total bases (67)
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Bren Spillane is currently slugging .903. The last NCAA player to finish a year with a slugging percentage over .900 was in 2009 when Bryce Brentz of Middle Tennessee State slugging .930.
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Bren Spillane could break the Big Ten single-season record for slugging (.913, Darrin Fletcher, Illinois, 1987).
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Bren Spillane is one of 25 semifinalists for the Golden Spikes Award.
