CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - In Illinois' highest scoring performance since 2000, the No. 3 Fighting Illini overcame their largest deficit during the streak and captured their 24th consecutive victory in a 28-13 slugfest. Illinois equaled Texas A&M for the longest winning streak in the nation this season and earned its school-record sixth straight Big Ten sweep.
"It was an absolutely crazy day," head coach Dan Hartleb said. "The runs kept piling up. We gave up a lot of runs early and continued to fight back until finding a way to jump ahead. It really was a crazy day, but a fun day in the end."
Redshirt-senior Reid Roper set a school record with six runs as part of a monster day in which he went 3-for-4 with three walks, a career-high six RBI and two home runs, including his first career grand slam that capped off an 11-run eighth inning.
Junior Jason Goldstein went 5-for-5 with three runs and four RBI thanks to a no-doubter grand slam that tied the game at 9-9, helping Illinois overcome a four-run hole. Fellow junior Ryan Nagle had a career-high four runs and homered during a 4-for-6 day with three RBI.
Sophomore Pat McInerney collected a career-best four RBI, while senior David Kerian hit his Big Ten-leading 12th home run while going 3-for-6 with three runs and three RBI. Every Illini starter had a base knock for a season-high 26 hits.
The Illini scored in every inning except the third and pushed across multiple runs in six stanzas. Illinois' 28 runs tied the seventh-most tallies in a game in program history and marked the most since putting up an Illinois Field record 32 runs in 2000.
Illinois hit a season-high five home runs, while Rutgers launched six dingers. The teams combined to use 13 pitchers and posted 41 runs on 49 hits, with every run being earned. UI played clean defense, and RU committed three errors.
Three batters into the game, Rutgers grabbed a 3-0 advantage with a three-run homer. Senior Casey Fletcher made it 3-2 with a bases-loaded two-run double in the bottom of the first.
In the second, the Scarlet Knights connected on back-to-back home runs with a two-run blast and solo shot for a 6-2 lead. Illinois battled back within one at 6-5 in the second on Nagle's opposite field three-run dinger. The Streator, Illinois, native sent a laser line drive over the left field wall for his second homer this year.
RU blasted a two-out, two-run bomb for its fourth round-tripper of the day and an 8-5 edge in the third. Rutgers followed with an RBI single in the fourth to make it 9-5, marking the largest deficit the Illini have faced during their streak.
The Illini scored the next five runs to jump in front 10-9. Goldstein crushed his second career grand slam in the fourth, while Kerian smacked a go-ahead solo shot in the fifth.
Rutgers tied it up 10-10 in the sixth with an RBI single. Reliever J.D. Nielsen (2-1), who picked up the win with 1.2 perfect innings, recorded two key outs in the sixth, stranding runners at second and third. He retired all three batters in the seventh.
In the bottom of the sixth, Illinois grabbed the lead for good with five runs. Reid Roper scored the go-ahead run when Fletcher stole second and the catcher's throw sailed into center field. McInerney's RBI single, Krug's two-run single and Adam Walton's RBI single made it 15-10.
Reid Roper led off the seventh with a solo homer and Goldstein came home on McInerney's fielder's choice for a 17-10 advantage. Rutgers homered for the fifth time in the eighth.
Illinois sent 14 hitters to the plate in the eighth, tallying seven hits and 11 runs, including 10 with two outs. The Illini took a 28-11 lead into the ninth, where Rutgers drilled its sixth homer before reliever Doug Hayes recorded the final out.
Up Next: No. 3 Illinois will close the regular season with a three-game series against Nebraska at Illinois Field from May 14-16. The Thursday and Friday games will begin at 6 p.m., while the Saturday game will start at 2 p.m. for a Big Ten Network broadcast.
Fighting Illini Game Notes
• Illinois is off to its best start in school history with a 43-6-1 record. The Illini's 43 wins are tied for third on the program's all-time list. The school record for victories is 49 in 1982.
• Illinois boasts the No. 1 winning percentage (0.870) in NCAA Division I Baseball and has the fewest losses (6). The Illini are tied for first in the nation with 43 wins.
• UI has won a program-record 18 straight Big Ten tilts and sit in first place atop the conference standings at 19-1, marking Illinois' most wins during a 24-game Big Ten season, which began in 2009. The school record for Big Ten victories in a 32-game season is 20 in 2005.
• Illinois' magic number to win the Big Ten Championship is two. Iowa is in second place at 18-3.
• Illinois is on a school-record 24-game winning streak, which is the longest active winning streak in the country and tied with Texas A&M for the longest streak in 2015.
• The NCAA record winning streak of 34 is owned by Texas (1977) and Florida Atlantic (1999). The longest winning streak by a Big Ten team is 26 by Nebraska (1983).
• Illinois has outscored its opponents 200-84 during its 24-game winning streak. The Illini boast a .314 average and 2.71 ERA during that span. UI has overcome a deficit in 15 of the games and has 21 total comeback wins on the year.
• UI's 14-game home winning streak is tied for the longest active streak in the nation. The Illini also boast the longest active road winning streak (10) and best road record (17-2-1) in the nation.
