MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - In the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament, the Fighting Illini battled back for a 3-2 victory over Nebraska, setting the Big Ten Conference record with 27 straight wins. Illinois fell behind 2-0, but responded immediately with two runs in the sixth and pushed across the go-ahead run in the eighth. CloserTyler Jay equaled the Illini school record with his 23rd career save, needing just seven pitches in the ninth.Junior starter Kevin Duchene and Nebraska's Chance Sinclair dueled, trading scoreless innings through five. In the top of the sixth, Nebraska broke the tie with two runs on four straight hits, including back-to-back doubles from Tanner Lubach and Luis Alvarado. Duchene was able to tightrope his way out of further damage by inducing a 6-4-3 double play to close the frame.
The Illini offense countered in the bottom half of the inning with three singles from sophomore Ryne Roper, juniorRyan Nagle and redshirt-senior Reid Roper to cut the Huskers' lead in half. Junior Jason Goldstein followed with a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Nagle and tying the game 2-2.
Reliever Nick Blackburn took over in the seventh and notched a key strikeout, stranding a runner on second. The Naperville, Illinois, native recorded a scoreless eighth, which included a 3-6 double play started by senior David Kerian. Blackburn earned the win, improving to 3-0.
Nagle led off the bottom of the eighth with a single, his third hit of the day and fourth time on base. After a Reid Roperwalk and a sacrifice bunt from Goldstein, Nebraska intentionally walked Casey Fletcher to load the bases. Pat McInerney slapped the 0-1 pitch to right field, scoring Nagle for a 3-2 lead heading into the ninth.
Big Ten Coach of the Year Dan Hartleb called on Big Ten Pitcher of the Year Tyler Jay to close out the ninth. Jay fired seven strikes and notched his 13th save on the season with a groundout, strikeout and pop out. The comeback win was the Orange and Blue's 23rd of the season and second straight against the Huskers.
Up Next: No. 1 seed Illinois will play on Thursday night at 9 p.m. live on the Big Ten Network against No. 4 seed Maryland, which will mark the first meeting since 1970 and third all-time.
Big Ten Tournament First Round Game Notes
• Illinois (46-6-1) equaled its second-most wins in school history from 1985. The school record for victories is 49 in 1982.
• Illinois boasts the No. 1 winning percentage (0.877) in NCAA Division I Baseball and has the fewest losses (6).
• Illinois is on a school-record 27-game winning streak, which is the longest ever by a Big Ten team and longest winning streak in the country in 2015. The NCAA record winning streak of 34 is owned by Texas (1977) and Florida Atlantic (1999).
• Illinois has outscored its opponents 219-98 during its 27-game winning streak. The Illini boast a .312 average and 2.88 ERA during that span. UI has overcome a deficit in 17 of the games and has 23 total comeback wins on the year.
• Playing in the Big Ten postseason for the 21st time, Illinois improved to 11-10 in opening round games at the Big Ten Tournament.
• Closer Tyler Jay tied Jeff Richards (1987-90) for the Illinois school record with 23 career saves.
