CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - No. 3 Illinois scored first and added a four-run fifth to win game one of a doubleheader on Saturday over Rutgers, 5-4. Starter Kevin Duchene earned the win with two runs over seven innings, while closer Tyler Jay recorded the final six outs to equal a career-high 10 saves.
The Illini pounded out 13 hits, led by the top two hitters in the lineup. Shortstop Adam Walton and left fielder Ryan Nagle each went 3-for-5 and combined for three runs. Second baseman Reid Roper was 2-for-5 with a run and RBI in the three-hole, while catcher Jason Goldstein went 1-for-3 with three RBI in the cleanup spot.
Goldstein plated Walton with an RBI groundout in the first for a 1-0 advantage, but Rutgers evened it up 1-1 with an RBI single in the second.
Sophomore Ryne Roper began a string of five straight singles in the fifth. Walton legged out a bunt single to second and Nagle reached on an infield single to first that loaded the bases. Reid Roper then beat out an RBI single to first, as the Scarlet Knights failed to cover first base for the third consecutive ground ball.
Goldstein capped off the five-hit rally with a two-run single up the middle, while senior David Kerian came up with a clutch two-out single to make it 5-1 after five frames.
Rutgers pushed across a run in the sixth on an RBI groundout and added two unearned runs in the eighth. Reliever Cody Sedlock took over in the eighth and ran into trouble, loading the bases and committing an error while facing three batters.
Jay replaced Sedlock and Rutgers found a hole for an RBI single but Jay followed with a 1-2-3 double play. A passed ball made it 5-4 before Jay notched a key punch out to end the eighth.
The Lemont, Illinois, native struck out the first two Scarlet Knights in the ninth and closed the contest with a fly out to center following a two-out single. Jay now has 20 career saves, three shy of the Jeff Richards (23) for the school record. Jeff Innis is second in Illini history with 21 career saves.
Duchene equaled a career-high nine wins and is now 22-3 in his career, which ranks as the fourth-best winning percentage and ninth-most victories all-time by an Illini.
