GREENVILLE, S.C. -- The Illinois baseball team split a doubleheader Saturday at Fluor Field, beating Furman 14-5 before falling to Michigan State 4-2. The Illini's winning streak was stopped at seven games in the nightcap.
Illinois (8-4) went 2-1 in Greenville, S.C., outscoring opponents 31-13 in three games.
Doran Turchin led the offense with an .800 on-base percentage for the weekend. He had five hits and seven walks in 15 plate appearances. Bren Spillane added two homers, as the Illini hit .296 as a team with 18 extra-base hits.
Ben Troike hit .545 (6-11) for the weekend with two doubles, a triple and a homer.
Illinois is scheduled to be back in action Tuesday for the home opener at Illinois Field against Milwaukee. Â
Michigan State 4, Illinois 2
Michigan State's Mason Erla limited Illinois to one hit over 6 1/3 innings to move to 2-0 on the season. The Illini were outhit 12-3 but managed to fight back and get the potential game-tying run to the plate in the eighth and ninth innings.
"I give credit to Michigan State's starter," said Hartleb. "We did some things well, we had some quality at bats, but it was just one of those games. The guys in the dugout were expecting to win, we just ran out of outs."
Turchin, Zac Taylor and David Craan had the hits for Illinois. Craan's hit, a double, crashed off the wall and almost exited the ballpark.
Ty Weber (2-1) took the loss by allowing three runs, two earned, in 4 2/3 innings. Ryan Thompson (2.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R) and Joey Gerber (1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 SO) finished the game on the hill for Illinois.
Illinois 14, Furman 5
Illinois scored double-digit runs for the second straight game, beating Furman 14-5 in the team's only scheduled meeting of 2018. The win gave Illinois seven straight victories.
"We did a really good job," said head coach Dan Hartleb. "We were banging the ball around the ballpark."
Illinois (8-3) scored in seven of nine innings, including four in the eighth and four in the ninth.
Ben Troike, Bren Spillane and Doran Turchin all hit solo home runs in the rout. Troike, who finished a double away from the cycle, hit his first career homer.
Six Illini had multiple hits, led by Troike and Turchin with three apiece. Spillane, Zac Taylor, Jack Yalowitz and Michael Massey all added two hits.
Andy Fisher (1-0) went 5 2/3 innings without allowing an earned run to pick up his first win as an Illini.
