CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- No. 24 Illinois scored nine runs in its final five at-bats Wednesday against Milwaukee to erase a 4-0 deficit and win 9-6 at Illinois Field. It was the home opener for the Illini, who have won eight of their last nine games.
Illinois (9-4) entered the eighth inning tied, before Gran Van Scoy provided the game-winning hit. He smacked an RBI double to the wall in left center to make it 7-6, two pitches before Zac Taylor added a two-run homer to give Illinois some insurance runs.
Van Scoy, Taylor and Ben Troike had two hits apiece for Illinois. Michael Massey added a three-run home run that tied the game 4-4 in the fourth that changed the momentum of the game after Milwaukee opened an early lead.
Milwaukee (4-11) scored four runs off of Illini starter Cyrillo Watson in four innings, then added two off of reliever Sean Leland to tie the game again 6-6 in the seventh. Ryan Thompson (4-0) and Joey Gerber (4) threw the eighth and the ninth to pick up the win and save, respectively.
Illinois is back on the diamond Friday at Southern Illinois for the start of a three-game series.
