CHAMPAIGN, Ill. --Â No. 24 Illinois and Southern Illinois split a doubleheader Saturday at Itchy Jones Stadium. The Illini started the three-game series with a 16-6 win before dropping the nightcap 5-4.
Bren Spillane had eight hits in the doubleheader, four in each game, including three homers and six RBIs in the first game. He added two doubles in the second game for 19 total bases in the doubleheader. All of his hits had exit velocities of over 99 MPH, including six of at least 107 MPH.
The two teams finish the series Sunday at 1 p.m. CT.
Illinois 16, Southern Illinois 6
Illinois first baseman Bren Spillane hit three home runs Saturday in a 16-6 win at Southern Illinois, the first game of a doubleheader. The Illini had 19 hits in their highest scoring game of the season.
Spillane homered in three consecutive at-bats in the fourth, sixth and seventh innings. He is the 11th player in the country to hit three homers in a game this season and the first Illini to do it since Casey Fletcher hit three against SIU in 2014.
Illinois scored three in the fourth, four in the sixth and seven in the seventh to cruise to the win.
Doran Turchin and Jeff Korte each had three hits and Michael Michalak and Ben Troike added two apiece.
Quinn Snarskis (2-0) picked up his second win of the season. He went six innings, allowing four earned runs on 10 hits. Jackson Douglas (1) earned his first save by allowing one run on two hits in the final three innings.
Southern Illinois 5, Illinois 4
Connor Kopach hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the seventh inning to propel SIU to a 5-4 win in the second game. The Illini lost for just the second time in their last 11 games.
Bren Spillane picked up another four hits and Zac Taylor added two hits in the loss. Taylor doubled and hit a two-run home run that gave Illinois a 3-1 lead in the fifth.
Illinois (10-5) extended its lead to 4-1 in the sixth when Doran Turchin drove home Spillane with a single, but the Illini were blanked in the final three innings.
Ryan Thompson (4-1), who entered the weekend tied for the national lead in wins, took the loss. Thompson allowed two runs in 2 2/3 innings after Andy Fisher allowed three runs on three hits in the first 5 1/3 innings.
Southern Illinois (9-10) had just five hits compared to Illinois' 11.
