CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The No. 25 Illinois baseball team was held to three hits Friday in a 5-1 loss to Grand Canyon at Illinois Field. GCU ace Jake Wong, the No. 44 college prospect by D1Baseball.com, held the Illini hitless for the first 4 2/3 innings.
Illinois (23-10) was held to one run or fewer for just the third time this season. Wong (6-1) allowed his first hit when Bren Spillane crushed a solo homer in the fifth.
Spillane's 15th homer of the year gave Illinois a 1-0 lead, but it was short lived after GCU scored two in the sixth and two in the seventh.Â
Grand Canyon (21-16) had its top three in the lineup go 5-for-13Â with three RBIs. All nine Lopes in the starting lineup reached base at least once.
All three Illinois hits came from the bottom three in the order - Spillane, Jeff Korte and Grant Van Scoy.Â
Wong improved to 6-1 on the season and lowered his ERA to 2.16. He went six innings, allowing one run on two hits while striking out three.Â
Andy Fisher (3-1) lost for the first time in an Illinois uniform. He threw the first 6 2/3 innings and allowed four runs (two earned), while scattering seven hits.
Illinois and Grand Canyon are back in action Saturday. The game is marked as Illinois' Honor and Serve Day.
Notes
• Illinois and Grand Canyon met for the first time ever.
• Illinois lost two straight games for the first time since losing three straight Feb. 18-24.
• Ben Troike extended his career-long reached base streak to 38 games, the longest active streak in the Big Ten.
• Bren Spillane's 15 home runs are tied for ninth-best in an Illinois single season.Â
