CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The No. 25 Illinois baseball team scored two runs in the eighth inning Saturday to break a 1-1 tie and beat Grand Canyon 3-2 at Illinois Field. Bren Spillane hit a solo homer in the eighth and Michael Massey doubled then scored on a wild pitch to give Illinois the win.
Spillane hit a rocket to right field to lead off the eighth for his 16th homer of the season, the fifth-most in an Illinois season. Massey followed with a laced double to left center, then Doran Turchin bunted him to third before the wild pitch.
Illinois (24-10) got a quality outing from Quinn Snarskis to even the series 1-1. The right-hander went six innings while allowing only one run on five hits and striking out five.Â
Zack Jones (3-1) picked up the win by retiring three straight batters in the eighth. Jones followed Ryan Schmitt (1.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER) before giving way to closer Joey Gerber.Â
Gerber allowed a run in the ninth but got a fly out to end it with the potential tying run on second base. It was his 12th save of the season, the third-most in an Illinois single season.
The Illini scored its first run in the third inning on a Ben Troike RBI single. Troike extended his Big Ten leading reached base streak to 39 games.Â
Illinois and Grand Canyon wrap up the series Sunday at 11 a.m. CT. Sunday is Illinois' Bark in the Park game.
Notes
• Illinois is 23-7 in its last 30 games.
• Illinois is 15-1 when leading after three innings.
• Illinois is 23-5 when scoring three or more runsÂ
• Ben Troike extended his career-long reached base streak to 39 games, the longest active streak in the Big Ten.
• Bren Spillane's 16 home runs are tied for fifth-best in an Illinois single season.Â
• Bren Spillane's 16 home runs are tied for the most by any Illini outside of the 1990s.
• Joey Gerber's 12 saves ranks No. 3 in Illinois single-season history (Tyler Jay 14, Jeff Richards 13).
• Joey Gerber's 20 career saves ranks No. 4 in Illinois history (Tyler Jay 24, Jeff Richards 23, Jeff Innis 21).
