CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Bren Spillane hit an eighth-inning double Tuesday to tie Bradley 3-3 but the Braves scored one in the 11th to beat the Illinois baseball team 4-3. The Illini have lost four of their last five games.
Illinois (24-12) rallied back after trailing 3-0 after three innings. The Illini scored single runs in the fourth, fifth and eighth before falling in extra innings for the first time this season.
Joey Gerber took the loss by allowing the 11th inning run. No. 9 hitter Keaton Rice hit a two-out single to left field to score the winning run as Gerber looked to close out his third inning of work. Gerber had thrown 1-2-3 innings in the ninth and 10th with four strikeouts to give the Illini a chance to win the game.
Bradley (24-9) only had five hits, including a five-inning stretch going hitless between the third and seventh. Dan Bolt scored two runs without getting a hit and Rice had three RBIs, one on a sac fly, one on a walk and one on the game-winning single.
The teams combined to use 12 pitchers. Ryan Schmitt was the best on the hill for Illinois, retiring all 10 batters he faced.Â
Boby Johnson (1-1) threw the final 3 2/3 innings for Bradley to get his first win of the season.Â
Spillane had an opportunity in the 10th inning with a man on first but his two-out line drive was right at the center fielder to end the frame. Troike had singled, his second hit of the day, to get to Spillane.Â
Troike reached base for the 41st consecutive game, the longest active streak in the Big Ten.
Illinois travels to No. 15 Indiana this weekend for a three-game series.Â
Notes
• Illinois is 2-1 in extra-inning games.
• Illinois tied its longest game of the season (11 innings at Northwestern 3/24/18).
•Â
Ben Troike extended his career-long reached base streak to 41 games, the longest active streak in the Big Ten.
•Â
Cyrillo Watson pitched for the first time since March 14 due to an injury.
•Â
Bren Spillane extended his hitting streak to six games.
•Â
Jack Yalowitz extended his reached base streak to nine games.
