OMAHA, Neb. -- Quinn Snarskis and Ryan Thompson shut out Indiana for the first 7 1/3 innings Wednesday as the Illinois baseball team won 7-1 in the Big Ten Tournament first round. The Illini scored three unearned runs in the sixth and Michael Massey hit a three-run homer in the seventh.
Illinois (32-18) moves on to the winners' bracket against No. 1-seed Minnesota, which is ranked No. 11 in the country by D1Baseball.com. The Gophers beat No. 8-seed Michigan State 3-2 to advance to the second round.
The Illini, which entered the game No. 12 in the nation in fielding percentage, played one of its best defensive games of the season behind Snarskis and Thompson. Illinois got 17 outs on the ground highlighted by an important 3-6 putout by Bren Spillane with the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth inning to keep the score 0-0.
Snarskis allowed only one hit in 5 1/3 innings and Thompson did the same in 2 2/3 innings. Ryan Kutt closed out a scoreless ninth as Indiana tied season lows in runs (1) and hits (2).
Indiana (37-16) had the three-run sixth inning ready to close but a throwing error by shortstop Jeremy Houston scored two runs with two outs and a dropped fly by by right fielder Logan Sowers scored another.
The left-handed hitting Massey padded the lead with his three-run blast in the seventh off of left-handed reliever B.J. Sabol, who entered the game with a .059 (2-34) batting average against when facing lefties. Sabol followed ace Jonathan Stiever, who allowed three runs on three hits in six innings. Illinois only struck out twice against Stiever, the Big Ten leader in punch outs, after he struck out six of the first eight batters in the teams' first meeting.
Illinois retired eight of nine Indiana leadoff hitters and held the Hoosiers hitless with runners on (0-8).
The Illini are back in the 9 p.m. CT time slot Thursday against Minnesota. Lefty Andy Fisher (6-2, 3.97) is scheduled to start on the mound.
Big Ten Tournament Schedule - Thursday, May 24
9 a.m. CT - No. 6 Iowa vs. No. 7 Ohio State (elimination game)
1 p.m. CT - No. 5 Indiana vs. No. 8 Michigan State (elimination game)
5 p.m. CT - No. 2 Purdue vs. No. 3 Michigan
9 p.m. CT - No. 4 Illinois vs. No. 1 Minnesota
Notes
• Illinois is appearing in the Big Ten Tournament for the 22nd time.
• The Illini are 30-35 all-time in the Big Ten Tournament with four titles (1989, 1990, 2000, 2011).
• Illinois moved up four spots to No. 46 in the RPI.
• Illinois is 6-6 against the RPI top 50 and 12-11 against the top 100.
• Illinois has nine fewer errors than any other Big Ten team (Illinois 39, Minnesota 48).
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Michael Massey's homer tied Illinois for the Big Ten lead in home runs with Indiana (60).
• Illinois is 24-0 when leading after seven innings, 23-1 when leading after four innings and 18-2 when leading after three innings.
• Illinois is 31-11 when scoring three or more runs.
• Illinois is 21-5 when scoring first.
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Bren Spillane's batting average dipped below .400 for the first time since March 14.
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Ben Troike has reached base in all 50 games this season. His current reached base streak is 55 dating back to the final five games of last season, the second-longest active streak in the nation.
