BOCA RATON, Fla. -- The Illinois baseball team finished off a three-game series sweep Sunday at Florida Atlantic with an 11-10 win in 10 innings. Jack Yalowitz singled home the winning run in the 10th after Illinois held 5-0 and 9-5 leads.
Illinois (6-0) won its first six games for the eighth time in the 140-year history of the program. The 6-0 start is the first since 2015 when Illinois went on to win 50 games and advance to the NCAA Super Regional.
The top eight hitters in the Illinois lineup had at least one hit and at least one run scored Sunday, as the Illini totaled a season-high 19 hits. Illinois boosted its team season batting average to .314 and runs per game to 7.2.
Branden Comia led the charge with four hits, while Zac Taylor had three hits and three runs and Kellen Sarver had three hits, two runs and two RBIs. Cam McDonald drove in four to increase his season total to seven, the most on the team.
Ryan Schmitt (1-0) got the win for Illinois by pitching the final out of the eighth then throwing a clean ninth. Quinten Sefcik earned the first save of his career by retiring FAU in order in the 10th.Â
Schmitt got help from a double play ball spun by Ben Troike and Comia to end the ninth inning. That gave Yalowitz his chance in the 10th to win the game after Taylor doubled and moved to third on a passed ball.Â
Four Illini hit over .400 for the series with Michael Michalak leading the team at .714 (5-7) after a two-hit day Sunday. Yalowitz (6-13), Sarver (4-9) and Michael Massey (5-12) all topped .400 to help Illinois get 41 hits and score 23 runs in the three-game set.
Illinois is back in action Friday for the start of a four-day, four-game weekend in South Carolina. The Illini start the weekend with Coastal Carolina before games against Northeastern (Saturday and Monday) and Connecticut (Sunday).Â
6-0 or Better Starts in Illinois History (by year)
2019 - 6-0
2015 - 6-0 (7-0-1)
1986 - 7-0 (9-0-1)
1935 - 8-0
1930 - 6-0
1915 - 12-0
1910 - 11-0 (finished 11-0)
1909 - 7-0
Notes
• Illinois has led or been tied after 48 of 55 innings in 2019.Â
• Illinois stole six bases in the series and is 16-for-19 stealing in 2019.
• Zac Taylor stole two bases for his 50th career steal (32 for Houston, 18 for Illinois)
• Illinois made two errors Sunday, doubling its season total to four.
Yalowitz Game-Winning Hit
Highlights
