EAST LANSING, Mich. — Branden Comia hit two solo homers and the No. 23 Illinois baseball team finished a series win at Michigan State with a 5-3 Saturday victory. Illinois will be the No. 3 seed at next week's Big Ten Tournament and play the first game Wednesday at 9 a.m. CT (opponent TBD).
Illinois (36-17, 15-9 Big Ten) ended the regular season with 14 wins in the final 18 games and a 14-4 record in Big Ten games since April 14, including six straight series wins. The Illini finished two games back of Big Ten champion Indiana, as Illinois was the only Big Ten team to win a series against the Hoosiers this season.
The Illini got an early start Saturday with an RBI double by Kellen Sarver in the first and a two-run homer by Zac Taylor in the third, his 10th of the season. Taylor became the first player in Illinois history with back-to-back seasons with 10+ homers and 10+ stolen bases.
Cyrillo Watson started and gave Illinois 5 1/3 innings, while allowing one run on five hits before the bullpen took over. Josh Harris (0.1 IP, 1 R), Sean Leland ( 1.1 IP, 0 R) and Quinten Sefcik (1.0 IP, 1 R) got the game to closer Garrett Acton, who finished off his national-leading 19th save. Acton set the Big Ten record for saves, previously held by Ohio State's Jake Hale in 2009.
Michigan State (20-34, 8-15 Big Ten) brought the potential tying run to the plate in the ninth before Illinois finished with its fourth double play of the game. Bryce Kelly led the Spartans with two hits and Adam Proctor hit his ninth homer of the year.
Illinois travels Monday to Omaha before Tuesday's practice day at TD Ameritrade Park. The final Big Ten Tournament bracket will be announced at the conclusion of Saturday's game.
Highlights
Notes
• Illinois won 14 of its last 18 regular season games.
• Illinois went 14-4 in its last 18 Big Ten games. After starting conference play 1-5, Illinois finished 15-9.
• Illinois won its sixth straight Big Ten series (at Minnesota, Penn State, at Nebraska, Indiana, Purdue, at Michigan State).
• Illinois has series wins against every top-five Big Ten team played (at Minnesota, at Nebraska, Indiana).
• Illinois is 10-4 in one-run games and 18-7 in games decided by one or two runs.
• Illinois set the Big Ten record for fielding percentage in conference games (.987), breaking the old record of .986 set by Illinois in 1981.
• Illinois has played error-free in 14 of the last 19 games. Illinois has only seven errors in the last 19 games.
• Zac Taylor is the first player in Illinois history to have back-to-back 10+ HR/10+ SB seasons.
• Garrett Acton is the national leader in saves (19) and has set the Illinois single-season record.
• Garrett Acton broke the Big Ten record for saves in a season, previously held by Ohio State's Jake Hale in 2009 (18).
• Garrett Acton tied Joey Gerber (2018) for the most saves by an Illinois pitcher in a Big Ten season (8).
• Hitting streaks: McDonald 8 (career long)
• Reached base streaks: Massey 21, Taylor 8, McDonald 8
• Illinois is ranked No. 23 by D1Baseball, its highest ranking this season.
10+ HR/10+ SB Single Seasons in Illinois History
Zac Taylor, 2019 (10 home runs, 20 steals)
Bren Spillane, 2018 (23 home runs, 16 steals)
Zac Taylor, 2018 (10 home runs, 10 steals)
Jack Yalowitz, 2017 (12 home runs, 10 steals)
Willie Argo, 2009 (12 home runs, 10 steals)
Dan O'Neill, 1998 (12 home runs, 18 stolen bases)
Wil Parsons, 1990 (10 home runs, 25 stolen bases)
Dave Payton, 1986 (13 home runs, 17 stolen bases)
Gary Borg, 1985 (12 home runs, 18 stolen bases)
Brian Bock, 1981 (11 home runs, 11 steals)
