CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The Illinois baseball team limited No. 19 Indiana to only three hits for the second straight game and the Illini cruised to a 3-1 win to clinch the series. Illinois goes for the series sweep Sunday at 1 p.m. CT.
Illinois (31-15, 10-7 Big Ten) received an excellent outing from starting pitcher Ty Weber, who kept Indiana hitless through the first five innings. Weber pitched six scoreless innings, allowing only two hits and striking out two.Â
"Ty did a really good job today," said head coach Dan Hartleb. "Six innings of shutout baseball. Couldn't have asked for a better start."Â
Illinois supported Weber with two homers that accounted for all of its runs. Jack Yalowitz hit a solo shot in the fourth and Michael Massey hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning. That was enough for Weber, Sean Leland (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R), Quinten Sefcik (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R) and Garrett Acton (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R) to finish off Indiana.Â
Indiana (30-16, 11-6 Big Ten) lost a Big Ten series for the first time this season. The Hoosiers are hitting .100 in the series (6-60) and have been limited to one run over two games for the first time since losing a series at Tennessee in February.
Elijah Dunham's solo homer in the seventh was all the offense for Indiana. The Hoosiers had three base runners reach second and went 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position.
Cyrillo Watson gets the start Sunday for the Illini. Sunday is GOAT Day at Illinois Field, complete with a petting zoo and tributes to the greatest Illini players in history.
Highlights
Notes
• Illinois has won nine of its last 11 games.
• Illinois is 9-2 in its last 11 Big Ten games. After starting conference play 1-5, Illinois is now 10-7.
• Illinois is 5-1 against ranked teams (D1Baseball Poll). Indiana is ranked No. 19 by D1Baseball.com.
• Illinois kept Indiana scoreless for the first 15 1/3 innings of the series.
• Illinois has allowed exactly three hits in three straight games.
• Illinois moved up to No. 19 in the RPI.
• Illinois' one run allowed in two games against Indiana is the Illini's fewest runs allowed in consecutive games against the Hoosiers since back-to-back shutouts in 1993 and 1996.
• Illinois' 11 top-50 RPI wins are tied for the 11th-most in the nation.
• Illinois' bullpen is 16-10 with a .181 batting average against, 3.69 ERA and 196 strikeouts in 173 innings.
• Opponents are hitting .199 with runners in scoring position against Illinois this season (82/413). Indiana is 0-for-5 in the series.
• Illinois has a fielding percentage of .987 in Big Ten games (eight errors in 17 games).
• Illinois is 15-7 in games decided by one or two runs.
• Illinois is 29-7 when scoring four or more runs and 2-8 when scoring three or fewer runs.
• Illinois is 30-6 when allowing six or fewer runs and 1-9 when allowing seven or more runs.
• Illinois is 28-8 when leading or tied after four innings.
• Illinois is 15-3 at home.
• Illinois is 6-0 at home since beer sales began.
• Garrett Acton leads the Big Ten and ranks second in the nation in saves (16), two away from tying the Big Ten record held by Ohio State's Jake Hale in 2009.
• Grant Van Scoy is third in the Big Ten in batting average (.362).
• Michael Massey is eighth in the Big Ten in batting average (.327).
• Hitting streaks: Massey 3, Michalak 3
• Reached base streaks: Massey 14
• Ben Troike left the game after being hit by a pitch in the eighth inning.
