Kirschsieper, Illini Even Series at Elon

ELON, N.C. — Cole Kirschsieper threw 6 2/3 shutout innings Saturday to lift the Illinois baseball team to a 6-1 win at Elon. The Illini and Elon have split the first two games of the series ahead of Sunday's rubber game at 11 a.m. CT. 

"Cole (Kirschsieper) did a great job," said head coach Dan Hartleb. "I was anxious to see how he would handle that stopper role and he had a really, really good performance."

Kirschsieper scattered four hits and struck out four in his career-high 6 2/3 frames. He retired seven straight leadoff batters, held Elon to 0-5 with runners in scoring position, and pitched to soft contact all game, before handing the ball to reliever Ryan Schmitt with two outs in the seventh with a 4-0 lead.

Illinois (7-5) got within an out of a shutout before Elon scored on a two-out, RBI single in the ninth. Schmitt tossed the final eight outs of the game, while allowing that one run on three hits with three strike outs. 

The Illini built its lead with two runs in the third and two in the sixth. Branden Comia extended his career-best hitting streak to nine games with a two-RBI single to open the scoring and Illinois' bottom four in the lineup provided the rest of the damage. Cam McDonald and Brody Harding both had two hits and a run, and Jacob Campbell had two hits and three RBIs out of the No. 9 spot. 

Taylor Jackson had his first career three-hit day out of the leadoff spot, including a double, as Illinois set season highs in hits (14) and doubles (4). The Illini left 14 runners on base, while Elon stranded a dozen. 

Elon (7-8) was led by three-hit days from Alex Iadisernia and Joe Scatterfield. The rest of the team had only one hit. 

Illinois goes to Aidan Maldonado on the mound for Sunday's game. Elon announced RHP Ian Evans will start for the second time this week. 

"It's a big game for us tomorrow," said Hartleb. "We need to come out and play much better than we did last night and improve on the things we did well today."

Notes

• Illinois has won six of its last eight games.
• Illinois will look for its third straight winning weekend on Sunday. 
• Cole Kirschsieper threw a career-high 6 2/3 innings and tied a career high with four strikeouts. He lowered his season ERA to 1.35 in 20 innings.
• Branden Comia extended his career-long hitting streak to nine games and his career-long reached base streak to 17 games. 
• Taylor Jackson had a career-high three hits. 
• Danny Doligale extended his hitting streak to five games.
• Illinois' bottom four lineup spots combined for seven hits: McDonald (2), Harding (2), Dyke (1 off the bench), Campbell (2)
• Elon has lost seven of its last eight games.