CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Sunday was the rubber match between Illinois and Northwestern after an Illini win on Friday and a Wildcats victory on Saturday. Northwestern picked up the win in the series finale at Illinois Field by a score of 12-5.
After one inning of play the score was tied at 1-1. Sophomore catcher Ryan Hampe (1-for-4, 2 RBIs) got the Illini on the board in the first with a sacrifice fly. Following that inning, Northwestern (9-5) led the game the rest of the way courtesy of five home runs for the Wildcats.
Sophomores Branden Comia, Jacob Campbell and Cam McDonald each had two-hit performances on Sunday. Comia went 2-for-5 in the game and finished the series 10-for-15 (.667/.688/1.067) with three doubles, a home run, four RBIs and five runs scored. His career-long on-base streak is up to 33 games dating back to the 2019 season.
Campbell was 2-for-3 (2 2B, 2 RBIs) on Sunday and hit .571/.625/1.286 (4-for-7) with two doubles, a home run, four RBIs and two runs scored in two games this weekend. McDonald was 2-for-3 with a run scored in the game and batted .444/.583/.778 (4-for-9) with a home run, two RBIs, five runs and three walks for the weekend.
Freshman Justin Janas extended his on-base streak to a career-best 13 games with a hit and a run scored. Fellow freshman Andrew Kim launched his first career home run with one out in the ninth inning.
Illinois (7-8) will be back at Illinois Field next weekend for a three-game set against Nebraska. The scheduled start times for the series are 4 p.m. CT on Friday and 1 p.m. CT on both Saturday and Sunday.
