IOWA CITY, Iowa — The Illinois baseball team defeated Iowa 6-2 on Sunday afternoon in front of a sellout crowd of 1,132 people at Duane Banks Field. The Illini won two out of three in the series and have now won back-to-back series on the road.
"Another game that we did everything very well," said head coach Dan Hartleb. "Offensively, defensively, and then our pitching was really good. The bullpen was outstanding today."
Justin Janas continued his consistent hitting at the plate, finishing the day 5-for-5 with a double, RBI and run scored. He is the first Illinois batter with five hits in a game since Jason Goldstein on May 10, 2015 vs. Rutgers.
The Illinois offense was able to get an early 2-0 lead courtesy of a Nathan Aide RBI double in the second inning and an RBI single from Janas in the third. Iowa (22-16) erased that deficit in the bottom of the third with two runs of their own.
The Illini broke through for good in the fifth inning when they put up four runs. Ryan Hampe hit a 2-run homer to left field before Taylor Jackson hit a two-out, two-run single to get the score to 6-2.
RHP Riley Gowens (W, 5.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 3 BB, career-high 9 SO) gave the Illini a solid start and the bullpen finished the rest. LHP Alex Vera (2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO), RHP Ty Rybarczyk (0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO) and LHP Cole Kirschsieper (1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO) combined to throw the final four scoreless innings.
Illinois (18-19) will travel to Bloomington, Indiana, on Tuesday to play a makeup game against the Indiana Hoosiers at 2 p.m. CT.
Notes
• Illinois played in front of a sellout crowd of 1,132 people.
• Illinois has won back-to-back series on the road for the first time this season (April 23-25 at Purdue).
• Illinois matched their season high of 16 hits (April 16 vs. Michigan State & April 3 vs. Nebraska). The last time Illinois had at least 16 hits on the road was April 26, 2019 at Nebraska (17 hits).
• Illinois won their first rubber match of the season (1-3).
• Illinois has scored at least six runs in 15 of their 18 wins. The Illini are 15-6 when scoring six runs or more in a game this season.
• Illinois' pitching staff has recorded at least 10 strikeouts in 14 games this season.
• Justin Janas (5-for-5, 2B, RBI, R) is the first Illinois batter with five hits in a game since Jason Goldstein on May 10, 2015 vs. Rutgers (5-for-5, HR, 4 RBI, 3 R). He is the first to do it on the road since Ryan Hastings on April 7, 2008 at Indiana (5-for-6, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R).
• Justin Janas has reached base safely in a career-high 19 games.
• Ryan Hampe hit his sixth home run of the season.
