NORMAL, Ill. — Illinois baseball dropped their Tuesday evening midweek game at Illinois State, 10-1. Freshman RHP Calvin Shepherd earned his first start of the season for the Illini, throwing 3.0 innings while giving up one earned run and striking out four. Illinois (13-13, 5-1) recorded ten hits on the evening but only plated one while leaving 12 runners on base.
Ryan Hampe had a solid day at the plate for Illinois, going 2-for-3 as the only Illini batter with multiple hits. Connor Milton also added a pinch-hit double in the seventh inning, his first extra base hit of the season. Illinois State (11-11, 1-2) scored 10Â runs on 13Â hits to get to .500 on the season.
Shepherd took the loss (0-1) while the Redbirds' Colin Wyman earned the win to move to 3-0.
Illinois is back on the road for another Big Ten series this weekend, traveling to Iowa City for three games at Iowa.
NOTES
• Cam McDonald has reached base in every game this season (26-game on base streak).
• Calvin Shepherd made his first career start on the mound.
• Illinois has recorded 10+ hits in 17 of 26 games this season.
• Four freshmen pitched for the Illini.
